Guest: RJ Scaringe, CEO and Founder of Rivian

“I’m very comfortable with things not being in their end state,” says Rivian CEO and founder RJ Scaringe. The company’s challenging mission — to help make 100% of the world’s cars electric — will take a long time, and a lot of willingness to build the metaphorical plane in midair.

As Rivian has grown from one person to seven to 17,000, though, RJ admits that there’s a lot more pressure to not screw up. “There’s all these conflicting emotions I had ... is this the right product?” he recalls. “Is it the right strategy? Am I capable of doing this? But at the end of the day, I try really hard not to let that be overly distracting.”

00:00 Starting a Car Company from Scratch
04:55 Is this the End of Traditional Cars?
07:30 How Many Parts Does It Take to Build a Car?
11:29 The Real Challenge for Automakers Today
14:38 Why Rivian Refused to Outsource Production
16:52 Building the Best Electric Truck in the World
19:59 Rivian’s Big Pivot to Success
25:56 The 10-Year Struggle Behind Rivian’s First EV
35:16 Why Rivian Chose a Different Path from Tesla
39:14 The Bold Decision That Almost Left Rivian Broke
46:40 Entrepreneurship Is Not for the Faint of Heart
55:26 Handling 25,000 Decisions a Day
01:01:13 Is Rivian hiring?