Pros
Lots of good-natured and highly competent folks trying to bring this project to fruition.
Cons
Absolute naivety and resentful, pig-headed stubbornness from the top. Everything I’ve seen has been under-resourced, over-promised, and under-staffed with a constant compulsion to re-invent the wheel. Continuous pressure to cut corners. You’re not “innovating” when not getting permits for facilities work or not installing fire suppression in workshops. You’re not “innovating” by not having a receiving staff and warehousing. Or trying to run a small industrial complex off of a residential power system. I could go on. Joby Aviation feels like another Adderall-fueled, needlessly frantic Silicon Vally start-up that doesn’t have anything like a long-term plan. My impression is that the founder will bring the company only to the point of acquisition and sell. That’s why everything is “temporary”. Hopefully the good folks he’s managed to get will still have jobs after that.