How I Built This - Rivian - RJ Scaringe

Podcast starts at about 4:45 (brief history first and RJ starts talking at 7:00) 1.) What is the largest vehicle segment in the US? 2.) What are some key things that shaped RJs view of the world? 3.) When did RJ start thinking about his career? 4.) Why did RJ think he needed a PhD to be an entrepreneur? 5.) Why did RJ choose MIT instead of Stanford? 6.) What problem did RJ initially want to solve? 7.) RJ didn't talk about his idea. Do you think this was a good idea? Is this consistent with things I have said in class? 8.) What was the main challenge with RJ's initial pitch? 9.) How did RJ get the money to build his first prototype? 10.) Why did RJ pivot? 11.) What were the reasons did RJ cite for making the pivot? 12.) What opportunities in the truck market did RJ want to improve in trucks other than electricity 13.) What was 'the right question to answer' according to RJ ?(hint: he didn't actually phrase it as a question, but he stated that this transition was 'so freeing'.) 14.) Why did they change their name? How did they come up with Rivian 15.) How much money did RJ need to raise and how did he do it? Ensure you describe the process and the people that were part of the process. 16.) What was the hardest part of raising capital for RJ? 17.) Why didn't the first few iterations of the Rivian Pickup Truck work? 18.) Describe a customer archetype for the Rivian pickup truck. How does Rivian view Tesla? 19.) What are the biggest challenges facing Rivian. 20.) What did you find most surprising about RJ's journey