The uBeam FAQ

[EEVblog]

I disagreed with Perry about a lot of things, but I never got the impression that when she did things like that it was from maliciousness towards any individual group.

No group except those pesky "engineers".

Those pesky inherently linear thinkers!

I need my daily dose of TED:

[chris_leyson]

Those pesky inherently linear thinkers!

I've worked for two companies that went bust because they were  run by stubborn and ignorant people who wouldn't listen to any critisism. They had their minds made up "it's simple we do it this way" but it won't work because of... and your words fall on deaf ears. Meredith Perry is just one stubborn and ignorant person but there are a lot more out there.

[EEVblog]

 

https://youtu.be/AMvV8P5S3I4?t=368

[Richard Crowley]

https://youtu.be/AMvV8P5S3I4?t=368

What do we suppose she means by "the math is right"?

[EEVblog]

https://youtu.be/AMvV8P5S3I4?t=368

What do we suppose she means by "the math is right"?

Her next comment says it all "I knew it was possible". To her non-engineering mind that means "the math works". She's delusional in that she thinks that if something is not impossible, then it must somehow be practical. She doesn't understand or want to admit that some things can't work because they are just impractical.
She's trying to use the word math to convince others (and herself) that it's science, and science always works.

[sdpkom]

I believe in 2012 she really thought it was possible (in D9 she said, hey we get 8 volts, all we need to charge an iPhone is 5 Volt) .
I think that, as a biology grad, she did not know the difference between Volts and Watts (most people don't, and dBs are even worse).

10 minutes later she landed tons of money, big shot investors, tons of positive media coverage, and theaters full of people cheering.
It was going very well, so it must be true right.

She had 0 experience, and believed it's going to work.

After all that money, cheers, big shot investors, and especially media coverage, it takes great courage to say "hey, sorry, it doesn't work, never had a chance, I just didn't know the difference between volts and watts, true I learned about it in high school, but I was sick that day, here are 10c on your dollar, sorry"

I don't know many people who would do that, would you?

Having said that, saying, since 2014 she was just bluntly lying (she must have known watts and dBs by then).

[EEVblog]

I believe in 2012 she really thought it was possible (in D9 she said, hey we get 8 volts, all we need to charge an iPhone is 5 Volt) .
I think that, as a biology grad, she did not know the difference between Volts and Watts (most people don't, and dBs are even worse).

10 minutes later she landed tons of money, big shot investors, tons of positive media coverage, and theaters full of people cheering.
It was going very well, so it must be true right.

She had 0 experience, and believed it's going to work.

After all that money, cheers, big shot investors, and especially media coverage, it takes great courage to say "hey, sorry, it doesn't work, never had a chance, I just didn't know the difference between volts and watts, true I learned about it in high school, but I was sick that day, here are 10c on your dollar, sorry"

I don't know many people who would do that, would you?

But she could have weaseled out of it, saved face, and still been a success by pivoting the company (as suggested by the engineers) and maybe making something of it all in the end. But no, she insisted on charging mobile phones and consumer gadgets, and that was only going to ever end one way. Only after she got the boot did the company effectively decide to pivot away from consumer charging.

[StillTrying]

Registrations for CES-2019 seems to have opened the very same week as the "transition".
IMHO they might as well cancel it and close up shop to prevent further embarrassment.

[sdpkom]

But she could have weaseled out of it, saved face, and still been a success by pivoting the company (as suggested by the engineers) and maybe making something of it all in the end. But no, she insisted on charging mobile phones and consumer gadgets, and that was only going to ever end one way. Only after she got the boot did the company effectively decide to pivot away from consumer charging.

Absolutely true, if she were a great leader, she could have.

But, I can imagine the board meeting just before announcing such a pivot, and I can imagine the headlines, and it takes a great person to go there.
Most people arn't, she isn't.

[PaulReynolds]

Absolutely true, if she were a great leader, she could have.

But, I can imagine the board meeting just before announcing such a pivot, and I can imagine the headlines, and it takes a great person to go there.
Most people arn't, she isn't.

I disagree, it was an easy route and one that could have been taken without losing face by most. e.g.

"As you know our ultrasonic charging system is built on fundamental new breakthroughs that we've always said were a platform technology enabling new industries and revolutionizing existing ones. Our engineers have been making such good progress that I've been listening to them and it's clear that transforming the $15 billion car parking sensor market is too good an opportunity to pass up, as we've got world leading technology close to production ready. It's always faster to move into an existing market than creating a new one, and it would be criminal not to take advantage. As such we're excited to announce the addition of a new team dedicated to bringing this to market quickly, and showing us revenue in the near term. Wireless power transfer is right on schedule and we're going to take this time to build out the infrastructure that gives users that seamless magical experience they demand."

Someone may have even have suggested an approach/wording like that, and some of the Perry/Suster discussions on stage at the UpFront summit supported that tack.

And then in a year say "We're making such good progress on car parking sensors we're concentrating on that revenue opportunity for now" and slowly, quietly, drop the power transfer.

But if you've built your entire self-image on proving engineers wrong and it's your destiny to bring wireless power to the masses, then no, you're not going to do that.

[sdpkom]

But if you've built your entire self-image on proving engineers wrong and it's your destiny to bring wireless power to the masses, then no, you're not going to do that.

I agree fully, with what you wrote.
I just think she was maneuvered into this position of "engineers are wrong, it's my destiny to bring wireless power", by some "adults" and by her attention seeking personality.

It's stupid but normal for many people to seek a lot of media attention, which helps bring money (as long as it's good attention).
Experienced managers know this will blow up in their face later...

[Cyberdragon]

Someone should have gone up that TED talks stage and blantently asked her a basic science question like "what are the three thermodynamic laws?" Bet she wouldn't know...XD

[EEVblog]

Absolutely true, if she were a great leader, she could have.

But, I can imagine the board meeting just before announcing such a pivot, and I can imagine the headlines, and it takes a great person to go there.
Most people arn't, she isn't.

I disagree, it was an easy route and one that could have been taken without losing face by most. e.g.

"As you know our ultrasonic charging system is built on fundamental new breakthroughs that we've always said were a platform technology enabling new industries and revolutionizing existing ones. Our engineers have been making such good progress that I've been listening to them and it's clear that transforming the $15 billion car parking sensor market is too good an opportunity to pass up, as we've got world leading technology close to production ready. It's always faster to move into an existing market than creating a new one, and it would be criminal not to take advantage. As such we're excited to announce the addition of a new team dedicated to bringing this to market quickly, and showing us revenue in the near term. Wireless power transfer is right on schedule and we're going to take this time to build out the infrastructure that gives users that seamless magical experience they demand."

They should have hired you!
Oh... 

But if you've built your entire self-image on proving engineers wrong and it's your destiny to bring wireless power to the masses, then no, you're not going to do that.

Bingo. She was out to prove all of us wrong no matter what, and she lost as the realities of practical engineering which she so despised and/or ignored, predicted.

[StillTrying]

I'm afraid there won't be any parking sensors or IoTs charging, just in case anyone's thinking of investing.

Having said that, saying, since 2014 she was just bluntly lying (she must have known watts and dBs by then).

Yes, they must have known it was totally impracticable for years, and should have guessed about 2012!

[EEVblog]

Having said that, saying, since 2014 she was just bluntly lying (she must have known watts and dBs by then).

Yes, they must have known it was totally impracticable for years, and should have guessed about 2012!

She was told by multiple experts from day one, including her own hired experts after a period of time that it wasn't practical for the claimed application of consumer phone charging. She chose to ignore that advice, and the investors continued to "believe".
Throw in a few dog'n'pony show demos, a relentless attitude of the majority shareholder and founder, and investment bias, and you can see why this debacle went on for half a decade.
Can't necessarily blame the investors too much, as their job is to make a return on their investment. They don't need to care if it actually works as promised, they just needed an exit strategy that worked for them. But of course the investors will almost certainly ultimately lose their money because they didn't keep control and gambled on Perry and lost.

[EEVblog]

I hadn't seen this before:

Perry interviewed on The Art Of Manufacturing podcast in June.
Haven't heard it yet, so I don't know what's in it, but with a hour long interview there's bound to be some gems 

EDIT: Random flick through, at 35:45 she talks about how people (toxic employees) were the biggest problem. She now has a "no arsehole" rule in hiring. Those pesky smart engineers telling her about practical limitations, can't have those!

45:30 Still talking about consumer apps, and "if this" and "if that".

[StillTrying]

I hadn't seen this before:
Perry interviewed on The Art Of Manufacturing podcast in June.

You posted it in June.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/the-ubeam-faq/msg1637441/#msg1637441

[EEVblog]

I hadn't seen this before:
Perry interviewed on The Art Of Manufacturing podcast in June.

You posted it in June.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/the-ubeam-faq/msg1637441/#msg1637441

LOL, so I did.

[Howardlong]

I hadn't seen this before:

Perry interviewed on The Art Of Manufacturing podcast in June.
Haven't heard it yet, so I don't know what's in it, but with a hour long interview there's bound to be some gems 

Did I miss something, what has she manufactured (other than bullshit)?

She now has a "no arsehole" rule in hiring.

Is that why she stood down?

[StillTrying]

Who are/were the 2 incredible engineers on the technical team that believed in it, are they still there. 
https://youtu.be/AMvV8P5S3I4?t=342

Last month's news:
The Exceptional Women Awardees (EWA) Foundation 
https://www.prweb.com/releases/an_ewa_success_jacqueline_mccauley_becomes_interim_ceo_of_ubeam/prweb15963978.htm


Has anyone noticed the error in The Electromagnetic Spectrum yet?

[PaulReynolds]

But if you've built your entire self-image on proving engineers wrong and it's your destiny to bring wireless power to the masses, then no, you're not going to do that.

I agree fully, with what you wrote.
I just think she was maneuvered into this position of "engineers are wrong, it's my destiny to bring wireless power", by some "adults" and by her attention seeking personality.

It's stupid but normal for many people to seek a lot of media attention, which helps bring money (as long as it's good attention).
Experienced managers know this will blow up in their face later...

I don't think the facts, or my personal experience of the situation, can support the assertion Perry was manipulated into that position.  The TEDx talk (below) where she disparages engineers is from April 2012, not even a year after the "All Things D" demo, prior to even the majority of the seed round money (which I think was summer 2012), and definitively prior to the Series A (~$10m in Sept/Oct 2014). At that time the only "adults" that were around consistently that I am aware of were her father, and Board of Directors member Katie McMahon. I only met McMahon a few times, and she never seemed to me to be someone who manipulated but had been described by many of the senior technical team as "head cheerleader for Team Meredith". Timeline shows, IMO, these characteristics prior to serious funding.

When I wrote the "Must Have The Precious" blog in April 2016 (https://liesandstartuppr.blogspot.com/2016/04/must-have-precious.html ) a point I wanted to make was that I saw someone who (at least outwardly) to me changed over a period of time - that at each funding round, in my opinion, a set of personality traits that were possibly always there but not necessarily dominant, were rewarded and encouraged, and came to the fore more and more until they were dominant. The interactions with the co-founder in 2011, again in my opinion, show it was always there even prior to "adults" being involved (again, other than her father or others I am not aware of, and I've got a pretty good background on this). That a single minded pursuit of "the precious" (wireless ultrasound power and proving engineers wrong) at any cost changed her and, I thought at the time, would ultimately result in her own "doom". I think I've been proven right on that one.

I thought at the influx of serious money in 2014 that "adults" would make sure what I thought were the worst of her characteristics would be tempered and there would be an opportunity for learning and growth when the stakes got serious. I was very wrong. I don't believe that she was manipulated into that attitude, but I do hold the opinion that she was not stopped and was effectively enabled by many of them.

Perry was her own person, like everyone a product of their personality and upbringing. I don't see her as an easily manipulated child in that regard. Like Elizabeth Holmes, I think there's a drive to find a reason for why they did what they did, and try to apply a logical reason for why someone would act, in our opinion, so illogically. As with so much of human behaviour, it defies logic and simply comes down to the frog and scorpion tale - "I'm a scorpion"

[EEVblog]

I thought at the influx of serious money in 2014 that "adults" would make sure what I thought were the worst of her characteristics would be tempered and there would be an opportunity for learning and growth when the stakes got serious. I was very wrong. I don't believe that she was manipulated into that attitude, but I do hold the opinion that she was not stopped and was effectively enabled by many of them.

I was quite surprised that she was obviously forced into stepping down, I thought she'd ride this donkey into the ground (and had the shareholder voting power to do so?).
Perhaps she just ran out of puff to fight any more?
I don't see for changing after all this time?
Or perhaps someone was clever enough to subtly convince her that a new tack was the best way to go?

[Cerebus]

I thought at the influx of serious money in 2014 that "adults" would make sure what I thought were the worst of her characteristics would be tempered and there would be an opportunity for learning and growth when the stakes got serious. I was very wrong. I don't believe that she was manipulated into that attitude, but I do hold the opinion that she was not stopped and was effectively enabled by many of them.

Being a sociopath is almost a career requirement for financiers, they are not the people to look to for spotting and mitigating risky personality traits in other people.

[PaulReynolds]

I was quite surprised that she was obviously forced into stepping down, I thought she'd ride this donkey into the ground (and had the shareholder voting power to do so?).
Perhaps she just ran out of puff to fight any more?
I don't see for changing after all this time?
Or perhaps someone was clever enough to subtly convince her that a new tack was the best way to go?

It really surprised me too, IMO I had expected her to go down with the company in flames screaming "I would have gotten away with it, if it hadn't been for you pesky misogynists" or equivalent. (Or, carrying on the LotR metaphor, fall into the fires of MtDoom clutching the precious)

My opinion, and purely a guess - Perry did not leave willingly, and that the last round of had enough dilution of her stock and enough increase of major funder's stock that the overall ratio of equity, or the BoD voting structure, shifted so it could be forced. This seemed to happen shortly after the most recent COO left in May, which I expect was the breaking point for the investors.

[EEVblog]

My opinion, and purely a guess - Perry did not leave willingly, and that the last round of had enough dilution of her stock and enough increase of major funder's stock that the overall ratio of equity, or the BoD voting structure, shifted so it could be forced. This seemed to happen shortly after the most recent COO left in May, which I expect was the breaking point for the investors.

This reminds me of Altium. Founder Nick Martin (a really nice and smart guy) ran the company with an iron fist for over 20 years and drove the share price into the ground in pursuit of whatever his latest vision was. He just wasn't a practical business guy and really had place no running a public company. It wasn't until he bailed out his buddy (and former early employee) buy buying his company (Morfik) with stock did hid buddy along with the board then have enough voting power to do a hostile takeover and finally boot him out.
They then righted the ship and focused on core stuff, ran it like a business, and within 8 years the stock climbed from 10 cents to $30.