In this episode of Full Throttle, recorded live at the Presidio Auto Technology Summit in Denver, we talk to Jon McNeill, co-founder and CEO of DVx Ventures, former president of global sales, marketing and service at Tesla, and author of The Algorithm.
Jon has started and sold six companies, helped take Tesla from $2 billion to $20 billion in revenue in 30 months, and served on the board of General Motors. He shares the hard lessons behind that growth and where he sees the industry heading next.
We discuss:
• How Tesla cut its loan and lease documents to a few lines, and why the industry still hasn’t followed
• The Model 3 factory that never built a car, and why you should “automate last”
• Why autonomy could be the auto industry’s BlackBerry-to-iPhone moment, and which automakers Jon would bet against
• Why AI agents may soon be negotiating with agents at the dealership
• What Carvana got right, and why Jon and Elon Musk spent 40% of their time on hiring
Jon also shares a side of Elon Musk the public rarely sees, and the “two or three things” rule that lets Musk run seven companies.
Full Throttle, a Presidio Group podcast, is where you’ll find meaningful conversations with the executives and operators driving the industry forward.