Case study · Automotive and AI

From 30 People and an Idea to an Automotive Production Win in 18 Months

By Eyal Yavets · 4 min read · לקריאה בעברית

When I joined as VP Operations and Engineering, the company was an early-stage startup with about 30 employees, a very small management team and a very interesting idea. Almost everything else still had to be built. About a year and a half later, it won a project with one of the world’s largest automakers, and it went on to grow to about 130 employees.

• ~30 → ~130employees
• 18 monthsfrom my arrival to the project win
• 97–98%field reliability
• 50%lower product price

The starting point

The idea was a thermal camera for vehicles, based on technology with real potential. But the company had almost no basic infrastructure in any area: IT, equipment, technology and engineering. The management team was very small, and most of the knowledge sat with a handful of people. The distance between a promising technology and a product that an automaker would buy was very large.

From demonstrations to a product customers wanted

We started with product demonstrations to potential customers, and collected their feedback systematically. That feedback drove technological changes and adaptations, and led to a patent that gave the company a technological edge: the world’s smallest thermal camera, with very high performance under demanding environmental conditions and high durability.

Just as important was form, fit and function: designing the camera so that it integrates into the vehicle the way the automaker needs, and not only the way the lab prefers. Step by step, this opened doors to automotive customers in Germany and in the United States.

Building production from scratch

In parallel with product development, we built the production line from scratch, including cleanrooms. It meant defining precise specifications, finding contractors and subcontractors, comparing quotes and negotiating, and working with architects, structural engineers and specialists in many fields, from electrostatic discharge to microelectronics.

Production was not built after development. It was built alongside it.

Suppliers, cost and reliability

At the same time, we qualified suppliers around the world and looked for technological solutions that would bring the product’s cost down and make it more reliable at volume. A thermal camera that works in the lab is one thing. A camera that performs consistently in every car, in every climate, at a price that fits an automotive program, is something else entirely.

Meeting the automotive bar

Once we started working with automotive customers, they brought a long list of requirements that the company was not yet ready for: engineering and functional requirements, quality, price and yield, and many KPIs typical of the automotive industry, one of the most demanding industries in the world.

We went through the entire process together with one of the world’s largest automakers, requirement by requirement, until the company met the bar. The process ended with a project win.

The results

What made the difference

Looking back, three things made the difference:

1. Knowing the technology deeply, its strengths and its weaknesses. You cannot build a production line, choose suppliers or answer an automaker’s requirements without knowing exactly where the technology is strong and where it is still fragile.
2. Recruiting good people. The company grew more than fourfold, and every key hire shaped what we were able to deliver.
3. Zooming in and zooming out, and connecting the two. Going deep into the details when needed, stepping back to look at the strategy, and constantly connecting the small decisions to the big picture.

The lesson

If the CEO of a similar startup asked me what to do first, I would say this: a great idea is not enough. Success comes when you start building production, suppliers and quality in parallel with development, not after it, and constantly connect the small details with the big strategy.

The bigger lesson is that everything is connected: the small decisions, the strategy, the execution and the choice of people. These are the four legs of the table, and each one is critical. If one is missing, the table wobbles.

This article reflects the author’s personal opinion only. It is general information, not professional advice or a recommendation to take any action, and any use of it is the reader’s sole responsibility.