Where is RJ? Breaking Down the Silence & Shift at Rivian
Has anyone heard from RJ? Is he OK?
The recent pricing changes made by Rivian have caused a lot of confusion and concern among its customers. Many are asking if the company's founder, RJ, is still in charge or was pushed aside by the board. The change in business model to Lucid-type pricing, where high prices can be charged for low volume goods, has shifted the target demographic significantly. This shift has led many to question whether price is connected to cost of production at all.
The trust issue surrounding this decision will take time and effort to recover from. Was there an amnesia that occurred before the upcoming earnings call? Did the executives forget about the early reservation holders who started the customer flywheel spinning years ago? It seems like this entire experience and pricing debacle could become an interesting case study for MBA students.
At the end of the day, it appears that Rivian's focus on short term quarterly earnings is what drove this decision. Early adopters and reservation holders were used to boost share prices and now those same people feel burned. Though checks and balances exist within the company, it doesn't seem that they had any effect here. If RJ was involved in this decision, it likely took a long fight with the money people to make it happen. Without hearing directly from him, we can only speculate as to why he would agree to such a move.
The silence from RJ has been deafening. He's usually very active on social media, but he hasn't posted anything in weeks. His last post was about the new pricing model and it seemed to be a positive one. It's possible that he is taking some time off or dealing with personal matters, but his absence has left many wondering if something else is going on behind the scenes at Rivian.
It would be nice to hear directly from him so we can get an understanding of what happened and why this decision was made without consulting customers first. We need more transparency into how decisions are being made at Rivian so that customers feel like their voices are heard and respected by the company they've invested in for years now. Until then, all we can do is hope that RJ will come back soon with answers to our questions about this situation - whatever those may be!
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What is the price debacle?
The pricing change is a shift in business model, moving to a Lucid-type model where high prices can be charged for low volume goods and still please Wall Street. This is significantly different than the way the company was pitched for the IPO and since its beginning.
Is RJ still in charge?
It does seem very non-RJ-like where he wants to change the world one EV at a time—to turn off so many who have waited so long to support this product and his dream. It is unclear if RJ was involved in this decision or if he has been overruled by the board.
How will Rivian regain trust?
Regaining trust is going to take a lot of time and effort. The entire customer experience and pricing debacle will become an MBA case study, but ultimately it comes down to Rivian's focus on short term quarterly earnings.
Is this similar to Theranos?
Very different. Theranos was a fraud from the start with no product or new technology. Rivian trucks and SUVs actually exist and they are amazing. In the case of Rivian, checks and balances mean even less as there is no implication of fraud.
Has anyone heard from RJ? Is he OK?
There has been no official statement from RJ or Rivian, but there have been reports that he is still in charge and is working on a plan to regain customer trust. It is unclear if he was involved in the pricing decision or if he has been overruled by the board. We hope that RJ is doing well and will be able to turn this situation around.