Aurora vs Argo ai vs Aptiv vs Cruise

Uber
AUTOSAR

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Sep 25, 2019 43 Comments

I have been gone through initial screen for software engineer role (simulation). 10+ yoe.

Any idea about culture and compensation??

here are my thoughts:

Aurora:
That is my top pick becasue of their impressive leadership team. BUT VW and now Hyundai left them after worki g with them about an year. This looks really BAD that they are not able to retain partners and they prefer to go and invest somewhere else. Plus their offers in terms of stock I heard is pretty low since they are selling minimum 10x growth in 1-2 years which i dont buy. i cleared phone screening but delaying onsite. anyone has any comments/opinion about Aurora??? please help.

Argo:
They have so much money. Recent offers i know are 30 to 50% above their current compensation. plus they have very solid backing of Ford and VW.

Aptiv:
It is already 20bn market cap. Does not attract me in terms of growth potential. but they were able to impress Hyundai to invet 4bn in them which is huge.

Cruise:
No way. i already told recruiter i am not interested. Heard bad feedback from a friend who works there.

TC: 450+ (in Pittsburgh)

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TOP 43 Comments
  • Apple
    Icml2017

    Go to company page Apple

    Icml2017
    Argo would be my choice if you leave Uber. Just curious, did you consider Lyft L5?
    Sep 26, 2019 7
    • Apple
      Icml2017

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      Icml2017
      My background is in 3D computer vision and at Argo there were lots of domain specific questions plus standard coding problems. Lyft’s interview was very disorganized but it had standard whiteboard coding and 1 hour live coding in laptop. Uber was 2 coding, 1 domain specific questions and 1 behavioral round. Cruise was similar too and I liked the interviews and questions at Cruise.
      Oct 13, 2019
    • NVIDIA
      NNco88

      Go to company page NVIDIA

      NNco88
      @autosar - I too do not endorse or like being given a head tag with just no experience like level 5. However Tesla s too is Andrej which had no experience or at a similar level like Anantha.. ofc Andrej seems slightly bigger name, but the two have similar degrees under them.. not sure what I want to conclude here .. but anything happens
      Oct 26, 2019
  • NVIDIA
    NNco88

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    NNco88
    What did you decide OP ? Did you get offer from Argo ?
    Nov 8, 2019 3
  • Uber
    AUTOSAR

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    OP
    I heard disturbing stories about Jinnah who is leading the software org at Aurora. I saw that in Blind someone commented which I ignored but then I met someone who worked under Jinnah in past and he mentioned he is an asshole (before you ask me what do I mean by that please read Robert Sutton book about Asshole).
    Can someone comment from Aurora on how was their experience with Jinnah????
    I am worried if that is case with top leadership then it can have trickled down effect.
    Oct 9, 2019 12
  • Aurora is still partnered with FCA and Amazon. I don’t think it’s BAD at all. They still have a strong leadership and there are so many companies out there to be partnered with in the future. VW and Hyundai probably pulled out because they didn’t have the same goals aligned which is understandable in this industry because it’s still fairly new.

    Argo is promising too. Same business model as Aurora where they just want to build the software and partner with OEMs. I don’t think you can go wrong with either tbh.
    Sep 28, 2019 0
  • Aurora
    SMC007

    Go to company page Aurora

    SMC007
    I'd recommend getting through all on-sites and seeing what your choices come down to. I obviously recommend Aurora, but I'm biased.

    The tech anywhere is at an early enough stage that everyone's hedging their bets - that's what we're seeing here. Hyundai remains partner to Aurora, but has also started a partnership with Aptiv (they started something with Yandex earlier this year too). We at Aurora aren't too worried, remain motivated and are continuing to make solid progress.
    Sep 26, 2019 2
    • Uber
      AUTOSAR

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      OP
      Thanks! Great to hear someone from Aurora. But you don’t make an investment worth $4bn until you have great confidence in their technology stack. I don’t know exactly how much Hyundai investment into Aurora but prolly fraction of that amount.
      Sep 26, 2019
    • Aurora
      SMC007

      Go to company page Aurora

      SMC007
      Agreed - I don't doubt that Aptiv has some good stuff to show, and good talent to offer. Hyundai was and is a minority investor in Aurora.

      I don't know the terms of their JV. It sounds like it's valued at 4bn, with Hyundai putting in 1.6bn. I don't know how much stake they get in return - but it seems like it's quite high (compared to valuations in this industry).
      I'd love to hear what people from Aptiv think about the deal.
      Sep 28, 2019