Jeff Greason and Dan DeLong are out (though Jeff remains on the board). I’d been hearing rumors about this for a few weeks.
My question is: What does this mean for orbital plans? Does XCOR retain the IP for them, or can Jeff pursue independently? Does he have a non-compete?
Aleta Jackson is also gone.
I know, and my personal regards to you and others now gone.
IMHO XCOR has been uniquely “private NACA for space” aiming at no-compromise, lowest cost to orbit by solving fundamental causes of problems, tho applying solutions incrementally. Nothing quite like it anywhere, will someone/someplace take up the task?
Easy to pull such a unique group apart, very hard to assemble it.
To be precise, it’s clear from what’s known so far that the group’s leadership has changed, but not at all clear that any company tasks have been dropped or that anything has been “pulled apart.” Best not to leap to conclusions too quickly.
Groups plural, really. I note that XCOR in the last year or two from its press releases seems to have been evolving away from the one team/one location/one major project model of most startups toward becoming a medium-sized company with multiple development teams in multiple locations doing multiple projects. Historically this is a critical transition in the growth of a company, one that often involves management changes. I’d not be at all surprised if this news is related in some way to that transition, and beyond that, I’d advise people to wait and see.
Three out of four founders. Or did I miss something about Doug Jones?
I am committed to making the vision Dan, Jeff, Aleta and I have shared for 16 years become a reality with the skilled team we built together.
Great things will continue to come out of XCOR, arising from the creativity and teamwork of the finest people I’ve ever worked with.
Wowzers. That’s a hell of a way to start a Monday. Out of curiosity, was the XCOR news you were going to post, but then retracted, a few weeks ago?
Pretty much, yes. Just off on the timing.
It’s okay, Rand. I’ll still say I heard it here first. 🙂
A curious development, coming as Lynx flight tests finally draw near. Perhaps the investors and/or new CEO have a different vision for XCOR than the founders.
Hopefully the new management can get Lynx flying profitably.
“Perhaps the investors and/or new CEO have a different vision for XCOR than the founders.”
Do we know which way this went? Was it the board asking them to leave?
Or did they tell the board they were leaving?
The article doesn’t say and those sorts of announcements usually don’t indicate what went on behind the scenes.
The press release is vague, but it wouldn’t have happened without a decision of the board. As Aleta has tweeted, she was fired. One or two board members comment here occasionally. They may comment. Or not.
I will say that I found the release somewhat disingenuous, based on my own understanding of the situation, but that’s not unusual in these situations, and it’s XCOR’s business at this point. One wouldn’t expect them to air dirty laundry.
As an outsider who has a lot of friends there (AFAIK), I of course continue to wish the company success. I assume the board acted in what they thought was its best interests.
Are there any pictures or specs in the public domain on XCOR’s orbital vehicle? I’ve seen the pictures Lynx with the dorsal pod, but I assume the “orbital plans” you ask about are something bigger?
To my knowledge, XCOR’s plans for orbit have been presented as still highly conceptual and (at least implicitly) not likely to enter serious development until after the heavy lifting on Lynx is done. That said, from the very limited amount that’s been said in public so far, the overall concept has been firming up over the last year or two.
No, no pictures or specs in public that I’ve heard of, just brief verbal descriptions of the overall concept. Which I’d try to replicate here, but right now I honestly can’t be sure what I’ve heard at conferences and what in confidence.
So Jeff had to give up a lot of equity in the various funding rounds and the funders have pushed him out in favor of “professional management”? A common, if sad, fate for founders.
The alternatives are either unlikely or rather scary.
So Jeff had to give up a lot of equity in the various funding rounds and the funders have pushed him out in favor of “professional management”?
Actually, we don’t know that.
But it seems likely. Or one has to make compromises of giving up power with the idea it’s best for the company. But it doesn’t mean it ends up as saving the company.
One say this is disadvantage of taking a slow approach, politically, the longer time of doing something gets blamed [to some extent] on the leadership. Or if there seems like there might faster way to proceed, it seems [politically] to be wiser direction.
Roughly it seems to me like half filled glass of water. It’s bad news and good news [though full glass is better news].
There more doubt, but I am not sure yet whether changes my view about when XCOR starts flying customers. Or generally have been guessing Virgin Galactic would fly first, though the possibility of XCOR or some unknown player reaching that finish line first was possible. And it seemed to me that XCOR had the general plan to “draft behind” Virgin Galactic. And that Virgin Galactic delays have hurt XCOR, rather than it been a benefit/advantage.
I don’t know how to read these tea leaves. But it leaves me with an overall impression that space-planes are suffering from bad karma these days. I was/am still partial to SNC’s Dream Chaser as probably having the most viable prospects among the space-plane designs that actually were aiming to achieve orbit. The other players, with lesser goals IMO not so exciting. In the end though, I still don’t see the logic of DARPA’s X-1 program when Dream Chaser essentially sits grounded….
The goals of Dream Chaser and XS-1 are very different. XS-1 is a launcher while XS-1 is essentially a payload. They aren’t in the same payload class, either.
*Dreamchaser is a payload and XS-1 is a launcher
Dream Chaser definitely has the cool factor in addition to some added benefits over capsules for returning cargo. I hope they do well in this next round of commercial cargo.
I guess it says something that the company that made the x37b and who had plans for an upsized crew version ended up going with a capsule for commercial crew. What that something is, I will leave up to the Alpha Nerds and space policy wonks to determine.
I’m pretty sure that the transformed XCOR will not be aiming at orbital reusables. Whether they will ever change directions, or whether the departed founders can use accumulated IP, I don’t know The larger problem for the founders may be having to start recreating the kind of “base of operations” they need.
I hear that the head of the XCOR shop floor has also “decided to pursue other interests” (ahem).
End of an era. After several rounds of preferred stock venture capital rounds, original common stock was a distinct minority, but that has been true for some time. I am super impressed by XCOR’s organization, team and story built during Jeff and Dan’s run. I am eager to here both what Jeff and Dan and the rest of the Rotary Rocket propulsion team will do next AND what XCOR will be as the leadership team evolves.