u/DaxPlayer

Manufacturing is likely to become one of the most valuable parts of the business for an eVTOL after certification and/or launch. Why on earth would Joby give up 51% control to Toyota this early as a pre-revenue company? Is there something we don’t know?

As PP82 mentioned in another post, “Joby signed away their industrial independence to a foreign giant…”

https://www.reddit.com/r/BigPlaneEnergy/s/2zvjSYFhVp

I just can’t see how handing over control including the majority of Board seats of your main business does not affect how investors or any party evaluates this company.

And what does this say about Joby’s defense initiatives? Are they conceding to Archer? Will their corporate and governance structure hold them back? And I thought a provision requiring Joby to obtain “Toyota’s written consent” before entering into any Government contract was bad….

There are more questions than answers. But the lessons so far for Archer and the rest of the eVTOL industry. Choose your partners carefully. Aviation isn’t an industry where you just casually give up control of critical assets. I’m quite surprised this has gone under the radar. Governance and strategic independence matters.

🚨 While An Exodus Continues At Joby, Others

One of the more interesting developments in the eVTOL sector is the number of experienced aerospace professionals choosing to join Archer from across the industry, including several Joby executives, engineers, manufacturing leaders, and policy specialists.

I first posted about this growing trend in November of last year. The list below just includes a sample of former Joby execs and employees who have since taken leadership and technical roles at Archer:

**George Kivork** – Current role: Head of State & Chief Policy at Archer. Former role: Head of State & Policy at Joby.

**Lt. General (Ret.)** Scott Howell - Current role: Leadership/Advisory at Archer. Former role: Head of Joby Defense.

Clifton Moody – Current role: Airframe Program Director for Midnight Program at Archer. Former role: Technical Program Manager at Joby

**Nahush N.** – Current role: PM (Product Manager) at Archer. Former roles: Actuators Manufacturing Lead and Powertrain Manufacturing Engineer at Joby.

**Andrew H.** – Current role: Staff Engineer, Aerodynamic Performance at Archer. Former roles: Surrogate Modeling Lead and Senior Aerodynamics Engineer within the Office of the Chief Engineer at Joby.

**Nick M.** – Current role: Sr. Manager, Equipment Design at Archer Aviation. Former roles: Manufacturing Equipment Lead and Equipment Design Engineer at Joby.

Luke G. – Current role: Powertrain Manufacturing Engineer at Archer. Former role: Manufacturing Process Contributor for the Joby S4 Electric Propulsion Unit.

**Max S**. – Current role: Staff Airframe Design Engineer at Archer. Former role: Composite Design Engineer at Joby.

Geoffrey B. - Current role: Senior Engineering Manager, Battery Management Systems, at Archer. Former role: Project Manager, Integration & Subsystem Testing, at Joby.

In addition, Dr. Limhi Somerville, previously the Head of Engineering at Vertical Aerospace joined Archer earlier this year.

Separately, another Joby executive, Didier Papadopoulos, President of Aircraft, has announced his resignation in July. No indication he is leaving for Archer, but his departure right in the middle of pre-trial phases for Joby has certainly raised questions on top of these departures.

Competition for aerospace talent is fierce making these transitions especially noteworthy. Archer continues to scale its operations, and its ability to attract seasoned aerospace professionals is becoming increasingly evident.

Nice $ACHR 10% gain to start the week! 🔥 Big Plane Energy 💪 World Cup has arrived ⚽️ LFG!

…and now the entire organization is paying for it with layoffs?

With playoff performers like LeBron (and Rui) possibly being asked to take pay cuts?

While the team’s biggest liability is asking for $200 million? 🤣

This feels like a badly written sitcom. Mark Walters, plz put an end to this. 🙏

🚨 Observations

Could Austin even make the rotation on these teams? 😂 These guards are quick, strong, play crazy D.

Definitely need a Center…and must keep Rui 🙏 Luke if possible too. These games can come down to who makes their 3s and who doesn’t…