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Lindsay Roberts has worked at Starship from the beginning-he is the company’s ninth employee. “It was me, my friend Andy, and an Estonian engineer. The first six months were very quiet: the average number of words spoken per day was about 7.”
Lindsay is from Sydney, Australia and has lived in Estonia for the past 10 years. Tallinn is his home. He said that working with Starship is like realizing his dream: “As an engineer, working on robots is a very unrealistic dream come true. I have always wanted to work for a company with a practical mission. At work, I feel that in Starship, we are getting closer to the future by letting robots take to the streets.”
Lindsay is currently the head of autonomous driving at Starship. He was one of the first to establish the world’s leading automated delivery service provider and witnessed the company’s growth from a small office with only one room and from 10 employees to more than 500 employees.
You are one of Starship’s first employees, how did your path cross?
My journey in Estonia started when I moved to Skype in 2011. At that time, I almost needed to change everything and take risks. One of the jobs that popped up was Skype in Stockholm, but during the interview, they asked me if I would consider moving to Estonia. I have to Wikipedia. I was with my roommate at the time. From YouTube, we clearly understand that Estonians have been staying away from kiiking (an extreme sport). The first thing those roommates ask me over the years is whether I have been “kiiked”. , How many times a day do I play?
Although, at first, I thought I would stay here for a year or two, somehow, without my plan or knowledge, Tallinn sneaked into my home. In 2014, I decided to leave Skype and go to Australia to take a break. During that break, my goal was to spend some time thinking deeply about what I really want to do in life. The next day, I received a phone call from a friend who asked if I would like to talk to Ahti about working with robots at the invisible startup now called Starship. As soon as he mentioned robots, I gave up the idea of searching for souls like lead bricks.
What is your first impression of Starship?
It’s kind of weird. Skype has hundreds of people from all over the world and has continuous social activities. Starship’s first office was five people crammed into a small room in Tehnopol. When I joined and dispersed into two adjacent, slightly smaller rooms, it was a big deal.
The first six months were very quiet: the average number of words spoken per day was about 7. There are me, Andy and about five Estonian engineers in the office. We just worked. We have nothing, which means we desperately need everything, so we sat there in silence, we wrote software, mechanical engineers designed some robots, and we tested them in a cold and humid environment outside.
Although as a software engineer, I am used to working with (and am) introverts, the biggest difference I noticed is that Estonians don’t seem to brag, and this can actually be a problem in large international organizations. At Microsoft, many people yelled their work on the roof, while Estonians made great achievements in silence. If the output is not studied in depth, management may get the impression that the loudest people do the most. In general, I think Estonians are really dedicated, proactive, and very honest. When you see emotion or warmth, it is almost certain that this is what they really feel and think about. For example, it is not a product of social expectations. Knowing that people behave in an honest way, you don’t need to filter, which is actually very relaxing.
What was the most difficult part for you when moving to Estonia?
Really not much, this is a very easy place to live. The hardest part was the extreme cold of the first winter, but when I no longer cared about fashion, it became much easier. I thought I could wear jeans and a fashionable jacket, but when I started wearing a pair of beautiful thick boots and Arctic survival gear, things went so far. Those -30° days are still extreme, but to some extent it makes you feel alive, not on the verge of death.
In Starship, you have played many different roles: you started as the head of localization, then as the head of the fleet team, and now you are the head of autonomous driving. What is the most difficult part so far?
Honestly, the first year. I started to study (robot) localization with a colleague, but it didn’t really work for a while. We have something that produces results, but it is not reliable. It took months and months to study it. For most of the time, there were no obvious signs of progress, or even any signs that we were heading in the right direction. When we did make it work, the frustration had reached an important level.
At some point, the company became big enough and I became the head of the localization team, a great person, really great years.Then I started to lead the Fleet Orchestration team because, every now and then, Ahti seemed [Heinla] Come to my desk and ask me if I am interested in trying other roles. Although these roles are always a bit far-fetched, I tend to say yes more than no, and every change is challenging, new and interesting.
What is the main aspect of Starship that attracts you?
So, there is an amazing task, using robots to deliver goods on the street, which is a crazy science fiction dream. Really, to really change something, it just might have a major impact on the world. But beyond that, working at Starship is a very enlightening learning experience. Every time I think I have an understanding of how to be influential, effective and pragmatic, Starship will teach me more. Culture is an important part of it: this is the most pragmatic and despicable place I have ever worked.
Engineers are more capable than any other place I have been to and expect to figure out what they should do. Investigate, browse data, reason, and prioritize. We encourage independence, critical thinking and autonomy. I think this is even a requirement. Working at Starship made me realize that if you hire such smart people, you should let them use all their wisdom. When you really let the five team members not only execute, but critically think about what they are doing and deciding what to do, you are actually using five times as much intelligence. This means not only soliciting opinions, but also assigning responsibilities for decision-making and priority so that people can really practice, learn, and develop habits.
It also made me realize that the best people are those who can be alone for a long time. Not only will they continue to do influential work, they will also surprise you.
Regarding your own achievements, what are you most proud of?
Over the years, I have written a lot of software, some of which are even still in use. But beyond that, what I want to say is that if I inspire or help anyone here to grow, that would be my proudest place.
What will the future bring?
Starship is affecting many people around the world, but in terms of what we have achieved, there is still a lot of work to be done. We have to improve everything, we have to make better applications, let robots behave in a more humane way, can handle autonomously in more extreme situations, and speak more wonderful words. This list is excitingly huge. ,Exciting. Of course, we must expand and bring our robots to more and more places.
Finally, I want to say that the world is changing so fast, and in many ways. But this crazy and unlikely journey is to allow robots to deliver goods on the street, automating local material transportation in the same way the Internet does for information. This is a space where real change is possible. At this point, one person at Starship can make such an amazing change for the world. Bring the future closer.
Do you want to join an extraordinary journey? Great, we are always looking for very talented people.Looking for the next career here. “
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