Fail Forward #24 | Project Titan: Apple Car That Never Was: The 10-Year Disaster | Malesela & Roche
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`What happens when a continent that sparked the Industrial Revolution finds itself lost in the digital one?
In this powerful episode of Fail Forward Friday, Malesela Molepo and Dr. Roche Mamabolo dive deep into two stories that, on the surface, seem miles apart, one about Europe’s quiet collapse in global tech innovation, and the other about Apple’s secret electric car dream, Project Titan, that crashed after 10 long years and billions of dollars.
Europe’s Blunder: The Innovation Engine That Stalled
Malesela unpacks a haunting reality: Europe, the birthplace of the web, scientific enlightenment, and technological foundations, is no longer in the conversation when it comes to leading innovation. Despite inventing the matches, it never lit the fire.
Why?
Fragmented languages, stifling regulations, brain drain to the U.S., and a cultural tendency to preserve rather than disrupt. It’s a sobering parallel to Africa’s own innovation hurdles. But there’s hope—and it starts with understanding the price of playing it too safe.
Apple’s Project Titan: A $10 Billion Dream That Died in Secret
Then Dr. Roche steps in with a jaw-dropping autopsy of one of Apple’s most guarded failures, Project Titan. From 2014 to 2024, Apple secretly worked on building an electric, possibly self-driving car. 5,000 engineers. A dream born from the whispers of Steve Jobs. But in the end—no product. Just a quiet all-hands Zoom call where the project was officially buried.
Why did it fail?
A lack of vision clarity. A divided dream, was it a car? Was it software? Was it AI? A team of global superstars with no true coach. And all of it while rivals like Tesla, Google, and OpenAI surged ahead.
Lessons That Hit Home
This episode isn’t just about Europe and Apple. It’s about us.
What stops innovation? Fear of failure? Cultural silence? Lack of vision?
You’ll hear the heartache of missed opportunities and the rally cry for entrepreneurs, innovators, and dreamers: Break things. Fail faster. Lead with clarity.
The Big Takeaway
Innovation waits for no one. Regulate too soon? Stagnate. Hesitate too long? Obsolete. And if your team isn’t rowing in the same direction, even stars can’t save you.
Dramatic. Insightful. Unapologetic.
If you’re building something, dreaming of something, or even just curious about why some of the biggest names and places in the world couldn’t keep up, you need to watch this episode.
Because sometimes, the biggest failures don’t explode. They die in silence.
In this powerful episode of Fail Forward Friday, Malesela Molepo and Dr. Roche Mamabolo dive deep into two stories that, on the surface, seem miles apart, one about Europe’s quiet collapse in global tech innovation, and the other about Apple’s secret electric car dream, Project Titan, that crashed after 10 long years and billions of dollars.
Europe’s Blunder: The Innovation Engine That Stalled
Malesela unpacks a haunting reality: Europe, the birthplace of the web, scientific enlightenment, and technological foundations, is no longer in the conversation when it comes to leading innovation. Despite inventing the matches, it never lit the fire.
Why?
Fragmented languages, stifling regulations, brain drain to the U.S., and a cultural tendency to preserve rather than disrupt. It’s a sobering parallel to Africa’s own innovation hurdles. But there’s hope—and it starts with understanding the price of playing it too safe.
Apple’s Project Titan: A $10 Billion Dream That Died in Secret
Then Dr. Roche steps in with a jaw-dropping autopsy of one of Apple’s most guarded failures, Project Titan. From 2014 to 2024, Apple secretly worked on building an electric, possibly self-driving car. 5,000 engineers. A dream born from the whispers of Steve Jobs. But in the end—no product. Just a quiet all-hands Zoom call where the project was officially buried.
Why did it fail?
A lack of vision clarity. A divided dream, was it a car? Was it software? Was it AI? A team of global superstars with no true coach. And all of it while rivals like Tesla, Google, and OpenAI surged ahead.
Lessons That Hit Home
This episode isn’t just about Europe and Apple. It’s about us.
What stops innovation? Fear of failure? Cultural silence? Lack of vision?
You’ll hear the heartache of missed opportunities and the rally cry for entrepreneurs, innovators, and dreamers: Break things. Fail faster. Lead with clarity.
The Big Takeaway
Innovation waits for no one. Regulate too soon? Stagnate. Hesitate too long? Obsolete. And if your team isn’t rowing in the same direction, even stars can’t save you.
Dramatic. Insightful. Unapologetic.
If you’re building something, dreaming of something, or even just curious about why some of the biggest names and places in the world couldn’t keep up, you need to watch this episode.
Because sometimes, the biggest failures don’t explode. They die in silence.