Something like this requires a lot of labor - so it's helpful, no - ESSENTIAL, to believe in the company. Inhale their ethos - get to know their moxie. Are they in for the good fight? Do they walk the walk? Do they kick ass and take names? Do they ship?

No relationship is perfect and it’s fair to say ours has not gone without friction over the 12 years we have known each other. Great teams push hard - you test each other's mettle. What I can say with certainty is no seven human beings on this planet are more talented, innovative, and hard working in the Automotive Software industry than Bruce Thompson and his band of brothers: Sherif, Ziad, Hillis, David, Randy, and Mark. Not least to mention their teams - many of whom I consider to be close friends.

Pearl and the brands of Pearl run white hot, fast, fluid, and iterative. But as painful as it may have seemed, for this one we had to take a small step back. To take a trip on a time machine that goes back 17 years. To analyze a team that has stayed together and have innovated again, and again. Under this team there have been over a dozen companies and monumental launches combined. (the home page of their new website does the name dropping).

The arc of success and of growth over time is the story here. Our children grew up during the time this team has been together. Families have formed, children born, mortgages have been signed, and many lives have been changed for the better. I think at the end of the day, Bruce knows this - and it plays no small part in why he’s doing it again.

“A Legacy of Invention” - the meta message behind this team underpins the force they are. It’s the rock that keeps them together. The rock on the gas pedal. They are the car in their own fast lane, reinventing every single day. Shipping....

So yeah, I’m bullish on Pearl. I’m bullish on this management team. And it stands true that nothing good comes simply. Friction is a necessary ingredient to making greatness. It's just my opinion, but this team deserves and has hard earned their success. I know the reasons run deep in their common mission. And I thank each of them for pushing hard - nothing makes me more happy than to fit a group such as this with a deserving legacy. A story that was always there - we just needed to re-tell it simply and beautifully.

Love and Respect.