How A 34-Year-Old Audio Equipment Company Is Leading The Self-Driving Car Revolution
Alan Ohnsman , Forbes Staff
This story appears in the September 5, 2017 issue of Forbes. Subscribe
Timothy Archibald for Forbes
Inventor Dave Hall, founder and CEO of Velodyne, has positioned his company to be the leading supplier of LiDAR sensors that allow autonomous vehicles to see.
Seconds after David Hall punches in a code, the electronic gate to his waterfront residence swings open. It's a large compound but not the kind you'd expect from a tech entrepreneur who is as responsible as anyone for ushering in the self-driving-car revolution. Hall, 66, is CEO of Velodyne, the leading maker of LiDAR sensors, the "eyes" that allow autonomous vehicles to see what's around them. He lives among a ramshackle collection of low-slung, shingled and metal structures built around a concrete plot on the Bay Area island town of Alameda, California. It's his favorite refuge, equal parts living quarters and workshop, where this inveterate tinkerer and serial inventor can work on his pet projects.