Austin Russell is the founder and CEO of Luminar, the 27 year old global leader in automotive lidar hardware and software technology. Under Russell’s leadership, Luminar has developed the first lidar and software technology capable of power producing autonomous vehicles, has amassed over 50 commercial partners including the majority of the world’s largest automakers, and went public on the Nasdaq in December 2020 with a current market valuation of approximately $7 billion. In this conversation with Stanford adjunct lecturer Ravi Belani, Russell explains how he put his company on the path to enormous success through unconventional choices and a strong core mission.