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Very often, the first thing we do is help hard tech founders find a small project within their larger idea that fits the model of quick iteration and requires a
by ryanx435 10y ago
Very often, the first thing we do is help hard tech founders find a small project within their larger idea that fits the model of quick iteration and requires a relatively small amount of capital.
Tesla is my favorite example of how powerful this small project + long-term planning mentality can be. Their vision has always been to bring an affordable electric car to the masses, but they first built the Roadster—the opposite of a mass market car—to generate revenue to get to the Model S.
so designing and building a top of the line sports car is a small project? what?
- mahyarm 10y agoThere is this quote from a honda engineer that said creating the original 70mpg honda insight was a lot harder than creating their roadster / supercar project. So yes it is.
- dasmoth 10y agoIt's a lot smaller than Tesla's subsequent projects. Remember, also, that the roadster was based substantially on the Lotus Elise, and Lotus built the bulk of the vehicle. Look at us as a drivetrain project rather than a car project and it looks at least a bit more manageable (which isn't, by any means, to say trivial).
- FullyFunctional 10y agoI agree with your point, but just for the record: The Lotus Elise + minor delta was the original thinking, but Tesla/Elon has repeatedly pointed out that it was a mistake; the Elise frame was dramatically reworked to the point where it would have been better to have started from scratch.