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I know we aren't supposed to judge a book my its cover and I can't even put my finger on exactly why I feel this way, but simply naming your company Nikola when
by slg 6y ago
I know we aren't supposed to judge a book my its cover and I can't even put my finger on exactly why I feel this way, but simply naming your company Nikola when your biggest competitor is Tesla has always seemed like a huge red flag to me.
- tomrod 6y agoI would have expected Edison to keep the theme consistent.
- freeone3000 6y agoGE still holds that trademark, from when it was founded (as Edison General Electric).
- frogpelt 6y agoWell they need to make electric cars then.
- topkai22 6y agoHow about an all electric Hummer? Seriously though, GM does make plenty of electric cars. Or are you suggesting they should use the Edison brand?
- zrobotics 6y agoWell, GE was making chargers for electric cars in 1914,so... http://www.american-automobiles.com/images2/1914-General-Electric-Charging-Station.jpg http://www.american-automobiles.com/images2/1914-General-Ele...
- lowdose 6y agoThat's what others would consider a healthy amount of competitiveness when you literally run against one of the most innovative companies of all time. What a luxury to witness this narrative unfolding in real time.
- gwern 6y agoYou feel that way because you realize that it's a calculated attempt to ride the coattails of an infinitely more successful and reputable company, a deliberate confusion, like if you opened a coffee chain named 'Farbucks' (slogan: "We'll make your dollar go further!"), or the small pennystocks which aim for stock tickers deliberately similar to real companies (Matt Levine covers the occasional bumps in the stocks of 'accidentally' similar stock tickers).
- slg 6y agoIs there official word on that being the reason for the name? That is certainly one of the theories I had and it shows a lack of ethics. However it isn't the only theory I had and they all looked bad. For example, maybe they weren't being sleazy and they thought this was a clever play off Tesla. It isn't clever. It is unprofessional. It also shows a lack of clear vision in that they are fundamentally defining a company based off being an alternative to competitor. This shows a lack of leadership. Or maybe they are even stupider than we gave them credit for. They saw the company was named Tesla and assumed Nikola Tesla had a direct hand in designing electric cars and were too lazy to look up the rather tangential connection between the man and the company. This shows a lack of knowledge or desire for knowledge. I couldn't think of any positive reason for the name.
- tokipin 6y agoI think it follows a general theme where some people have a "tricks"-based mindset. Some people look at Tesla and think it's just tricks. Such as the idea that people are buying Teslas because of the drivetrain - which would be a simple trick, rather than the reality that Teslas are just all-around great cars - something much harder to understand. The Nikola founder probably thought Musk had succeeded in unlocking a series of successful tricks, and set out to reproduce them. But when you don't know the reason for the formula, you don't know what steps you can leave in or out, so you just follow it mechanically.
- new_realist 6y agoI don’t think so. Nobody knows the word Nikola. That reference is pretty subtle. It’s Tesla Motors, Inc. that tried to ride the coattails of the famous inventor.
- joshxyz 6y agoTotes. Nikola Tesla himself even shook his head after learning about it.