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I agree with a few of the points, but it lost me at Tesla. I like my Tesla a lot because it’s a really well designed product, not because of some Elon Musk stor

I agree with a few of the points, but it lost me at Tesla. I like my Tesla a lot because it’s a really well designed product, not because of some Elon Musk story.

andrenotgiant 6y ago
Right, but Tesla is using a really effective story: "Space cowboy thinks other car companies are bloated and old-fashioned, builds the future with a scrappy group of dreamers" As an awareness multiplier that's in some ways more effective than the $3B+ that GM spends on advertising each year. Because GM doesn't have a good story to tell.
- indymike 6y ago
  Tesla is a great example of this maxim: "a good story is worth a thousand spreadsheets." While Tesla is busy getting ridiculous valuations, their competition is focused on traditional corporate measures of performance. It even permeates their marketing - other auto makers are so focused on segments that their stories are segmented (see Ford's rollout of the new Mustang SUV). Meanwhile, Tesla is telling a very visceral "better animal" arrives and re-terraforms the world story.
ZephyrBlu 6y ago
Doesn't the fact you even know who Elon Musk is show that Tesla has a good story? I have no idea who the CEO of any other car company is, and although I think Tesla as a company is interesting I have no interest in their cars or any other companies cars for that matter.
- mikehollinger 6y ago
  > I have no idea who the CEO of any other car company is... On the topic of a good story, allow me to introduce you to the story of Carlos Ghosn, who assembled together Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi into a single conglomerate, was arrested and possibly framed for financial crimes, and then snuck out of Japan by staging a fake party while he was under house arrest, and is now an international criminal. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/06/16/the-wild-hollywood-blockbuster-story-of-carlos-ghosn-who-went-from-car-ceo-to-fugitive/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/06/16/the-wild-h...

I agree with a few of the points, but it lost me at Tesla. I like my Tesla a lot because it’s a really well designed product, not because of some Elon Musk story.

andrenotgiant 6y ago

Right, but Tesla is using a really effective story: "Space cowboy thinks other car companies are bloated and old-fashioned, builds the future with a scrappy group of dreamers" As an awareness multiplier that's in some ways more effective than the $3B+ that GM spends on advertising each year. Because GM doesn't have a good story to tell.

indymike 6y ago
Tesla is a great example of this maxim: "a good story is worth a thousand spreadsheets." While Tesla is busy getting ridiculous valuations, their competition is focused on traditional corporate measures of performance. It even permeates their marketing - other auto makers are so focused on segments that their stories are segmented (see Ford's rollout of the new Mustang SUV). Meanwhile, Tesla is telling a very visceral "better animal" arrives and re-terraforms the world story.

ZephyrBlu 6y ago

Doesn't the fact you even know who Elon Musk is show that Tesla has a good story? I have no idea who the CEO of any other car company is, and although I think Tesla as a company is interesting I have no interest in their cars or any other companies cars for that matter.

mikehollinger 6y ago
> I have no idea who the CEO of any other car company is... On the topic of a good story, allow me to introduce you to the story of Carlos Ghosn, who assembled together Nissan, Renault, and Mitsubishi into a single conglomerate, was arrested and possibly framed for financial crimes, and then snuck out of Japan by staging a fake party while he was under house arrest, and is now an international criminal. [1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/06/16/the-wild-hollywood-blockbuster-story-of-carlos-ghosn-who-went-from-car-ceo-to-fugitive/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/06/16/the-wild-h...