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Elon Musk is the poster boy for being mediocre but being in the right place at the right time, then leveraging power law gains after that. Enthusiasm is not a s

Elon Musk is the poster boy for being mediocre but being in the right place at the right time, then leveraging power law gains after that. Enthusiasm is not a skill.

dominotw 5y ago
> right place at the right time Curious. What was this time and place.
- luffapi 5y ago
  Born to rich parents, and the right age and location to cash in on the original dot com boom.
  - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
    Getting rich off paypal doesn't directly translate into the success of SpaceX and Tesla. Both of those were massive gambles with a lot of minute details that needed to go right.
    - luffapi 5y ago
      Yes it does. Do you think non-rich people get billions of dollars of government handouts?
      - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
        Government handouts do not guarantee successful aerospace and automotive startups. Those industries are notoriously hard to break into. Any business that had gotten to that point in those industries would have gotten those same subsidies.
        moralestapia 5y ago
        And it's even harder without the handouts, so, your point is moot.
  - slownews45 5y ago
    Huh? First - if you want to raise money today in silicon valley - the place is flooded with money. Second - elon's not (that) famous for paypal or his other earlier companies - he's famous for tesla and spacex. Even as a rich person he put a huge amount of money into them relative to net worth. Third - he did this and took on two entranched systems. In space he took on the existing govt backed space launch system type industry. These were players with BILLIONs of annual costs for very little return (SLS will be $20B to develop and $2B+ per launch). He's offering launches in $50M - $100M range by comparison. Etc etc. 100+ launches so far (SLS has zero even though govt spent many billions on it). For cars - he had to build his entire car charging network, fight dealers and their govt cronies, fight oil, all while govt / politicians were spending billions again on this hydrogen superhighway nonsense.
    - luffapi 5y ago
      Twice you say that Musk is fighting the government, but he is not. Neither Space X or Tesla would exist if taxpayers weren’t giving him billions in corporate welfare.
      - slownews45 5y ago
        In space the idea that SpaceX was the ones being subsidized vs EVERY OTHER provider is ridiculous. I mean - it's a flat lie. You need to look at what govt is paying for existing defense / industrial launches. What they spend on development. Asia / Russia / Europe and US. Atlas the govt paid $15B+ to develop and then 200M+ per launch. Most other programs have been govt funded / cost+ contracts. SLS fits this. Can you give me a specific example of the "billions" spaceX has gotten in "corporate welfare"? They are providing the deal of the century on development and ops costs, and are putting in far more private capital then most other providers as well, taking much more performance risk (ie, not all cost+ contracts) etc. The idea that this approach is somehow more costly than the pure pork style of the past is a pretty bold claim.
        luffapi 5y ago
        I did not claim Musk is alone in receiving corporate welfare. My argument is that he’s positioned to receive corporate welfare due to his being in the right place at the right time with PayPal. Plenty of other mediocre people are also receiving billions in taxpayer handouts.
gordian-mind 5y ago
Elon Musk is by no means mediocre either in intelligence or in business talent. But I guess randos on the internet will always have a godly opinion of themselves...
- luffapi 5y ago
  Elon Musk is mediocre, he’s just massively propped up with taxpayer money. There’s a laundry list of incredibly stupid things he’s done that don’t stick just because he has insane amounts of cash. > But I guess randos on the internet will always have a godly opinion of themselves... I made no comment on myself. This is an ad hominem.
pasttense01 5y ago
No. While that might be true if Elon were only breakthrough successful in only one business, he has done this in three: Paypal, Tesla and SpaceX.
- luffapi 5y ago
  Two of those “businesses” only exist because they are funded by taxpayers. It’s a form of regulatory capture Musk spun up off the back of his PayPal money.
  - b9a2cab5 5y ago
    If this was the case we wouldn't see a dearth of EV options from the competition. If regulatory capture was so profitable a big incumbent would've moved in by now.
    - luffapi 5y ago
      The automotive industry famously received billions in government bailouts. Musk just joined them in the gravy train.
  - rkk3 5y ago
    > Two of those “businesses” only exist because they are funded by taxpayers. Sure, but let's not pretend that is unique. Our government subsidize many (most?) companies in Energy, Automotive, and Aerospace.
    - luffapi 5y ago
      Certainly Musk isn’t the only beneficiary of corporate welfare. I don’t know the background of those other CEOs, but it’s safe to say if you’re getting billions in government handouts, you already have a good deal of personal wealth and connections.
codingwageslave 5y ago
I don’t believe this for a second
pklee 5y ago
I love the phrase "Enthusiasm is not a skill". I think it is great. I am not for or against in terms of your idea. I just wanted to comment on the phrase :)

Elon Musk is the poster boy for being mediocre but being in the right place at the right time, then leveraging power law gains after that. Enthusiasm is not a skill.

dominotw 5y ago

> right place at the right time Curious. What was this time and place.

luffapi 5y ago
Born to rich parents, and the right age and location to cash in on the original dot com boom.
- throwaway0a5e 5y ago
  Getting rich off paypal doesn't directly translate into the success of SpaceX and Tesla. Both of those were massive gambles with a lot of minute details that needed to go right.
  - luffapi 5y ago
    Yes it does. Do you think non-rich people get billions of dollars of government handouts?
    - throwaway0a5e 5y ago
      Government handouts do not guarantee successful aerospace and automotive startups. Those industries are notoriously hard to break into. Any business that had gotten to that point in those industries would have gotten those same subsidies.
      - moralestapia 5y ago
        And it's even harder without the handouts, so, your point is moot.
- slownews45 5y ago
  Huh? First - if you want to raise money today in silicon valley - the place is flooded with money. Second - elon's not (that) famous for paypal or his other earlier companies - he's famous for tesla and spacex. Even as a rich person he put a huge amount of money into them relative to net worth. Third - he did this and took on two entranched systems. In space he took on the existing govt backed space launch system type industry. These were players with BILLIONs of annual costs for very little return (SLS will be $20B to develop and $2B+ per launch). He's offering launches in $50M - $100M range by comparison. Etc etc. 100+ launches so far (SLS has zero even though govt spent many billions on it). For cars - he had to build his entire car charging network, fight dealers and their govt cronies, fight oil, all while govt / politicians were spending billions again on this hydrogen superhighway nonsense.
  - luffapi 5y ago
    Twice you say that Musk is fighting the government, but he is not. Neither Space X or Tesla would exist if taxpayers weren’t giving him billions in corporate welfare.
    - slownews45 5y ago
      In space the idea that SpaceX was the ones being subsidized vs EVERY OTHER provider is ridiculous. I mean - it's a flat lie. You need to look at what govt is paying for existing defense / industrial launches. What they spend on development. Asia / Russia / Europe and US. Atlas the govt paid $15B+ to develop and then 200M+ per launch. Most other programs have been govt funded / cost+ contracts. SLS fits this. Can you give me a specific example of the "billions" spaceX has gotten in "corporate welfare"? They are providing the deal of the century on development and ops costs, and are putting in far more private capital then most other providers as well, taking much more performance risk (ie, not all cost+ contracts) etc. The idea that this approach is somehow more costly than the pure pork style of the past is a pretty bold claim.
      - luffapi 5y ago
        I did not claim Musk is alone in receiving corporate welfare. My argument is that he’s positioned to receive corporate welfare due to his being in the right place at the right time with PayPal. Plenty of other mediocre people are also receiving billions in taxpayer handouts.

gordian-mind 5y ago

Elon Musk is by no means mediocre either in intelligence or in business talent. But I guess randos on the internet will always have a godly opinion of themselves...

luffapi 5y ago
Elon Musk is mediocre, he’s just massively propped up with taxpayer money. There’s a laundry list of incredibly stupid things he’s done that don’t stick just because he has insane amounts of cash. > But I guess randos on the internet will always have a godly opinion of themselves... I made no comment on myself. This is an ad hominem.

pasttense01 5y ago

No. While that might be true if Elon were only breakthrough successful in only one business, he has done this in three: Paypal, Tesla and SpaceX.

luffapi 5y ago
Two of those “businesses” only exist because they are funded by taxpayers. It’s a form of regulatory capture Musk spun up off the back of his PayPal money.
- b9a2cab5 5y ago
  If this was the case we wouldn't see a dearth of EV options from the competition. If regulatory capture was so profitable a big incumbent would've moved in by now.
  - luffapi 5y ago
    The automotive industry famously received billions in government bailouts. Musk just joined them in the gravy train.
- rkk3 5y ago
  > Two of those “businesses” only exist because they are funded by taxpayers. Sure, but let's not pretend that is unique. Our government subsidize many (most?) companies in Energy, Automotive, and Aerospace.
  - luffapi 5y ago
    Certainly Musk isn’t the only beneficiary of corporate welfare. I don’t know the background of those other CEOs, but it’s safe to say if you’re getting billions in government handouts, you already have a good deal of personal wealth and connections.

codingwageslave 5y ago

I don’t believe this for a second

pklee 5y ago

I love the phrase "Enthusiasm is not a skill". I think it is great. I am not for or against in terms of your idea. I just wanted to comment on the phrase :)