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Meh! Those "revolutions" by a single person are way too overrated. Oftentimes, things happen in science because other things that happen make it possible to hap

Meh! Those "revolutions" by a single person are way too overrated. Oftentimes, things happen in science because other things that happen make it possible to happen. As long as enough people are working on these things, they are inevitable. Same is true for enterpreneurship... however, I believe Musk is one of the few who has built companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Boring etc. which nobody else would even want to get into because they thought they were not worth doing for making money. In fact, people like Bill Gates are still shorting Tesla because they don't believe it has value. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_priority_dispute https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_priority_dispute https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity_priority_dispute https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_relativity_priority_...

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
Sebb767 4y ago
> Oftentimes, things happen in science because other things that happen make it possible to happen. Just like in business. Electric cars were pushed by Musk, yes, but they were helped by rapidly increasing battery capacity and demand through the increasing sentiment against ICE cars. SpaceX is definitely also cool, but by now every billionaire seems to have it's own space company. SpaceX is still pushing for Mars like nobody else, but it's not like the field is deserted. > I believe Musk is one of the few who has built companies [...] which nobody else would even want to get into because they thought they were not worth doing for making money. Given how many insanely valued companies we have who's business model is basically to spend VC money (see, for example, Uber), I highly doubt this. There are also a lot of small-time car manufacturers, with quite a few specializing on electric vehicles even. There's definitely money to be made in this space. > In fact, people like Bill Gates are still shorting Tesla because they don't believe it has value. There's definitely a way where you can believe both, that a) Tesla really fast-forwarded the adoption of electric vehicles and did something good and b) that Tesla being the most valuable car company on the planet is insane. I'm not saying Elon achievements are not impressive, they definitely are and his net impact is positive. But just like Einstein, if it wouldn't have been for Elon, there would most likely be another company filling this space right now.
- oxplot 4y ago
  > rapidly increasing battery capacity and demand That is solely and utterly because of Tesla. The reason for the demand was to build electric cars which Tesla and only Tesla, building butt load of BEVs required. Everybody else before Tesla showed up was either making hybrids with minuscule capacity requirement or low range BEVs in low volumes. > There are also a lot of small-time car manufacturers, with quite a few specializing on electric vehicles even. Again, all because or Tesla. They are all riding on Tesla’s success. Why do you think Rivian IPO was greater than century old car makers marker cap making multi million number of vehicles a year where Rivian made none?!! Tesla. > there would most likely be another company filling this space right now That is a pointless statement you can say about anyone at any time in history which is to say nothing. You can’t go back in time and let this play out by someone else. Elon is the one who did all this and we’re stuck with this history.
  - gigel82 4y ago
    He didn't even found Tesla, he acquired a ready-made idea / plan and just poured his (daddy's African mine) money. I'm very concerned with this cult of Elon...
    - oxplot 4y ago
      > He didn't even found Tesla What's your point? Any dimwit with a couple thousand dollars can found a company and register a trademark. > he acquired a ready-made idea / plan Plans and ideas are aplenty. If I got a dime for every time someone said they had an idea for an app at a dinner party, I'd be a billionaire by now. > just poured his (daddy's African mine) money. He poured all the money he had made from PayPal in which he had poured the money he had made from Zip2. His "daddy" gave him b/w $20K-$30K. Anyone with half decent credit history can get a loan multiple of that. I don't see millions of Elon Musks out there. And all of the above is less than $400 mil. At the time, Bill Gates, and others had dozens of billions in cash (ie orders of magnitude more money) than Elon. > I'm very concerned with this cult of Elon... I'm very concerned that people don't seem to be able to do a dozen Google searches and get their facts straight and just repeat junk they hear.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

Sebb767 4y ago

> Oftentimes, things happen in science because other things that happen make it possible to happen. Just like in business. Electric cars were pushed by Musk, yes, but they were helped by rapidly increasing battery capacity and demand through the increasing sentiment against ICE cars. SpaceX is definitely also cool, but by now every billionaire seems to have it's own space company. SpaceX is still pushing for Mars like nobody else, but it's not like the field is deserted. > I believe Musk is one of the few who has built companies [...] which nobody else would even want to get into because they thought they were not worth doing for making money. Given how many insanely valued companies we have who's business model is basically to spend VC money (see, for example, Uber), I highly doubt this. There are also a lot of small-time car manufacturers, with quite a few specializing on electric vehicles even. There's definitely money to be made in this space. > In fact, people like Bill Gates are still shorting Tesla because they don't believe it has value. There's definitely a way where you can believe both, that a) Tesla really fast-forwarded the adoption of electric vehicles and did something good and b) that Tesla being the most valuable car company on the planet is insane. I'm not saying Elon achievements are not impressive, they definitely are and his net impact is positive. But just like Einstein, if it wouldn't have been for Elon, there would most likely be another company filling this space right now.

oxplot 4y ago
> rapidly increasing battery capacity and demand That is solely and utterly because of Tesla. The reason for the demand was to build electric cars which Tesla and only Tesla, building butt load of BEVs required. Everybody else before Tesla showed up was either making hybrids with minuscule capacity requirement or low range BEVs in low volumes. > There are also a lot of small-time car manufacturers, with quite a few specializing on electric vehicles even. Again, all because or Tesla. They are all riding on Tesla’s success. Why do you think Rivian IPO was greater than century old car makers marker cap making multi million number of vehicles a year where Rivian made none?!! Tesla. > there would most likely be another company filling this space right now That is a pointless statement you can say about anyone at any time in history which is to say nothing. You can’t go back in time and let this play out by someone else. Elon is the one who did all this and we’re stuck with this history.
- gigel82 4y ago
  He didn't even found Tesla, he acquired a ready-made idea / plan and just poured his (daddy's African mine) money. I'm very concerned with this cult of Elon...
  - oxplot 4y ago
    > He didn't even found Tesla What's your point? Any dimwit with a couple thousand dollars can found a company and register a trademark. > he acquired a ready-made idea / plan Plans and ideas are aplenty. If I got a dime for every time someone said they had an idea for an app at a dinner party, I'd be a billionaire by now. > just poured his (daddy's African mine) money. He poured all the money he had made from PayPal in which he had poured the money he had made from Zip2. His "daddy" gave him b/w $20K-$30K. Anyone with half decent credit history can get a loan multiple of that. I don't see millions of Elon Musks out there. And all of the above is less than $400 mil. At the time, Bill Gates, and others had dozens of billions in cash (ie orders of magnitude more money) than Elon. > I'm very concerned with this cult of Elon... I'm very concerned that people don't seem to be able to do a dozen Google searches and get their facts straight and just repeat junk they hear.