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Paypal's success came out of eBay's success. Tesla's success was the result of US government subsidies. Even then, Tesla was on the verge of failure, and Elon w

Paypal's success came out of eBay's success. Tesla's success was the result of US government subsidies. Even then, Tesla was on the verge of failure, and Elon was broke, and only loans from his network allowed it survive until it could turn the tide.

FatalLogic 4y ago
> "only loans from his network allowed it survive" You're saying this as if networking and convincing acquaintances to offer financial assistance is cheating, rather than a normal part of starting up a company Anyway, how about SpaceX? I suppose that's a similar story? It's true that SpaceX also was really on the verge of failure, and it survived because of government subsidies and private loans But there does seem to be a rare pattern of repeated success here. Elon started with ZipX ($22m in 4 years), then X.com/Paypal ($175m in 2 years), then Tesla and SpaceX. He's repeatedly creating valued companies, and in the SpaceX case, real innovation. Is this 100% luck, is it all a scam? I find that difficult to believe.
- sp332 4y ago
  It's not cheating, its just unrelated to being a genius. And Musk didn't found Tesla or SpaceX.
  - bdcravens 4y ago
    I believe he founded SpaceX (but wasn't a founder of Tesla or Paypal)
    - sp332 4y ago
      Well he founded X.com, which merged into what became paypal, so I gave him that one. I must have just misremembered about SpaceX.
- bdcravens 4y ago
  Didn't say he cheated. Just countering the revisionist history that he did it all himself, and that it has been nothing but success for him. As the sibling comment pointed out, he didn't "create" Paypal and Tesla (though he certainly has led them). He's a successful entrepreneur, but not necessarily a "tech genius".
Ekaros 4y ago
Also I believe Tesla's valuation is not inherent to company and what it is doing, but hype and our entirely broken capital system with enough players there in pumping its valuation to massive levels.

FatalLogic 4y ago

> "only loans from his network allowed it survive" You're saying this as if networking and convincing acquaintances to offer financial assistance is cheating, rather than a normal part of starting up a company Anyway, how about SpaceX? I suppose that's a similar story? It's true that SpaceX also was really on the verge of failure, and it survived because of government subsidies and private loans But there does seem to be a rare pattern of repeated success here. Elon started with ZipX ($22m in 4 years), then X.com/Paypal ($175m in 2 years), then Tesla and SpaceX. He's repeatedly creating valued companies, and in the SpaceX case, real innovation. Is this 100% luck, is it all a scam? I find that difficult to believe.

sp332 4y ago
It's not cheating, its just unrelated to being a genius. And Musk didn't found Tesla or SpaceX.
- bdcravens 4y ago
  I believe he founded SpaceX (but wasn't a founder of Tesla or Paypal)
  - sp332 4y ago
    Well he founded X.com, which merged into what became paypal, so I gave him that one. I must have just misremembered about SpaceX.
bdcravens 4y ago
Didn't say he cheated. Just countering the revisionist history that he did it all himself, and that it has been nothing but success for him. As the sibling comment pointed out, he didn't "create" Paypal and Tesla (though he certainly has led them). He's a successful entrepreneur, but not necessarily a "tech genius".

Ekaros 4y ago

Also I believe Tesla's valuation is not inherent to company and what it is doing, but hype and our entirely broken capital system with enough players there in pumping its valuation to massive levels.