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Your comment is true, they are the most successful companies to date in their respective markets. However, Tesla is the only company that makes a fully electric

by tcpekin 14y ago

Your comment is true, they are the most successful companies to date in their respective markets. However, Tesla is the only company that makes a fully electric small sports car, besides the recent Fisker Karma which has yet to see widespread production. In addition, Tesla received about $450 million dollars worth of funding from the government, which radically enhanced Tesla's production capacity and perhaps makes them look more successful than they actually are. Furthermore, I doubt Tesla is more successful than the gasoline car it is trying to emulate, the Lotus. SpaceX is also the most successful company in it's market. However, it's a tiny market with only a few companies, and receive government contracts and funding as well. I understand that the funding is orders of magnitude less than the Shuttle, that government funding is almost essential in new ventures like this, but the company would not be as successful without this additional money. I guess what I'm trying to say is that yes, Musk is extremely accomplished. He has incredibly successful companies. However, the market for small electric sports car as well as ISS delivery system are both very small with few competitors, and would not exist without government funding.

Synthetase 14y ago
You are seriously underestimating Musk's accomplishments. I take issue with your implicit stance that anything involving the government is intrinsically tainted but I will set that aside for now. The global launch market is well into the billions of dollars . SpaceX has booked over $4billion in revenue for the next 5 years. The majority of that money is __commercial__. They have the cheapest, sturdiest, most advanced technology in that sector. Furthermore, if they manage to lower the price point even further, they will open up a vast market. What happens when it is economically mine an asteroid or immigrate to Mars. They would make Pacific Union look like a tinker toy set. There is no question Tesla has the best electric cars on the market. Tesla is set to turn a profit next year. This is an market filled with incumbents and where no car company has been IPOed for many decades. They have a 30% margin product which sells out. If their government loan vanished overnight, they would __still__ be able to execute since they have money from licensing their technology to other car companies. Musk speaks of nothing less than pushing humanity forward toward. That kind of ambition will inevitably intersect with some portion of the public sphere.

by tcpekin 14y ago

Synthetase 14y ago

You are seriously underestimating Musk's accomplishments. I take issue with your implicit stance that anything involving the government is intrinsically tainted but I will set that aside for now. The global launch market is well into the billions of dollars . SpaceX has booked over $4billion in revenue for the next 5 years. The majority of that money is __commercial__. They have the cheapest, sturdiest, most advanced technology in that sector. Furthermore, if they manage to lower the price point even further, they will open up a vast market. What happens when it is economically mine an asteroid or immigrate to Mars. They would make Pacific Union look like a tinker toy set. There is no question Tesla has the best electric cars on the market. Tesla is set to turn a profit next year. This is an market filled with incumbents and where no car company has been IPOed for many decades. They have a 30% margin product which sells out. If their government loan vanished overnight, they would __still__ be able to execute since they have money from licensing their technology to other car companies. Musk speaks of nothing less than pushing humanity forward toward. That kind of ambition will inevitably intersect with some portion of the public sphere.