5 ms·

Elon Musk is without doubt one the best entrepreneurs around - far less celebrated than many of the other 'uber' entrepreneurs around but with such ridiculously

by timmyd 14y ago

Elon Musk is without doubt one the best entrepreneurs around - far less celebrated than many of the other 'uber' entrepreneurs around but with such ridiculously awesome companies. 268 Miles (or slightly less according to the article) is just amazing - less C02, less environmental impact wrapped in a high performance car which - will no doubt - have some detractors as a first iteration against well establish models (comparing it to BMW and Mercedes who have been around for almost 90+ years is a big ask!) None the less - it's ridiculously exciting at what's been achieved and what will be achieved in the next few years in this space. I give it no more than 3-4 years until these cars will be doing 400-500 miles or more.

elviejo 14y ago
I think Elon Musk is over celebrated... He was fired from Pay-Pal He didn't start Tesla Motors (that was Martin Eberhard) He didn't start spaceX He is good at marketing though...
- justinhj 14y ago
  A similar resume to the late Steve Jobs
- is74 14y ago
  While he was fired from Pay pal, the other two claims are factually false.
  - colmvp 14y ago
    Indeed. I wish I could downvote that comment for inaccurate info.
    - elviejo 14y ago
      I've retracted my comments on SpaceX (it seems he did start that) The Pay Pal Story is well known and documented. As for Tesla Motors... I still claim he didn't found the company. Here are my sources: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4441480 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4441480
  - samstave 14y ago
    Why was he fired from PayPal? I'm not familiar with the story...
    - jd 14y ago
      From what I remember from The Paypal Wars (highly recommended): There was a culture clash when X got bought by Paypal. Elon was in charge of X and became the CEO of the combined company (as Peter Thiel took a leave of abscence) and wanted to switch from Unix to Windows. Max Levchin, the main tech guy at Paypal hated that idea. Elon initially got his way, and Max got marginalized. He then started looking into fraud cases and discovered that fraud, although low as a percentage of revenue, was growing rapidly. Max then persuaded people that the #1 priority should be to fix the fraud issue before it would kill them, and that they didn't have the time to worry about the technology stack. Elon Musk got kicked out, Peter Thiel came back to Paypal as CEO and Max managed to squash the fraud problem. Their competitors either failed to get traction or got crushed by fraud. With Paypal as the last one standing they won and got bought by Ebay. http://www.amazon.com/The-PayPal-Wars-Battles-Planet/dp/0974670103 http://www.amazon.com/The-PayPal-Wars-Battles-Planet/dp/0974...
  - elviejo 14y ago
    I stand corrected on SpaceX... yes it seems Musk founded it. But on Tesla Motors the fact of the matter is that it was started by engineers (Eberheard and Tarpenning) and control was taken away by an investor (Musk) Some facts: 1. The first wikipedia page review on Tesla Motors from Jue 12, 2006 [1]: "The firm was started in 2003 by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.... Tesla has also managed to secure initial funding from prominent investors, such as PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, and Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page." RedHerring Article July 8 2006[2]: "Tesla Motors said earlier this month that it has raised a $40-million Series C round of financing led by VantagePoint Venture Partners and Elon Musk" Finally from Eberheard himself [3]: "Mr. Musk was one of the leads I followed." [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tesla_Motors&oldid=58236565 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tesla_Motors&o... [2]http://web.archive.org/web/20060708071455/http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=17290&hed=Tesla+Motors+Powers+Up http://web.archive.org/web/20060708071455/http://www.redherr... [3] http://fora.tv/2011/05/22/Martin_Eberhard_Learn_by_Doing http://fora.tv/2011/05/22/Martin_Eberhard_Learn_by_Doing
- trafficlight 14y ago
  Elon Musk was a co-founder who had at least $70 million of his own money in Tesla. And he did found SpaceX in 2002 and has over $100 million of his own invested in the company.
  - elviejo 14y ago
    Investor != Cofounder. Cofounder is someone that is there from day 1. Tesla Roadster existed before Musks's involvement. Martin Eberheard searched for Ventura Capital, one of his leads was Elon Musk. See my other reply for the links.
    - joey89y 14y ago
      Tesla was really started by a small company called AC propulsion. They made the prototype roadster. Elon and Martin both approached AC separately to take the car to Mass Market but they wern't interested, so Elon and Martin teamed up. Elon financed the company and Martin ran it. However in 2008, after a series of massive mistakes, Elon had to recap the company with every penny he had and Martin was fired. Lesson is. Corporate history is a lot like hotdogs. They have equal claim co-founder status.
rdl 14y ago
Who (in the past 20-30 years) is celebrated more than Elon Musk is today? Other than Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Maybe tied with Jeff Bezos? I don't think "many".
- ryanhuff 14y ago
  He isn't quite (yet) the household name of those people that you mentioned, in addition to a host of others.
- clarky07 14y ago
  Maybe in the tech community on Hacker News, but ask your mom if she knows who Elon Musk is. Then ask her about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. My guess is that you get a no idea for the first.
- r00fus 14y ago
  In the startup world, more folks cite Zuckerberg and Dorsey. Hell, even Mason and Pincus get more press than Musk (though probably for the wrong reasons).
- drzaiusapelord 14y ago
  If I asked my wife today, I'm certain she's knows Jobs and Gates, maybe Bezos (and that's a big maybe) but no way would she know who Musk is. Lets not mistake our echo chamber for the world.
  - hpvic03 14y ago
    I'm sure Elon will get his due. It's just a matter of time before the rest of the world finds out about his accomplishments. E.g., I don't think many of us here on HN were surprised to see Drew Houston on the cover of Forbes.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 14y ago
      You'd be surprised. I've been hanging around here for a few years and I have no idea who he is. Although a little voice in the back of my mind says he might be the Dropbox guy.
rdl 14y ago
I think the next big innovation after EV (+ diesel for long haul, and maybe diesel/hybrid), will be self-driving cars. If you keep cars for 10 years, it's reasonable that a car bought today could be your last without a self-driving mode, even if that self driving mode only covers certain driving regimes (auto-park, which the Japanese prius did a few years ago; highway close-follow road-train mode, auto-braking (which we have now in some high end luxury cars), etc.
- ChuckMcM 14y ago
  I think your 10 year estimate is optimistic, but it is certainly coming to the point where the cars drive themselves. One of the interesting things about being driven, as opposed to driving, is that passengers rarely suffer from 'road rage.' That is a big win. Perhaps more interesting will be the transition time, that point where half the cars are self driving and half are manually driven. Will manual drivers become more aggressive because they "know" the robo-cars will get out of their way? I expect it will be less fun before it is more fun.
  - guimarin 14y ago
    I actually expect major pushback to automated cars for just this reason. and suspect that ultimately we will have to legislate that all cars be automated.
  - simba-hiiipower 14y ago
    "Perhaps more interesting will be the transition time, that point where half the cars are self driving and half are manually driven. Will manual drivers become more aggressive because they "know" the robo-cars will get out of their way?" that would be quite interesting to see. i could certainly see myself becoming more aggressive if i knew others around me would adjust without incident; though that would depend on if self-driving cars are clearly labeled as such (i.e. with special plates)
    - weaksauce 14y ago
      Actually, someone was saying that they saw a google bubble when they witnessed the self driving car in traffic. As the google car tried to keep a safe distance people kept cutting in that space and making the google car slow down even further to get the required space.

by timmyd 14y ago

elviejo 14y ago

I think Elon Musk is over celebrated... He was fired from Pay-Pal He didn't start Tesla Motors (that was Martin Eberhard) He didn't start spaceX He is good at marketing though...

justinhj 14y ago
A similar resume to the late Steve Jobs
is74 14y ago
While he was fired from Pay pal, the other two claims are factually false.
- colmvp 14y ago
  Indeed. I wish I could downvote that comment for inaccurate info.
  - elviejo 14y ago
    I've retracted my comments on SpaceX (it seems he did start that) The Pay Pal Story is well known and documented. As for Tesla Motors... I still claim he didn't found the company. Here are my sources: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4441480 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4441480
- samstave 14y ago
  Why was he fired from PayPal? I'm not familiar with the story...
  - jd 14y ago
    From what I remember from The Paypal Wars (highly recommended): There was a culture clash when X got bought by Paypal. Elon was in charge of X and became the CEO of the combined company (as Peter Thiel took a leave of abscence) and wanted to switch from Unix to Windows. Max Levchin, the main tech guy at Paypal hated that idea. Elon initially got his way, and Max got marginalized. He then started looking into fraud cases and discovered that fraud, although low as a percentage of revenue, was growing rapidly. Max then persuaded people that the #1 priority should be to fix the fraud issue before it would kill them, and that they didn't have the time to worry about the technology stack. Elon Musk got kicked out, Peter Thiel came back to Paypal as CEO and Max managed to squash the fraud problem. Their competitors either failed to get traction or got crushed by fraud. With Paypal as the last one standing they won and got bought by Ebay. http://www.amazon.com/The-PayPal-Wars-Battles-Planet/dp/0974670103 http://www.amazon.com/The-PayPal-Wars-Battles-Planet/dp/0974...
- elviejo 14y ago
  I stand corrected on SpaceX... yes it seems Musk founded it. But on Tesla Motors the fact of the matter is that it was started by engineers (Eberheard and Tarpenning) and control was taken away by an investor (Musk) Some facts: 1. The first wikipedia page review on Tesla Motors from Jue 12, 2006 [1]: "The firm was started in 2003 by engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning.... Tesla has also managed to secure initial funding from prominent investors, such as PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, and Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page." RedHerring Article July 8 2006[2]: "Tesla Motors said earlier this month that it has raised a $40-million Series C round of financing led by VantagePoint Venture Partners and Elon Musk" Finally from Eberheard himself [3]: "Mr. Musk was one of the leads I followed." [1]http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tesla_Motors&oldid=58236565 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tesla_Motors&o... [2]http://web.archive.org/web/20060708071455/http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=17290&hed=Tesla+Motors+Powers+Up http://web.archive.org/web/20060708071455/http://www.redherr... [3] http://fora.tv/2011/05/22/Martin_Eberhard_Learn_by_Doing http://fora.tv/2011/05/22/Martin_Eberhard_Learn_by_Doing
trafficlight 14y ago
Elon Musk was a co-founder who had at least $70 million of his own money in Tesla. And he did found SpaceX in 2002 and has over $100 million of his own invested in the company.
- elviejo 14y ago
  Investor != Cofounder. Cofounder is someone that is there from day 1. Tesla Roadster existed before Musks's involvement. Martin Eberheard searched for Ventura Capital, one of his leads was Elon Musk. See my other reply for the links.
  - joey89y 14y ago
    Tesla was really started by a small company called AC propulsion. They made the prototype roadster. Elon and Martin both approached AC separately to take the car to Mass Market but they wern't interested, so Elon and Martin teamed up. Elon financed the company and Martin ran it. However in 2008, after a series of massive mistakes, Elon had to recap the company with every penny he had and Martin was fired. Lesson is. Corporate history is a lot like hotdogs. They have equal claim co-founder status.

rdl 14y ago

Who (in the past 20-30 years) is celebrated more than Elon Musk is today? Other than Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Maybe tied with Jeff Bezos? I don't think "many".

ryanhuff 14y ago
He isn't quite (yet) the household name of those people that you mentioned, in addition to a host of others.
clarky07 14y ago
Maybe in the tech community on Hacker News, but ask your mom if she knows who Elon Musk is. Then ask her about Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. My guess is that you get a no idea for the first.
r00fus 14y ago
In the startup world, more folks cite Zuckerberg and Dorsey. Hell, even Mason and Pincus get more press than Musk (though probably for the wrong reasons).
drzaiusapelord 14y ago
If I asked my wife today, I'm certain she's knows Jobs and Gates, maybe Bezos (and that's a big maybe) but no way would she know who Musk is. Lets not mistake our echo chamber for the world.
- hpvic03 14y ago
  I'm sure Elon will get his due. It's just a matter of time before the rest of the world finds out about his accomplishments. E.g., I don't think many of us here on HN were surprised to see Drew Houston on the cover of Forbes.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 14y ago
    You'd be surprised. I've been hanging around here for a few years and I have no idea who he is. Although a little voice in the back of my mind says he might be the Dropbox guy.

rdl 14y ago

I think the next big innovation after EV (+ diesel for long haul, and maybe diesel/hybrid), will be self-driving cars. If you keep cars for 10 years, it's reasonable that a car bought today could be your last without a self-driving mode, even if that self driving mode only covers certain driving regimes (auto-park, which the Japanese prius did a few years ago; highway close-follow road-train mode, auto-braking (which we have now in some high end luxury cars), etc.

ChuckMcM 14y ago
I think your 10 year estimate is optimistic, but it is certainly coming to the point where the cars drive themselves. One of the interesting things about being driven, as opposed to driving, is that passengers rarely suffer from 'road rage.' That is a big win. Perhaps more interesting will be the transition time, that point where half the cars are self driving and half are manually driven. Will manual drivers become more aggressive because they "know" the robo-cars will get out of their way? I expect it will be less fun before it is more fun.
- guimarin 14y ago
  I actually expect major pushback to automated cars for just this reason. and suspect that ultimately we will have to legislate that all cars be automated.
- simba-hiiipower 14y ago
  "Perhaps more interesting will be the transition time, that point where half the cars are self driving and half are manually driven. Will manual drivers become more aggressive because they "know" the robo-cars will get out of their way?" that would be quite interesting to see. i could certainly see myself becoming more aggressive if i knew others around me would adjust without incident; though that would depend on if self-driving cars are clearly labeled as such (i.e. with special plates)
  - weaksauce 14y ago
    Actually, someone was saying that they saw a google bubble when they witnessed the self driving car in traffic. As the google car tried to keep a safe distance people kept cutting in that space and making the google car slow down even further to get the required space.