8 ms·

Elon Musk Says He Got Into The Electric Car Business Because No One Else Would

47 points by DanielRibeiro 13y ago

jonmrodriguez 13y ago
This is one of the best reasons to start a startup: Because no mainstream company believes in the product category yet, and you know that the product category needs to become huge in order for civilization to advance in the direction of self-sustaining and space-faring. This is why I started a computer eyewear company http://epiphanyeyewear.com http://epiphanyeyewear.com (before Google Glass!). I have spoken with the world experts on Volumetric 3D display tech (such as the amazing Dr. Kurt Akeley of Lytro), and it is evident that a display as realistic as physical reality can be built with today's technology. I am determined to make this happen, and I know it will revolutionize education, human augmentation, and also energy-independence (we will have to construct and transport fewer physical things when we live in a virtual world).
- grannyg00se 13y ago
  Slick looking video camera you've got there. I was really excited for a second thinking it was an HDMI display device.
  - jonmrodriguez 13y ago
    Thanks! 2nd generation "in the lab" does video out, but in our user testing, video recording/sharing/streaming has been the main use case, and since manufacturing is always very very involved, we think the sane thing to do is to ship MVP hardware with really slick software, then scale our customer base, before shipping more hardware features later.
    - grannyg00se 13y ago
      It'll be awesome if you can do HDMI video on that nice variable shading sunglasses platform. Looking forward to 2nd-gen. Is there a mailing list I can sign up for?
      - jonmrodriguez 13y ago
        You can send us an email to dev@yougen.tv and we'll add you to the app developer list. Cheers!
        skarmklart 13y ago
        Doesn't work.
        jonmrodriguez 13y ago
        Fixed now. Thank you very much for catching that.
- ippisl 13y ago
  Does this work for telepresence and if so how?
  - jonmrodriguez 13y ago
    Yes, there is a livestreaming feature! You need to connect the glasses to a compatible tablet over USB, and then you can livestream from the glasses through the tablet to our social site https://yougen.tv https://yougen.tv, or to your Facebook wall (!), or to third-party apps.
elviejo 13y ago
Except you know... Martin Eberard the founder of tesla motors. Elon Musk was an investor for tesla not a founder. just check the wikipedia page for tesla motors on its early reviews.
- elviejo 13y ago
  Here are the links that reference the early history of Tesla https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4441480 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4441480
  - hkmurakami 13y ago
    Never knew about this! I dislike how history gets rewritten in ways that benefit those with power and influence like this, so I really appreciate you having put together these links for us.
    - elviejo 13y ago
      Agreed what is impressive to me is that history gets rewritten in front of our very eyes. I was a fan of the Tesla Roadster since the beginning. the Tesla company blog was written by Eberard himself. And all of the suden everything changed lawsuits and confidentiality agreements and PR firms are trying to rewrite history. But there is plenty of people that was alive when the company started. And here we are just
  - btian 13y ago
    That so-called history is just wrong. First, Wikipedia is not a primary source. Martin Eberard is a primary source and he says that Elon Musk is a co-founder. The last time I checked there is no rule that says you can't be co-founder and investor at the same time. Also your link doesn't even state that JB as a co-founder which is just ridiculous.
    - elviejo 13y ago
      Where does Martin Eberard call Elon Musk a cofounder ?? Do you have any documentation of that ?
waterlesscloud 13y ago
And now TSLA has a market cap over 1/4 of GM's.
- jpdoctor 13y ago
  Yes, showing yet again that the stock market yields only eminently sensible valuations.
cdooh 13y ago
Whether he founded it or just funded it the basic premise of what he says is true: We can't expect science and technology to advance if we rely on companies whose very business model depends on the status quo remaining as it is.
programminggeek 13y ago
Going where nobody else will and slogging through the swamp of sorrow to come out the other side clean can be an amazing strategy... if it pans out. If it works out you look like a hero, if it doesn't you look like a fool. I look at it as picking the mountain you want to climb. You can't climb every mountain at once. Some are taller than others, some might have amazing views at the top, or gold hidden inside, and some have bears that will eat you alive. Most importantly, you can't climb two mountains at once and it takes time to get down off of one mountain to climb the next. Elon Musk is pretty good at picking mountains to climb, but he also has the resources to climb them and the will do to so. He reminds me a lot of Richard Branson or Donald Trump. When you have ambition, talent, and capital you can make a lot happen.

47 points by DanielRibeiro 13y ago

This is one of the best reasons to start a startup: Because no mainstream company believes in the product category yet, and you know that the product category needs to become huge in order for civilization to advance in the direction of self-sustaining and space-faring. This is why I started a computer eyewear company http://epiphanyeyewear.com http://epiphanyeyewear.com (before Google Glass!). I have spoken with the world experts on Volumetric 3D display tech (such as the amazing Dr. Kurt Akeley of Lytro), and it is evident that a display as realistic as physical reality can be built with today's technology. I am determined to make this happen, and I know it will revolutionize education, human augmentation, and also energy-independence (we will have to construct and transport fewer physical things when we live in a virtual world).

grannyg00se 13y ago
Slick looking video camera you've got there. I was really excited for a second thinking it was an HDMI display device.
- jonmrodriguez 13y ago
  Thanks! 2nd generation "in the lab" does video out, but in our user testing, video recording/sharing/streaming has been the main use case, and since manufacturing is always very very involved, we think the sane thing to do is to ship MVP hardware with really slick software, then scale our customer base, before shipping more hardware features later.
  - grannyg00se 13y ago
    It'll be awesome if you can do HDMI video on that nice variable shading sunglasses platform. Looking forward to 2nd-gen. Is there a mailing list I can sign up for?
    - jonmrodriguez 13y ago
      You can send us an email to dev@yougen.tv and we'll add you to the app developer list. Cheers!
      - skarmklart 13y ago
        Doesn't work.
        jonmrodriguez 13y ago
        Fixed now. Thank you very much for catching that.
ippisl 13y ago
Does this work for telepresence and if so how?
- jonmrodriguez 13y ago
  Yes, there is a livestreaming feature! You need to connect the glasses to a compatible tablet over USB, and then you can livestream from the glasses through the tablet to our social site https://yougen.tv https://yougen.tv, or to your Facebook wall (!), or to third-party apps.

elviejo 13y ago

Except you know... Martin Eberard the founder of tesla motors. Elon Musk was an investor for tesla not a founder. just check the wikipedia page for tesla motors on its early reviews.

elviejo 13y ago
Here are the links that reference the early history of Tesla https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4441480 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4441480
- hkmurakami 13y ago
  Never knew about this! I dislike how history gets rewritten in ways that benefit those with power and influence like this, so I really appreciate you having put together these links for us.
  - elviejo 13y ago
    Agreed what is impressive to me is that history gets rewritten in front of our very eyes. I was a fan of the Tesla Roadster since the beginning. the Tesla company blog was written by Eberard himself. And all of the suden everything changed lawsuits and confidentiality agreements and PR firms are trying to rewrite history. But there is plenty of people that was alive when the company started. And here we are just
- btian 13y ago
  That so-called history is just wrong. First, Wikipedia is not a primary source. Martin Eberard is a primary source and he says that Elon Musk is a co-founder. The last time I checked there is no rule that says you can't be co-founder and investor at the same time. Also your link doesn't even state that JB as a co-founder which is just ridiculous.
  - elviejo 13y ago
    Where does Martin Eberard call Elon Musk a cofounder ?? Do you have any documentation of that ?

waterlesscloud 13y ago

And now TSLA has a market cap over 1/4 of GM's.

jpdoctor 13y ago
Yes, showing yet again that the stock market yields only eminently sensible valuations.

cdooh 13y ago

Whether he founded it or just funded it the basic premise of what he says is true: We can't expect science and technology to advance if we rely on companies whose very business model depends on the status quo remaining as it is.

programminggeek 13y ago

Going where nobody else will and slogging through the swamp of sorrow to come out the other side clean can be an amazing strategy... if it pans out. If it works out you look like a hero, if it doesn't you look like a fool. I look at it as picking the mountain you want to climb. You can't climb every mountain at once. Some are taller than others, some might have amazing views at the top, or gold hidden inside, and some have bears that will eat you alive. Most importantly, you can't climb two mountains at once and it takes time to get down off of one mountain to climb the next. Elon Musk is pretty good at picking mountains to climb, but he also has the resources to climb them and the will do to so. He reminds me a lot of Richard Branson or Donald Trump. When you have ambition, talent, and capital you can make a lot happen.