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I'm only half way through, but so far, I find it very disappointing that CBS has not given credit to anybody else who Musk has worked with. They discuss "you d

I'm only half way through, but so far, I find it very disappointing that CBS has not given credit to anybody else who Musk has worked with. They discuss "you decided to start a car company", but it was started by two other engineers, and Musk came in as an investor first, and joined the company later. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Motors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Motors It would have been nice to see Musk give some credit to the original visionaries. He's still very responsible for Tesla's success, but it wasn't JUST him. Same with PayPal, it would have been nice for Musk to say "I stared PayPal with a few friends to..." This report sadly gives nobody else any credit in the development of this empire.

carlosdp 13y ago
To be fair, having a single face of the company being enforced constantly is probably an intentional PR decision. And it is quite effective from my perspective.
- pedalpete 13y ago
  That's an interesting perspective, I hadn't thought of it that way. My concern is that it feeds into the idea that these guys do it all on their own, but then speak to any VC, and they talk about the team.
- markvdb 13y ago
  It's also a self reinforcing loop. In other words, even if Musk would _try_ to give credit to the team, much of that would be ignored in the reporting about Tesla/SpaceX/...
sixQuarks 13y ago
Well, my memory isn't perfect, but didn't Musk try to let some other guy run Tesla, only to see it nearly driven into bankruptcy? It wasn't until Musk came back as CEO that it turned around, and is now worth over $20 billion. Of course there are countless talented people behind the product, but like great athletes, if they don't have a great coach, they won't win a lot of games. Musk just happens to be the greatest coach we've seen in generations.
tbolse 13y ago
Musk bought himself into the game. There is actually some more dirty little secrets to the whole story. It looks like Musk bought himself in and then overtook the whole company. In 2009 after Eberhard (real founder and CEO) was kicked out, he filed a lawsuite against Musk - it got settled for god knows how many dollars. Here is the full complaint: http://evworld.com/pdf/eberhardvmusk.pdf http://evworld.com/pdf/eberhardvmusk.pdf
- BHSPitMonkey 13y ago
  Is he not within his rights to buy a company and lead it to success?
- sfjailbird 13y ago
  The way Eberhard was treated was disgusting.
colordrops 13y ago
That is true, but when the reporter asked at the end "what is it about YOU that seems to invite skepticism", he replied with "I think it's because WE'RE doing things that are unlikely to succeed". At least Elon is speaking from the frame of the team and not from his ego, even if the media is not.
ekianjo 13y ago
> This report sadly gives nobody else any credit in the development of this empire. Sounds like someone who was very popular in Cupertino, too.
simonh 13y ago
Fair enough to a point, but was chairman of the board from seven months after it's founding and personally lead the design of the first car, the roadster, and even won two design awards at the time. He's absolutely earned the accolades he's got for his work there.

carlosdp 13y ago

To be fair, having a single face of the company being enforced constantly is probably an intentional PR decision. And it is quite effective from my perspective.

pedalpete 13y ago
That's an interesting perspective, I hadn't thought of it that way. My concern is that it feeds into the idea that these guys do it all on their own, but then speak to any VC, and they talk about the team.
markvdb 13y ago
It's also a self reinforcing loop. In other words, even if Musk would _try_ to give credit to the team, much of that would be ignored in the reporting about Tesla/SpaceX/...

sixQuarks 13y ago

Well, my memory isn't perfect, but didn't Musk try to let some other guy run Tesla, only to see it nearly driven into bankruptcy? It wasn't until Musk came back as CEO that it turned around, and is now worth over $20 billion. Of course there are countless talented people behind the product, but like great athletes, if they don't have a great coach, they won't win a lot of games. Musk just happens to be the greatest coach we've seen in generations.

tbolse 13y ago

Musk bought himself into the game. There is actually some more dirty little secrets to the whole story. It looks like Musk bought himself in and then overtook the whole company. In 2009 after Eberhard (real founder and CEO) was kicked out, he filed a lawsuite against Musk - it got settled for god knows how many dollars. Here is the full complaint: http://evworld.com/pdf/eberhardvmusk.pdf http://evworld.com/pdf/eberhardvmusk.pdf

BHSPitMonkey 13y ago
Is he not within his rights to buy a company and lead it to success?
sfjailbird 13y ago
The way Eberhard was treated was disgusting.

colordrops 13y ago

That is true, but when the reporter asked at the end "what is it about YOU that seems to invite skepticism", he replied with "I think it's because WE'RE doing things that are unlikely to succeed". At least Elon is speaking from the frame of the team and not from his ego, even if the media is not.

ekianjo 13y ago

> This report sadly gives nobody else any credit in the development of this empire. Sounds like someone who was very popular in Cupertino, too.

simonh 13y ago

Fair enough to a point, but was chairman of the board from seven months after it's founding and personally lead the design of the first car, the roadster, and even won two design awards at the time. He's absolutely earned the accolades he's got for his work there.