My bet is either: (1) They have a solid lead we don't know about; or (2) Saying you are 3 years away generates hype and interest that keeps netting you the fu

My bet is either: (1) They have a solid lead we don't know about; or (2) Saying you are 3 years away generates hype and interest that keeps netting you the funding to work on something as long term as decades away. Even if they secretly think it is exactly one decade away, it is in their interest and the interest of the current investors to say it's only a few years away since they will depend on other investors to get piling in on this investment in 1-2 years time. My advice to anyone working on inventing something truly new instead of putting a startup together from off the shelf parts: Never under-estimate the value of optimism in your time frames and communicating that optimism and timeframe often. Every truly big idea I can think of has depended on a similar optimism since it's the only way to actually net you the amount of money needed to accomplish something truly novel. Even Kennedy did this when he talked about putting a man on the moon by the end of the decade. It took 8 years, one month and 26 days from the date of his speech to accomplish something that was pretty far fetched in 1961. Only those willing to make bold claims are capable of taking such bold claims to fruition. That's how you raise the money you need and recruit the people you need to make that a reality. Moonshot startups require a moonshot attitude.