Tesla
An electric car maker that builds its own key components and factories.
Tesla won by building its own factories and components, then scaling: about $30 billion invested, while Dyson quit after $750 million. Production hell ended around 5,000 Model 3s a week, after Musk admitted over-automation was his mistake. Acceleration framing (0 to 60 in 2.4 seconds), limited choice and Easter eggs drove word of mouth. Lesson: pick one dimension, stay close to production, and own your mistakes.
- 1State the plan publiclyRoadster would fund later models
- 2Execute the planFollow through on what was said
- 3Invite others to copyTesla released its patents
From Peter Sellis on Tesla
What was said about Tesla
Tesla said what it would do, did it, then invited copying. Tesla laid out publicly how the Roadster would fund later models, and it released its patents. Peter Sellis admires this as the 'swag' of stating your plan, executing it, then inviting others to copy.
The sources give no results or numbers for the plan or the patent release. The point is about the stance of publishing the plan and following through.
The same Musk-company habit: SpaceX will retire Falcon 9 for Starship. Sellis cites SpaceX sunsetting Falcon 9, the world's best launch system, because its vision needs the heavier Starship. SpaceX has telegraphed that customers will no longer be able to buy Falcon 9 rides in a few years.
Sellis says companies must be willing to build the product that competes with and obsoletes their winner, and he sees openly published 10-year plans as a mark of ambition. Quote: "just because we have the thing that is the best, we're completely willing to build the thing that will compete against ourselves". This example is about SpaceX, not Tesla.
How Elon Works
Survival in production hell came down to 5,000 Model 3s a week, a number Musk repeated like a mantra, and he admitted heavy automation was his mistake and sawed robots out. A tent line built in the parking lot produced Model 3s within three weeks, and a Roadster-powered Smart car won a $50 million Daimler stake. It got its China factory without a joint venture in 2018.
Tesla said what it would do, did it, then invited copying. Tesla laid out publicly how the Roadster would fund later models, and it released its patents. Peter Sellis admires this as the 'swag' of stating your plan, executing it, then inviting others to copy.
The sources give no results or numbers for the plan or the patent release. The point is about the stance of publishing the plan and following through.
The same Musk-company habit: SpaceX will retire Falcon 9 for Starship. Sellis cites SpaceX sunsetting Falcon 9, the world's best launch system, because its vision needs the heavier Starship. SpaceX has telegraphed that customers will no longer be able to buy Falcon 9 rides in a few years.
Sellis says companies must be willing to build the product that competes with and obsoletes their winner, and he sees openly published 10-year plans as a mark of ambition. Quote: "just because we have the thing that is the best, we're completely willing to build the thing that will compete against ourselves". This example is about SpaceX, not Tesla.
90 minutes of unfiltered product advice from Snap and Discord’s product chief | Peter Sellis
It laid out the Roadster funding later models and released its patents, which Sellis admires as the 'swag' of saying what you will do, doing it, then inviting copying.
James Dyson: 5,127 Prototypes
Tesla beat the cost problem of low-volume EV making with scale and about $30 billion of investment. Big makers ignored it for three or four years as a flash in the pan.
Making and Leading Products People Love (Scott Belsky) | Lenny & Friends Summit 2024
Tesla owners talked about the Rainbow Road Easter egg more than how the car drives, showing people rave about the unexpected.
Seth Godin's best tactics for building remarkable products, strategies, brands and more
The Model S gave people a talking point (the popping door handles) and a demo (zero to 60 in 2.4 seconds). The divisive Cybertruck ignored the skeptical pickup buyers it needed.
Just evil enough: Subversive marketing strategies for startups | Alistair Croll
It raced electric cars against Bugattis to make acceleration the dimension, rather than promising range like the Prius.
5 essential questions to craft a winning strategy | Roger Martin (author, advisor, speaker)
It got a 10-year head start because GM couldn't see how to make money on electric cars. It built a brand where electric vehicle equals Tesla.
What most people miss about marketing | Rory Sutherland (Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, author)
It offers two interiors, two wheel sizes and seven colours, which is just enough choice, unlike fully configurable luxury cars that become overwhelming and expensive.
Pattern Breakers: How to find a breakthrough startup idea | Mike Maples, Jr. (Partner at Floodgate)
Its mission is to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy, never claiming to beat Ford or Toyota. Roadster buyers wanted that future, and nobody is neutral about the Cybertruck.
Lessons on product sense, AI, the first mile experience, and the messy middle | Scott Belsky (Adobe)
Owners share a dashboard Easter egg or a Christmas feature rather than the car doing what it should, illustrating surprise and delight driving word of mouth.
Product lessons from Waymo | Shweta Shrivastava (Waymo, Amazon, Cisco)
Used as the driver assist contrast: a Tesla driver may disengage self-driving on a curvy road, because driver assist keeps the human on guard.
How Notion leveraged community to build a $10B business | Camille Ricketts
Camille worked in communications there before the Model S, driving journalists around in the Roadster and learning to know every fact and convey a mission emotionally.
Nvidia: The Machine Learning Company (2006-2022)
Tegra powered the original Model S touchscreen, which helped Nvidia into cars. Tesla now makes its own in-car inference chips but has not yet built its Dojo training silicon.
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