People Had the Wrong Impression
Musk: The goal with Tesla was to show what electric cars can do. People had the wrong impression. They thought of an electric vehicle as something slow, ugly, low range — kind of like a golf cart.
That's why we created the Tesla Roadster. To show that it can be fast, attractive, and long range.
PowerPoint Doesn't Sink In
Musk: It's amazing — even though you can show that something works on paper and the calculations are very clear, until you actually have the physical object and they can drive it, it doesn't really sink in for people.
If you're going to create a company, the first thing you should try to do is create a working prototype. Everything looks great on PowerPoint. You can make anything work on PowerPoint. But if you have an actual demonstration article, even if it's in primitive form, that's much, much more effective for convincing people.
Everything looks great on PowerPoint. But if you have a demonstration, even in primitive form, that's much more effective.
Then They Said Do It Again
Musk: After we made the Tesla Roadster, people said — oh sure, we always knew you could make a car like that. It's an expensive car. Low volume. Small. But you couldn't make a real car. I'm like — okay fine, I've got to make that too.
After the Roadster, people said: sure, but you couldn't make a real car. Okay fine, I've got to make that too.