Fireside Chat with Elon Musk - 2012/7/12

[Norbert]

Great interview! Too bad he was under time pressure...

Liked the stuff about high altitude electric jets and "Hyperloops". 30 min downtown SF to downtown LA? Who is going to believe that, except us?

And something like: Tesla can become a very valuable company... He won't step back from being a CEO until electric cars made it to majority...

 

[doug]

Man, the host certainly is entertaining.

Just getting a chance to take a look at this.
Haha, the host is Sarah Lacy. I met her a couple times when she was at TechCrunch. She's the interviewer that got Elon on video calling this New York Times guy a "douche bag and an idiot!"

 

[TEG]

And you will soon find out the one other term that they edited out...

 

[TEG]

The video was streaming for the first hour while they were waiting for E to show up.
It was rather 'interesting' watching them try to keep the audience in line during that time.
Also it looks like the first part of the interview may have been dropped on the replay.

 

[AnOutsider]

Biggest dagger was the revokation of the DOE loan and the biggest boon to Tesla was getting the DOE loan. Tesla would be out of business if they did not get the 465 million from the DOE. Fisker was banking on this loan but it was pulled due to politics and some other unknown condition that was not met. Remember, Fisker is still privately run, it is not known exactly how much cash they have on hand. From what I am reading here it seems as if Musks' comments were tongue in cheek. Perhaps a bit angered by the lost lawsuit & the VC cap that was supposed to back tesla, now backing fisker.

At this point in Tesla's history (if superimosed on where Fisker is after delivering first cars) things were way more grim from Tesla (2008?)

Politics? Perhaps a bit, but let's face it. They were supposed to deliver a car last April, pretended like they were on time, then threw multiple scapegoats out into the public view to blame for the car not being out. When those "hurdles" were crossed, they STILL didn't make deliveries -- why? Because they weren't ready. The official reason for the pull was them not making deadlines -- based on what was seen publicly, it's 100% valid regardless of current political climate.

As for the loan, Fisker was approved for 529 million (339 still outstanding), and Tesla for 465 million. Tesla has (I believe) fully drawn down their loan and are on track to begin scheduled repayments at the end of this year. Fisker not only got more money granted to them, but has also raised 1 billion privately and is still seeking more after having their funds frozen. I say this to illustrate that I doubt Elon cares very much who's backing Fisker, or if he did, he's feeling pretty vindicated right now. It's clear which business is better positioned to succeed at this point, and it's not because they tackled the problem of car styling.

 

[Tempus]

thanks for the link - was really interesting to watch. I especially enjoyed the entire segment on Elon's "other" 4 ideas. Yeah - the hyperloop sounded very cool He really is just an interesting person to hear speak - at least when he's not nervous about being up in front of a big crowd.

 

[tdelta1000]

Just saw this on Twitter: http://new.livestream.com/pandodaily/elonmusk

Thanks for sharing this nugget with us all. I enjoyed watching the video and came away with a greater understanding of Mr. Musk because he is the Nikola Tesla of our time.

His ideas are expansive but feasible therefore I look forward to my (Model S) slice of his genius.

 

[smoothoperator]

Politics? Perhaps a bit, but let's face it. They were supposed to deliver a car last April, pretended like they were on time, then threw multiple scapegoats out into the public view to blame for the car not being out. When those "hurdles" were crossed, they STILL didn't make deliveries -- why? Because they weren't ready. The official reason for the pull was them not making deadlines -- based on what was seen publicly, it's 100% valid regardless of current political climate.

As for the loan, Fisker was approved for 529 million (339 still outstanding), and Tesla for 465 million. Tesla has (I believe) fully drawn down their loan and are on track to begin scheduled repayments at the end of this year. Fisker not only got more money granted to them, but has also raised 1 billion privately and is still seeking more after having their funds frozen. I say this to illustrate that I doubt Elon cares very much who's backing Fisker, or if he did, he's feeling pretty vindicated right now. It's clear which business is better positioned to succeed at this point, and it's not because they tackled the problem of car styling.

Why would he even talk about the VC firm that was supposed to back Tesla that now backs Fisker? Its obviously a shot at Fisker and that VC firm...Why even talk about Fisker?

We really do not know the reason I heard it was because of the Nina & the factory, the car that was supposed to be delivered last April was the Karma...See what I mean even you are not sure why :biggrin:

Tesla did the same thing with the roadster...Look at where Tesla has been and you will see a lot of similarities.

 

[AnOutsider]

We really do not know the reason I heard it was because of the Nina & the factory, the car that was supposed to be delivered last April was the Karma...See what I mean even you are not sure why :biggrin:

Should I be? Am I an insider? Nope, AnOutsider. Point is, the Karma was late, and if it's true the Nina development was delayed, that doesn't help the case that Fisker isn't doing what it needs to do to keep with the terms of its loan.

Coincidence?

Ultra-efficient 4,000 mph vacuum-tube trains – why aren't they being built?

Might just be my ignorance, but so much about that worries me. Traveling in a vacuum? Traveling at those speeds?

 

[vfx]

That was good.

Elon spends alot of time think about traffic problems. Yaay.

Don't forget Henry Fisker bailed and there was a lawsuit Tesla lost.

 

[NigelM]

@Doug: Request to change thread title please. When I posted this it was imminent so I included "Live now" so people would notice. Maybe change to simply "Fireside Chat with Elon Musk"

I've updated the OP with the archive information.

 

[vfx]

You know what I hate?

Fireside chats that don't even make an attempt at putting up a fire.

 

[zack]

Watching that was about as delightful an experience as I've had since my Sport was delivered. What a wonderfully candid man.

 

[raymond]

Watching that was about as delightful an experience as I've had since my Sport was delivered. What a wonderfully candid man.

All the bickering in this thread aside, that really was a very enjoyable video! It did make me wonder about how much credit should go to Elon for making Tesla and SpaceX work out the way they did. On the one hand both companies are very much a team effort, but I also know that one man pointing in the right direction can make a huge difference.

The slightly non-polished and sometimes even a bit awkward way of presenting himself suit Elon perfectly.

Thanks for posting that link!

 

[Bound466]

That was a great interview, I really enjoyed that. Love the way he thinks - BIG. He understands that great engineering is where great technology starts, not just an afterthought.

A great sense of humor too. I loved the "watch this" moment referencing when his McLaren F1 went out of control when trying to show off its performance to a business friend - the risky maneuver initiated by Elon telling him "watch this". And then the interviewer sets up an analogy asking him if this is how he runs his companies. Elon responds with a firm "no", but then bestows upon us a funny visual of him at his next rocket launch, and right before the launch saying "watch this" - leaving the audience to imagine him initiating a risky show-off maneuver with the rocket with the same outcome as his F1. Too funny. A perfect response to that legit question.

 

[Charged_Up]

Watching that was about as delightful an experience as I've had since my Sport was delivered. What a wonderfully candid man.

I had a chance to catch the interview also, and since I logged in about an hour late, I was just in time to catch the start.:biggrin:

What I enjoy about listening to Elon, other than admiring his serial success and obvious engineering drive and intelligence is how he almost can't help himself when it comes to his true feelings. The segment about Fisker and John Doerr was a classic. You could just see how he must have tried to convince Kleiner Perkins that they were making a big mistake just based on the engineering. And his view of the Fisker from an engineering point was quite obvious, even though I'm sure he's been warned a thousand times not to take shots at them. I remember seeing another interview where someone asked him about BYD and he just involuntarily laughed - with the obvious conclusion that they were so far off the radar screen compared to the doings at Tesla as to not be taken seriously at this point. It's just refreshing to see someone who is so obviously intelligent and yet willing to take shots at himself. The only unfortunate aspect of his truly wonderful success to date is the home life. Maybe, one day, like Warren Buffett, he will figure out how to arrange things so as to be able to do everything he wants to do with the time to do it.

 

[ckessel]

It was interesting, and perhaps a little sad, that some of of the things he wanted to do, hyperloop and electric plane for example, are really beyond the means of an individual. Even one as wealthy as he is. If building a car is capital intensive, what must a plane be like? And it's hard to even fathom the resources required for a hyperloop.

I say "a little sad" because it's a shame that's out of his personal reach, but maybe he'll find a way. Once Tesla and SpaceX are well established, maybe he'll have enough clout regarding accomplishing the impossible to get one of those huge ideas funded.

 

[doug]

All the bickering in this thread aside, that really was a very enjoyable video!

Agree that the bickering detracted from the thread, though the topic has it's merits.

I split that stuff off to here: Fisker, Tesla, and their DOE loans

 

[brianman]

Elon ... almost can't help himself when it comes to his true feelings.
The only unfortunate aspect of his truly wonderful success to date is the home life.

He has to find a partner who can accept and appreciate this character attribute (even when it's a flaw), and is somehow engaged in his work activities so that work is no longer the "mistress" to compete with.

For example, combining the wife role with personal assistant might be one way to pull that off.

 

[Doug_G]

For example, combining the wife role with personal assistant might be one way to pull that off.

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