I'm incredibly impressed at how Tesla is managing this Model 3 roll-out. If they can get 500K people to drop a $1K deposit on a vehicle that will arrive.... sometime... this gives them half a billion dollars to play with that they don't need to raise through equity or debt financing. This is almost like a kickstarter campaign taken to an absolutely absurd level. Has ANYTHING like this ever happened on such a scale in the history of ANY industry? Let alone the auto industry? Could you IMAGINE General Motors pulling this? The media would ridicule them mercilessly.
Think about that... half a billion dollars, loaned to the company at zero interest, by half a million people with no guarantees as to when the product will arrive. If Tesla succeeds, they sell a pile of cars. If they fail, the money goes away.
Anybody who doubts the brilliance of the people running this firm should have their head examined. I confess that, despite being an enthusiastic owner of a Model S, I was having doubts about whether or not they would be able to hang-in to make this venture a long-term success. I humbly concede that my doubts were foolish. This has been managed supremely well.
Think about that... half a billion dollars, loaned to the company at zero interest, by half a million people with no guarantees as to when the product will arrive. If Tesla succeeds, they sell a pile of cars. If they fail, the money goes away.
Anybody who doubts the brilliance of the people running this firm should have their head examined. I confess that, despite being an enthusiastic owner of a Model S, I was having doubts about whether or not they would be able to hang-in to make this venture a long-term success. I humbly concede that my doubts were foolish. This has been managed supremely well.
