http://www.teslamotors.com/display_data/pressguild.swf (hey moderators, any chance this post can be made a sticky?) ETA: New link: http://webarchive.teslamotors.com/display_data/pressguild.swf
We have been there from the time Tesla went public. We have a few of these (I'm sure TEG will show us more). http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/tesla-motors/189-chronicling-teslas-history.html?highlight=history http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/tesla-motors/302-tesla-history-articles-those-writing-book.html?highlight=history http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/news-articles-events/191-moved-chronicling-teslas-history.html?highlight=history http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/tesla-motors/327-general-history.html?highlight=history http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/electric-vehicles/597-times-history-electric-car.html?highlight=history http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/electric-vehicles/495-ev-history-sloan-archive.html?highlight=history
Hey Malcolm, thanks for posting this. It's a good idea to counter some of the revisionist history that EM has been spreading. BTW, did you notice the error in the date on slide # 15? It says "May 2003: 5 Employees" instead of "May 2004: 5 Employees". It's getting harder to counter the BS about who started TM, but I'm glad to see that you're still committed to it. You should change back to your old avatar... it always made me smile. :smile: All the best, Chris H.
Martin Eberhard, the founder of Tesla Motors, on Tesla Founders: If this is not a hint, I don't know what it is! :biggrin:
You probably want to add podcast where Marting goes through the slides: Lessons from the Electric Roadster (Stanford Entrepreneurship Corner)
I did a lot of reading (and watching presentations of Martin) about the beginning of Tesla and Martin's effort to make a good car and company. I have a huge respect for him and his achievement and I can't believe how he got kicked out of the company. I'm developing a EV too, and I'm very surprised how similar our routs are. I'm facing the same problems he did. Good to know that someone else succeeded in such a venture. Such a shame for the company to loose him.
From Wiki: Elon Musk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Excerpts: "Musk is perhaps most famous for his role at Tesla Motors, where he was a co-founder and the company's sole product architect and chairman of the board." "His vision was to create the Tesla Roadster as a means to that end—a car aimed specifically at affluent early adopters, who would then buy the sports car and subsidize the research and development costs of lower priced models of electric vehicles." "Several mainstream publications have compared him with Henry Ford for his revolutionary work on advanced vehicle powertrains."
Bud, we may have to start referring to him as "Elon Gatsby"... For those wondering about the reference: Jay Gatsby - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
vfx, I've long enjoyed your comments. Keep in mind that I didn’t write those absurdities. They’re from a Wikipedia article and express a startlingly different version of Tesla history. I did wonder what kind of person could have written them. Here are a few guesses. 1. Someone poorly informed and impressionable. 2. The TM CEO himself. 3. A somewhat subtle satirist. Chris, I have to confess that I never read any Fitzgerald, and that I have very little interest in the TM CEO except as it pertains to TM history. Even in that regard I now prefer to just let his words, and Martin’s eloquence, speak for themselves.
Found this article from the local paper at Hethel when searching for something else yesterday. One for the archive. Lotus to build US electric supercar - Motoring - Eastern Daily Press
Yes, Delaware is very friendly to outside companies incorporating there. Microsoft is a Delaware company, even though they were founded and are still headquartered in Redmond, WA. Perhaps there is some logic to Tesla Motors - considered the software company of automakers - being incorporated in the same state as Microsoft and others.
Tesla Founders Blog credits Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning as founders of Tesla Motors, Inc. Wikipedia includes Ian Wright as a team member, but not necessarily a founder. What was the name of the company that Elon Musk and J.B. Straubel were working at when Tome Gage or AC Propulsion suggested that they all get together? It seems like it should be possible to find the Delaware incorporation documents for Tesla Motors, Inc., and simply look at the names of the people listed. Does anyone have a link?