http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/12/ridiculous-startup-ideas_n_3071538.html Tesla appears on the list, as does SpaceX, as does Paypal - interesting that Elon is/was involved in all three:
My favorite "summary" was the SpaceX one. To me, though, this shows that with the right planning and enough tenacity even "crazy" ideas can become successful.
Note taken. I've had this thught for a while and I'm going to "put my money where my mouth is" SpaceX investor's thread
Certainly paying off nicely today for those in TSLA, wow - hovering around 46! Great article, if they only included Solar City too! Good find...
They went out of their way to make the ideas sound absurd, when in practice most of the companies in question could give pretty compelling reasons for their strategies from day one. Success stories are generally more about execution and timing than the core idea.
The FedEx business plan was apparently pooh-poohed at HBS and got an average grade. Delivering packages cross-country overnight? That plan worked out OK.
That was a Yale School of Management project, and yes, it got a barely-passing grade. "Those who can't do, teach."
I've always admired WOOT. I'm imagining them going into the banker's office and telling him they want to start a store that only sells one item per day. The next day, they will sell one other item only, and so on. Sounds crazy to me! Of course, I'm speaking of the original Woot, not the current version after they were bought out by Amazon for an obscene amount of money.