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Comment by martalist | Hacker News Reader

While noble, it seems the opposite is true. I think most people don't care about future problems, let alone other life forms. Musk has done so well precisely because he's marketed his products in a way that they appeal to people on a personal level. I mean, he could have started with a low performance, average-looking, electric, family sedan. Instead he sold something much more emotive/egotistical, with huge success.

If you want to do the right thing long term, provide products that do the right thing and market them on a personal level.

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> I mean, he could have started with a low performance, average-looking, electric, family sedan.

There are other reasons Tesla started with a high-end model. Because building the cars was going to take a lot of R&D, Tesla supported the cost by starting with fancy sports cars, which have a better ROI, and then used the technology to manufacture less pricey cars later on.

Source (ctrl + f "the business plan"): http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/06/how-tesla-will-change-your-lif...

> There are other reasons Tesla started with a high-end model.

True, I didn't mean to imply it was the only reason - more that it's good example of appealing to human self-interest to fix a larger problem.

It is called selling! Nobody would have bothered to buy a electric car if it was launched as "family mass produced car", the reason why people are are raving about Tesla is because their cars are now a status symbol or a lifestyle symbol, just like the iPhone, Musk did his selling well.

When you are building a company, being able to sell a product is more important than just building a world class product.

The reason a high-priced car was the first offering is because that's the only way to bring the new technology to a reasonable price

I didn't mention price. It could have been a high-priced, low performance, average-looking, electric, family sedan, and it would have been more effective at transporting people (more seats in a sedan) plus better for the environment. The point is that the appearance and performance sold for personal and emotional reasons.

That only works if enough people want expensive, low performance, average-looking, electric family sedans.

Which is exactly his point?

> I mean, he could have started with a low performance, average-looking, electric, family sedan.

A lot of other companies went that way but there was no result out of it. There is a reason for the way Tesla went :) They needed a bucket load of money to finance building a mass produced vehicle.

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