Stop Celebrating Prototypes; Start Planning Production.
When asked why the Tesla Cybertruck and Roadster are taking so much time to produce, Elon explains: “Design Is Easy. Production is Hard.”
Don’t get Elon wrong: He’s not saying design is not worth obsessing over or that Tesla and SpaceX do not obsess over design…
Because obsessing over design has helped make Tesla vehicles and SpaceX products as awesome as they are.
But a design on paper is easier than a prototype in clay, and a prototype is easier than a product on a production line.
The machine that builds the machine is the ultimate challenge.
Elon has said production is at least an order of magnitude harder than developing a prototype, when talking about Tesla.
So once you get a prototype to work with, you can shift your focus to finding investors and getting the funds, factory and people so you can get into production!
The rate of innovation is why Tesla’s do not have model years, because improvements are being made constantly, and certainly not at a once per year pace.
Because you’ve got to constantly innovate and iterate to create something great.
Get from the design to the prototype phase as soon as possible.
Because once you have a prototype you can focus on the challenges that come with production and delivery.
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