The Musk Doctrine: Always Set Impossible Deadlines

From reusable rockets to breaking new ground in the electric car industry, Tesla and Space-X CEO Elon Musk stays one step ahead of the technology curve—and he does that by running behind schedule.

Musk sets impossible deadlines as a matter of policy, to create the tremendous pressure needed to deliver paradigm-shifting work—which explains why Musk has never launched a product on time, Bloomberg reports.

His most recent unreachable goal: Tesla’s July 1, 2017, launch of its Model 3 electric car.

"Now, will we actually be able to achieve volume production on July 1 next year? Of course not," Musk said on Tesla's earnings call. "In order for us to be confident of achieving volume production of Model 3 by late 2017, we actually have to set a date of mid-2017 and really hold people's feet to the fire, internally and externally.”

One thing would help Tesla’s chances of reaching the impossible goal: The completion of its $5B, 5.5M SF Gigafactory in Sparks, NV, set to begin operations in 2017. (Although who knows how realistic that goal is?) [Bloomberg]

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's National Newsletters
Related Stories

Texas Flips Blue, Putting Data Center Boom On Notice

Hynes Vows To Bring Property Tax Stability As New Cook County Assessor

Donalds Makes History With Win For Florida Governor, Voters OK Property Tax Amendment

Big Money Bets On SoCal Industrial As 2 Portfolio Sales Top $3B

Democrats Win Congress As America's Data Center Backlash Hits The Ballot Box

U.S. Hotel RevPAR Surges 7% In Q3, But Expect Easing From Here

2.7M SF Campus Trades In Houston's Largest Industrial Sale

Stock Sell-Off, Bond Market Jitters Signal Financing Trouble For AI Data Centers

Starwood Launches Residential Land JV Targeting $1B In Annual Originations

RealPage Antitrust Case Ends With Nearly $360M In Settlements For Renters

ZOM Living Entity Files For Bankruptcy To Fund Fight To Overturn $323M Judgment

How Colliers Engineering Helped A Struggling Dam Move To The Head Of The Class