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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝗹𝗮 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗽: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗘𝗹𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗸 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟑. Two engineers start 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 to build electric cars. The dream? 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲. The reality? 𝐀 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬. Their first car, the 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫, is 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲. Investors are 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡. The founders are 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. Then enters 𝐄𝐥𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐤. Fresh off his 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐏𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, he sees the future—𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. He invests $𝟔.𝟓 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧, becoming Tesla’s biggest shareholder. At first, he 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬. But soon, he realizes: 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐁𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲. 𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟳: 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗸 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 The board is frustrated. The company is 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐡. Musk steps in: 𝐏𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐄𝐎. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟖. 𝐑𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩. Then, disaster strikes. 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲. The 2008 recession 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧. Musk makes the 𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞: 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 $𝟒𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝟏𝟐𝟎-𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐚 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 $𝟓𝟎 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧—a deal that saves the company. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻, 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟐: The 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥 𝐒 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬—a huge success. 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟕: Tesla 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐌 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞. 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏: Tesla becomes a 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲. Musk didn’t just 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐥𝐚 —he 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞. 𝟯 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗸’𝘀 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 1. 𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭. – EVs were a joke in 2003. Musk 𝐛𝐞𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦. 2. 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬. – He didn’t wait for Tesla to succeed. 𝐇𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝. 3. 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧. – He could have lost everything. Instead, 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. Most investors 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐬. 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐤 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. I hope you've enjoyed this. Follow Vishu Bheda for more such amazing business stories!