Tesla’s Taking over the World, and Other Things I’m Watching This Week

In between following the latest NBA trade rumors and binge-listening to the La La Land soundtrack, here are three things that have caught my eye so far this week.
1. Tesla’s shareholder letter:
Tesla is one of the most innovative companies in the world today, guided by visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk. In Tesla’s latest letter to shareholders, Musk shares more of his vision and strategy for the company in the coming years. This includes:
- Starting production of Tesla’s new Model 3 electric car this summer. The Model 3 is a mass-market electric car that will start at $35,000. When Tesla unveiled the car last year, the company received 400,000 preorders for a car that wouldn’t start production for more than a year. How many people would preorder a car from Toyota, GM, or Ford?
- Launching the Solar Roof later this year. These are roof tiles that generate electricity through solar energy… and Musk claims they will look better, last longer, and cost less than traditional roof tiles. Not too shabby if Tesla can pull it off.
- Starting and expanding production of the Gigafactory, a massive lithium-ion battery factory in Nevada expected to produce more lithium-ion batteries than the rest of the world combined. (This level of battery production is necessary to bring costs down for the Model 3 and make electric cars more affordable.)
- More details on the company’s progress with autonomous driving (think self-driving cars) and plans to expand into a ride-hailing service (similar to Uber) in the coming years. Research shows that Tesla vehicles with Autopilot enabled (its autonomous driving capability) were involved in 40% less crashes. This technology has huge implications to save tens of thousands of lives every year by reducing auto accidents.
Whether Tesla meets any of its ambitious goals in the coming years remains to be seen, but this is one fun story to follow that could bring profound changes to the world.
2. Sam Walton’s Top 10 Rules For Success:
People often have a negative perception of Wal-Mart, but you might like Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton more than you’d expect. Walton was a down-to-earth entrepreneur who started with a single retail store in a small Arkansas town and persisted to build the largest retail chain on the planet in the ensuing decades — with the goal of reducing the cost of living for his customers. This video highlights some of the key principles that guided Walton through his life.
3. This picture:
The smallest iPhone 7 has the equivalent space of 6,400 of these IBM hard drives from 1956. Keep that in mind next time you flip out when Snapchat takes a few extra seconds to load.
