EE's Profile

Would love to hear your thoughts on Tesla’s initial reliance on government loans and subsequent subsidies to fund its initial growth and to attract customers. Couldn’t verify the statistics, but many critics feel that Tesla was only profitable because of these subsidies its first year+ of production and that it has brought them over $300M between 2012 and 2014. When I first heard about the project I anticipated the end-product would be affordable, energy-efficient cars for the average user. Sure, they may have paid back loans, but in the spirit of the project, do you think they have a responsibility to expand into more of an everyday product that can really put a dent in reducing the number of traditional cars on the streets and not just a super-cool luxury car that probably price out any sort of scalable environmental gain? The US gov’t does feel a responsibility to help reduce emissions, but should they be funding luxury car start-ups?

Awesome article. Like Sinem, I find it fascinating that a notebook company has been able to find a niche and be successful in a digital age. I had no idea they were conducting R+D with digital partners, and like first poster, I am a little wary as to whether that is the right move. Usually ignoring tech trends is a kiss of death for growth, but given their core business and the eco-expressiveness of their notebook users, I’m worried that moleskine digital offerings will dilute the brand’s appeal. Sort of reminds me of Lomography – who sort of built an iconoclast culture and who struggled with whether or not to go digital or stay true to their old-school, throwback roots. Will definitely be interesting to see where they go next.

Great read about hands-down the best fast food chain in the country (in my humble opinion). My friend from high school started working there as a fry cooker when he was 16 and now makes over 140K annually as a manager. He recently completed a year-long tour consisting of 3-4 month training blocks with new employees at new store locations in Texas (as In N’ Out slowly creeps east). He stated is that In N’ Out’s greatest fear is that their quality diminishes with growth, which, as you mentioned, is why they invest so much in employees and employee training – ensuring that every new employee in Texas prepares food and delivers service in the exact same manner as store #1 in California. I really think this deliberate approach to growth will serve them well in the long run, though must admit it is an incredible display of patience as they very easily could have rapidly and successfully taken over the entire country by now. That being said, I will be anxiously looking forward to them eventually making it to Boston.