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在埃隆·马斯克之前,还有双马(马丁和马克)。马丁·艾伯哈德(Martin Eberhard)于1982年在伊利诺伊大学(University of Illinois)获得计算机工程学士学位,之后在硅谷开始了职业生涯。在那里,他遇到了马克·塔彭宁(Marc Tarpenning),后者获得了加州大学伯克利分校(UC Berkeley)的计算机工程学士学位。1997年,他们共同成立了一家名为NuvoMedia的公司,开发并销售首批电子阅读器之一Rocketbooks。该公司取得了一定的成功,2000年,媒体公司Gemstar-TV Guide International以1.87亿美元的价格收购了这家公司。与此同时,马丁和马克已经衣食无忧,但却有各种新思路,因此,他们把创业的目光投向了制造电动汽车。
2003年7月,艾伯哈德和塔彭宁怀着对汽车的热情,以及对依赖进口石油和气候变化的担忧,创立了特斯拉汽车公司,分别担任首席执行官和首席财务官。两人制定了一套三项指导原则:
•电动汽车不应是一种妥协。有了正确的技术选择,就有可能制造出比竞争对手更好的电动汽车。
•电池技术是电动汽车成功的关键。锂离子电池不仅适用于汽车,还是改变游戏规则的创新技术,可实现相当长的行驶里程。
•如果设计得当,电动汽车甚至可以吸引最狂热的汽车发烧友,因为电动汽车的性能远远超过内燃机。
几个月后,伊恩·赖特(Ian Wright)加入了双马拍档,斯特劳贝尔(J.B. Straubel)于2004年5月出任首席技术官。直到2004年2月,埃隆·马斯克才首次亮相,两年前他出售贝宝(PayPal)获得了1亿美元的巨额收益。在该集团筹集的750万美元A轮融资中,马斯克提供了近90%的资金,并成为特斯拉董事会主席和最大股东。这项投资最终使马斯克成为地球上最富有的人,斯特劳贝尔成为亿万富翁。其他三位创始人并没有从特斯拉的财务收益中获得如此丰厚的收益。在艾伯哈德提起诉讼后,双方于2009年达成和解,同意特斯拉有五位创始人,按照加入公司的先后顺序,依次为艾伯哈德、塔彭宁、赖特、斯特劳贝尔、马斯克。
创始人的战略是首次推出一款面向早期用户的高端跑车。这样一来,在建立公司和转变供应网络(实际上是发展供应网络)的同时,实现溢价定价和盈利(生存?),然后再转向主流汽车和经济型紧凑车。在接下来的几年里,该公司完成了三轮融资,获得了超过1亿美元的投资,谷歌联合创始人谢尔盖·布林(Sergey Brin)和拉里·佩奇(Larry Page),以及eBay总裁杰夫·斯科尔(Jeff Skoll)等科技行业巨头也纷纷加入。马斯克在硅谷和风险投资行业的深厚人脉无疑是这家新兴公司取得成功的基础要素。与此同时,艾伯哈德、塔彭宁、赖特和斯特劳贝尔的动力、信念和持久的激情也是不可或缺的。然而,俗话说“战利品属于获胜者”,而且往往只有一个获胜者。
该公司的第一款车型Roadster概念车原本计划在2006年首次亮相时定位为一款超高端汽车,定价超过10万美元,约合现在的15万美元。到2005年1月,特斯拉的员工人数已增加到几十人,并在加利福尼亚州圣卡洛斯的一栋两层工业厂房中制作原型车。该公司在当月完成了四分之一比例的模型,并在4月中旬完成了全尺寸模型。到2006年5月,该公司的员工人数已超过100人,并相信自己已经拥有一款成功的产品。塔彭宁当时说:“你能感觉到:这是一辆真正的汽车,非常令人兴奋。”如此令人兴奋,以至于施瓦辛格为该车的首次亮相助了一臂之力:2006年9月25日,《美国汽车新闻》(Automotive News)上刊登了一张斯特劳贝尔和施瓦辛格一起乘坐该车的照片。
特斯拉实现规模化生产
只是出现了一个小问题。手工打造一辆概念车和在任何负担能力水平上批量生产一辆概念车之间的差异是巨大的。汽车制造商通常会花费数百万美元手工打造一款无法批量生产的概念车。其中一个主要原因是向客户展示潜在的功能和技术,而这些功能和技术可能在几年后才会进入市场。
2006年,特斯拉试图向沉迷于内燃机的公众展示一款使用电力的概念车。从概念车到大规模生产并销售给成千上万人是一个巨大的飞跃。
正如阿诺德·施瓦辛格曾被拍到驾驶第一辆悍马(Hummer)的照片——悍马在停产前曾有过辉煌的表现,而在特斯拉早期的一张照片中,斯特劳贝尔与阿诺德一起乘坐Roadster跑车原型车。这位“终结者”(The Terminator,施瓦辛格主演的电影)称该跑车很“酷炫”。阿诺德的支持带来巨大的营销成功,但这还不足以成功推出一个新的汽车品牌。在特斯拉之前,最后一个全新的美国品牌是诞生于1925年的克莱斯勒(Chrysler)。
该公司最终推向市场的Roadster跑车驾驶异常平稳,但从2006年的概念车到“实现成功”就像驾驶一辆福特T型车(Tin Lizzie)在未铺设好的道路上行驶一样——故障频频发生。第一个和第二个传动装置/动力管理系统都出现故障,因此必须进行第三次努力。寻找供应商就像单腿攀登珠穆朗玛峰一样。其中一步是在泰国距离曼谷以南三小时车程的地方建立电池工厂。由于极端高温,合作供应商使用的厂房主要是开放式的。虽然这对该公司生产的炉子和轮胎很有效,但对于特斯拉需要的灵敏得多的电池来说,就是彻底的失败。最终,特斯拉支付了7万多美元,通过温度控制和干板墙来改善条件。此外,特斯拉的外籍员工花了数百小时的时间,试图培训泰国工人正确处理易碎电子产品的细节。这一充满挑战的环节被重复了多次,只是细节略有不同。
2007年8月,曾担任首席执行官的艾伯哈德被董事会要求卸任,并被授予“技术总裁”的头衔,最终于2008年1月离职。曾担任电气工程副总裁的马克·塔彭宁也在同一时间离职。与此同时,TheTruthAboutCars.com网站推出了“特斯拉死亡观察”专题:这家公司烧钱的速度比奥运会短跑运动员冲刺100米还要快。
2008年12月,第五轮融资又注入了4000万美元,2009年6月,特斯拉获准从美国能源部(US Department of Energy)获得4.65亿美元的低息贷款。此时,埃隆已自掏腰包7000万美元,大约相当于他从贝宝出售给eBay的交易中获得的报酬的一半。他确实心甘情愿注入资金。
两位联合创始人在特斯拉工作之后,又在电动汽车领域做出了更多努力。斯特劳贝尔创办了红木材料公司(Redwood Materials),旨在通过回收生产锂离子的电池材料。2022年6月21日,丰田(Toyota)和红木材料公司宣布合作开发闭环电动汽车电池生态系统。当时,红木材料公司每年处理6千兆瓦时的电池,大约足以为16万辆汽车提供动力,其既定目标是到2025年增长到100千兆瓦时,每年生产100万辆汽车。2019年,艾伯哈德创立了Tiveni,目标是制造智能电池系统,该公司又于2022年9月被美国电池制造商American Battery Solutions收购。
经典的产品生命周期有四个阶段:诞生、成长、成熟和衰退/死亡。Roadster跑车引领特斯拉、马斯克和斯特劳贝尔走过了诞生阶段。Model S使公司过渡到成长阶段。该公司生产并销售了2400辆Roadster跑车,还不到通用汽车(General Motors)或本田(Honda)等传统制造商一周的产量。然而,这足以让公司维持运营,直到研发出Model S(其生产和销售速度要快得多)。2015年元旦,该公司的估值为350亿美元,生产了大约6万辆汽车,每辆汽车约60万美元。(财富中文网)
译者:中慧言-王芳
在埃隆·马斯克之前,还有双马(马丁和马克)。马丁·艾伯哈德(Martin Eberhard)于1982年在伊利诺伊大学(University of Illinois)获得计算机工程学士学位,之后在硅谷开始了职业生涯。在那里,他遇到了马克·塔彭宁(Marc Tarpenning),后者获得了加州大学伯克利分校(UC Berkeley)的计算机工程学士学位。1997年,他们共同成立了一家名为NuvoMedia的公司,开发并销售首批电子阅读器之一Rocketbooks。该公司取得了一定的成功,2000年,媒体公司Gemstar-TV Guide International以1.87亿美元的价格收购了这家公司。与此同时,马丁和马克已经衣食无忧,但却有各种新思路,因此,他们把创业的目光投向了制造电动汽车。
2003年7月,艾伯哈德和塔彭宁怀着对汽车的热情,以及对依赖进口石油和气候变化的担忧,创立了特斯拉汽车公司,分别担任首席执行官和首席财务官。两人制定了一套三项指导原则:
•电动汽车不应是一种妥协。有了正确的技术选择,就有可能制造出比竞争对手更好的电动汽车。
•电池技术是电动汽车成功的关键。锂离子电池不仅适用于汽车,还是改变游戏规则的创新技术,可实现相当长的行驶里程。
•如果设计得当,电动汽车甚至可以吸引最狂热的汽车发烧友,因为电动汽车的性能远远超过内燃机。
几个月后,伊恩·赖特(Ian Wright)加入了双马拍档,斯特劳贝尔(J.B. Straubel)于2004年5月出任首席技术官。直到2004年2月,埃隆·马斯克才首次亮相,两年前他出售贝宝(PayPal)获得了1亿美元的巨额收益。在该集团筹集的750万美元A轮融资中,马斯克提供了近90%的资金,并成为特斯拉董事会主席和最大股东。这项投资最终使马斯克成为地球上最富有的人,斯特劳贝尔成为亿万富翁。其他三位创始人并没有从特斯拉的财务收益中获得如此丰厚的收益。在艾伯哈德提起诉讼后,双方于2009年达成和解,同意特斯拉有五位创始人,按照加入公司的先后顺序,依次为艾伯哈德、塔彭宁、赖特、斯特劳贝尔、马斯克。
创始人的战略是首次推出一款面向早期用户的高端跑车。这样一来,在建立公司和转变供应网络(实际上是发展供应网络)的同时,实现溢价定价和盈利(生存?),然后再转向主流汽车和经济型紧凑车。在接下来的几年里,该公司完成了三轮融资,获得了超过1亿美元的投资,谷歌联合创始人谢尔盖·布林(Sergey Brin)和拉里·佩奇(Larry Page),以及eBay总裁杰夫·斯科尔(Jeff Skoll)等科技行业巨头也纷纷加入。马斯克在硅谷和风险投资行业的深厚人脉无疑是这家新兴公司取得成功的基础要素。与此同时,艾伯哈德、塔彭宁、赖特和斯特劳贝尔的动力、信念和持久的激情也是不可或缺的。然而,俗话说“战利品属于获胜者”,而且往往只有一个获胜者。
该公司的第一款车型Roadster概念车原本计划在2006年首次亮相时定位为一款超高端汽车,定价超过10万美元,约合现在的15万美元。到2005年1月,特斯拉的员工人数已增加到几十人,并在加利福尼亚州圣卡洛斯的一栋两层工业厂房中制作原型车。该公司在当月完成了四分之一比例的模型,并在4月中旬完成了全尺寸模型。到2006年5月,该公司的员工人数已超过100人,并相信自己已经拥有一款成功的产品。塔彭宁当时说:“你能感觉到:这是一辆真正的汽车,非常令人兴奋。”如此令人兴奋,以至于施瓦辛格为该车的首次亮相助了一臂之力:2006年9月25日,《美国汽车新闻》(Automotive News)上刊登了一张斯特劳贝尔和施瓦辛格一起乘坐该车的照片。
特斯拉实现规模化生产
只是出现了一个小问题。手工打造一辆概念车和在任何负担能力水平上批量生产一辆概念车之间的差异是巨大的。汽车制造商通常会花费数百万美元手工打造一款无法批量生产的概念车。其中一个主要原因是向客户展示潜在的功能和技术,而这些功能和技术可能在几年后才会进入市场。
2006年,特斯拉试图向沉迷于内燃机的公众展示一款使用电力的概念车。从概念车到大规模生产并销售给成千上万人是一个巨大的飞跃。
正如阿诺德·施瓦辛格曾被拍到驾驶第一辆悍马(Hummer)的照片——悍马在停产前曾有过辉煌的表现,而在特斯拉早期的一张照片中,斯特劳贝尔与阿诺德一起乘坐Roadster跑车原型车。这位“终结者”(The Terminator,施瓦辛格主演的电影)称该跑车很“酷炫”。阿诺德的支持带来巨大的营销成功,但这还不足以成功推出一个新的汽车品牌。在特斯拉之前,最后一个全新的美国品牌是诞生于1925年的克莱斯勒(Chrysler)。
该公司最终推向市场的Roadster跑车驾驶异常平稳,但从2006年的概念车到“实现成功”就像驾驶一辆福特T型车(Tin Lizzie)在未铺设好的道路上行驶一样——故障频频发生。第一个和第二个传动装置/动力管理系统都出现故障,因此必须进行第三次努力。寻找供应商就像单腿攀登珠穆朗玛峰一样。其中一步是在泰国距离曼谷以南三小时车程的地方建立电池工厂。由于极端高温,合作供应商使用的厂房主要是开放式的。虽然这对该公司生产的炉子和轮胎很有效,但对于特斯拉需要的灵敏得多的电池来说,就是彻底的失败。最终,特斯拉支付了7万多美元,通过温度控制和干板墙来改善条件。此外,特斯拉的外籍员工花了数百小时的时间,试图培训泰国工人正确处理易碎电子产品的细节。这一充满挑战的环节被重复了多次,只是细节略有不同。
2007年8月,曾担任首席执行官的艾伯哈德被董事会要求卸任,并被授予“技术总裁”的头衔,最终于2008年1月离职。曾担任电气工程副总裁的马克·塔彭宁也在同一时间离职。与此同时,TheTruthAboutCars.com网站推出了“特斯拉死亡观察”专题:这家公司烧钱的速度比奥运会短跑运动员冲刺100米还要快。
2008年12月,第五轮融资又注入了4000万美元,2009年6月,特斯拉获准从美国能源部(US Department of Energy)获得4.65亿美元的低息贷款。此时,埃隆已自掏腰包7000万美元,大约相当于他从贝宝出售给eBay的交易中获得的报酬的一半。他确实心甘情愿注入资金。
两位联合创始人在特斯拉工作之后,又在电动汽车领域做出了更多努力。斯特劳贝尔创办了红木材料公司(Redwood Materials),旨在通过回收生产锂离子的电池材料。2022年6月21日,丰田(Toyota)和红木材料公司宣布合作开发闭环电动汽车电池生态系统。当时,红木材料公司每年处理6千兆瓦时的电池,大约足以为16万辆汽车提供动力,其既定目标是到2025年增长到100千兆瓦时,每年生产100万辆汽车。2019年,艾伯哈德创立了Tiveni,目标是制造智能电池系统,该公司又于2022年9月被美国电池制造商American Battery Solutions收购。
经典的产品生命周期有四个阶段:诞生、成长、成熟和衰退/死亡。Roadster跑车引领特斯拉、马斯克和斯特劳贝尔走过了诞生阶段。Model S使公司过渡到成长阶段。该公司生产并销售了2400辆Roadster跑车,还不到通用汽车(General Motors)或本田(Honda)等传统制造商一周的产量。然而,这足以让公司维持运营,直到研发出Model S(其生产和销售速度要快得多)。2015年元旦,该公司的估值为350亿美元,生产了大约6万辆汽车,每辆汽车约60万美元。(财富中文网)
译者:中慧言-王芳
Before Elon Musk, came M&M. Martin Eberhard earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from the University of Illinois in 1982 before beginning his career in the Silicon Valley. There he met Marc Tarpenning who also earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from UC Berkeley. Together they founded a company in 1997 named NuvoMedia, which developed and sold one of the first e-readers, Rocketbooks. This venture was moderately successful with Gemstar–TV Guide International acquiring it for $187 million in 2000. Meanwhile, Martin and Marc were set for life but not out of ideas, thus, the pair focused their entrepreneurial sights on building an electric vehicle.
Eberhard and Tarpenning founded Tesla Motors in July 2003 with a passion for cars and concern for dependence on imported oil and climate change. They served as CEO and CFO, respectively. The pair developed a set of three guiding principles:
• An electric car should not be a compromise. With the right technological choices, it is possible to build electric cars that are better cars than their competition.
• Battery technology is key to a successful electric car. Lithium-ion batteries are not only suitable for automotive use. These are game-changing innovations that bring a decent driving range into reality.
• If designed right, electric cars can appeal to even the most serious car enthusiast, as electric drive is capable of seriously outperforming internal combustion engines.
Ian Wright joined the M&M pair a few months later, with J.B. Straubel coming on board as chief technical officer in May 2004. Not until February 2004 did Elon Musk make his debut fresh off the $100 million bonanza from his PayPal sale proceeds two years prior. Musk provided almost 90 percent of the $7.5 million in Series A funds the group raised and became Chairman of the Board and Tesla’s largest shareholder. This investment would eventually result in Musk becoming the richest human on the planet and J.B. Straubel becoming a billionaire. The other three founders did not benefit as magnificently from the financial upside of Tesla. Following a lawsuit initiated by Eberhard, a settlement was reached in 2009 that agreed that there were five founders of Tesla, in order of joining the company—Eberhard, Tarpenning, Wright, Straubel, Musk.
The founders’ strategy was to debut a premium sports car targeted at early adopters. This would allow premium pricing and an ability to profit (survive?) while building the company and transforming the supply network (really developing one) before a later pivot to mainstream vehicles and affordable compacts. Over the next few years, the company completed three rounds of financing bringing on board over $100 million in investment and such giants of the technology industry as Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as well as eBay president Jeff Skoll. Musk’s deep connections within Silicon Valley and the venture capital industry undoubtedly were a foundational component of the nascent company’s coming triumphs. At the same time, the drive, beliefs, and persistent passion of Eberhard, Tarpenning, Wright, and Straubel were elemental as well. Alas, there is a saying—“to the victor go the spoils”—and often, there can only be one victor.
The company’s first car, the Roadster was intended to be an ultra-premium car priced at over $100,000 when the concept vehicle debuted in 2006, roughly $150,000 today. By January 2005 Tesla had expanded to a couple dozen employees and was working on prototypes in a two-story industrial building in San Carlos, CA. The company finished a quarter-scale model that month, and a full-scale model in mid-April. By May 2006, the company was passing one hundred employees and believed it had a winning product. Tarpenning said at the time “You can feel it. It’s a real car, and it’s very exciting.” So exciting, that Arnold Schwarzenegger helped debut it with a photograph of J. B. Straubel driving with Schwarzenegger appearing in Automotive News on September 25, 2006.
Tesla production at scale
One small problem. The difference between building a concept car by hand and mass producing one at any level of affordability is huge. Auto manufacturers routinely spend several million dollars hand-crafting a concept car that cannot be produced at scale. One primary reason is to tease customers with potential features and technology that might not reach the broad market for several years.
In 2006, Tesla sought to show a concept car using electricity to a public addicted to internal combustion engines. The leap from a concept car to one produced at scale and sold to thousands of people was a huge one.
Just as Arnold Schwarzenegger was photographed driving the first Hummer—which had a great run—before being killed off, an early photo op for Tesla included J.B. Straubel riding in a prototype Roadster with Arnold. The terminator called the Roadster “hot.” Having Arnold’s endorsement is a huge marketing coup, but not nearly sufficient to successfully launch a new car brand. Prior to Tesla, the last entirely new American brand still in play today is Chrysler, born in 1925.
The Roadster that the company eventually brought to market drove exceptionally smoothly, but the road from concept car in 2006 to “success” was like driving a Tin Lizzie over an unpaved road—breakdowns happened, frequently. The first and second transmission/power management systems were failures, necessitating a third effort. Finding suppliers was like climbing Mt. Everest on one leg. One step was establishing a battery factory in Thailand, three hours south of Bangkok. The partner supplier used a building left primarily open due to extreme heat. While this worked well for the stoves and tires the company was making, it was an utter failure for the far more sensitive batteries Tesla required. Eventually, the partner paid over $70,000 to correct the conditions with temperature controls and drywall. Further, the Tesla expats spent hundreds of hours seeking to train the Thai workers on the intricacies of handling fragile electronics properly. This challenging episode was repeated with slight variations many times.
In August 2007 Eberhard, who had served as CEO, was asked to step down by the board of directors and given the title “President of Technology” before ultimately departing in January 2008. Marc Tarpenning, who had served as VP of Electrical Engineering, left at the same time. Meanwhile, the website TheTruthAboutCars.com launched a “Tesla Death Watch.” The company was burning through cash faster than an Olympic sprinter covering one hundred meters.
In December 2008, a fifth round of financing infused an additional $40 million, and in June 2009, Tesla was approved to receive $465 million in low-interest loans from the US Department of Energy. At this point, Elon had contributed $70 million of his own money, roughly half the payout he received from PayPal’s sale to eBay. Willing to commit, indeed.
Two of the cofounders followed their time at Tesla with additional efforts in the EV space. J.B. Straubel founded Redwood Materials, which seeks to produce battery materials for Li-Ion batteries via recycling. On June 21, 2022, Toyota and Redwood announced a collaboration to develop a closed-loop electrified vehicle battery ecosystem. At the time, Redwood processed 6 GWh of batteries per year, roughly enough to power one hundred sixty thousand cars, with a stated goal of growing to 100 GWh and one million vehicles per year by 2025. In 2019 Eberhard founded Tiveni with the goal of making intelligent battery systems, which in turn was acquired by American Battery Solutions in September 2022.
The classic product life cycle has four stages: birth, growth, maturity, and decline/death. The Roadster carried Tesla, Musk, and Straubel through birth. The Model S transitioned the company into the growth phase. The company produced and sold twenty-four hundred Roadsters, fewer than a week’s production for a legacy manufacturer such as General Motors or Honda. Yet it was enough to keep the company alive for the Model S, which was produced and sold at a much higher rate. On New Year’s Day 2015, the company was valued at $35 billion, having produced roughly sixty thousand cars—approximately $600,000 per car.