For years Adam has been a fan of Tesla.  Tesla innovated the EV market, overcoming multiple obstacles that traditional auto execs felt were unsolvable.  And Tesla’s founder proved to be an innovator of cars, as well as business models.  For over a decade Tesla had limited competition, and it grew very quickly.

Times have changed.  This podcast explains why Tesla’s value has decreased by 65% over the past 3 years, and 50% even in the last 10 months.  Tesla has failed to innovate into pick-ups, and failed to innovate into low-cost autos.  Facing intense competition from far more established companies that have deep experience in manufacturing and design, Tesla has now fallen far behind in both.  The result is declining sales, and pipe-dream promises for how the company will return to its previous glory.

Thinking points:

• When you’re winning are you paranoid about competitors catching you?
• Do you constantly compare your strengths with competitors and measure whether you are growing your strength, or they are catching you?
• Are you aware, when you are growing, of the growth rate of your competition?  Are you projecting when the competition could catch up with your and even surpass you?
• Do you treat declines in sales growth as potential signals of competitors disrupting your business and pushing past you?