Elon Musk isn’t (just) building cars at Tesla.
He started by building a car, but the end was never the car: the end was a continuously improving factory system that made the cars. This is the machine that makes the machines.
But the end was never the factory. The end was a repeatable, scalable, profitable, continuously improving business model that made the factory work and could build more factories. This is the machine that makes the machine(s) that makes the machines.
But the end was never the business. The end was to accelerate society’s transition to a sustainable energy use. This is… well, you get the idea.*
It’s the same with Space-X, and it’s the same with the tiny literacy charity I work for.
*As well as making all our machines, society is also the machine that makes the meaning behind the machines.
See also:
Any post that mentions wrappers, onions, interesting or nested problems, or ecosystems.