I would say the easiest way to check is if actions match the talk. If ideals are altruistic, then margins and prices should reflect the same. You cannot have 2x margins and claim your goals are idealistic.
> You cannot have 2x margins and claim your goals are idealistic.
I think that's very short sighted. If your goal actually requires a lot of resources then theoretically amassing a lot of money, or getting a lot of investor goodwill through making them a lot of money may be a way to go about it.
There may be completely different strategies required for acting on different timescales. If your plan is to achieve something in a year or two, the path may be fairly obvious to those looking on. If you are working on a timescale of decades, it may be much harder to see the plan. The quickest way between two points may be a straight line, but that doesn't mean that's the most likely way to succeed.
Now, for how this applies to Musk and Tesla, he's been very forthcoming about his eventual goals. For Tesla in the medium term, that's to prove the technology through a sports car (done), prove the automation and assembly through a factory (done), and to use this to build cars at scale and offer them much cheaper (a promise yet to be delivered on). It's not hard to see how high margins could have been useful in these prior steps. What remains to be seen is whether he actually follows through on the promise. In any case, I don't see any reason why current margins prevent an altruistic goal.
>I would say the easiest way to check is if actions match the talk.
If you look over his actions for his whole career with tesla and solarcity, he seems to be either an idealist or just a legitimate businessman. I can't see any way he is setting himself up to steal an immense amount of money from investors or customers, and run off to some place without an extradition treaty (Mars?).
I think that's very short sighted. If your goal actually requires a lot of resources then theoretically amassing a lot of money, or getting a lot of investor goodwill through making them a lot of money may be a way to go about it.
There may be completely different strategies required for acting on different timescales. If your plan is to achieve something in a year or two, the path may be fairly obvious to those looking on. If you are working on a timescale of decades, it may be much harder to see the plan. The quickest way between two points may be a straight line, but that doesn't mean that's the most likely way to succeed.
Now, for how this applies to Musk and Tesla, he's been very forthcoming about his eventual goals. For Tesla in the medium term, that's to prove the technology through a sports car (done), prove the automation and assembly through a factory (done), and to use this to build cars at scale and offer them much cheaper (a promise yet to be delivered on). It's not hard to see how high margins could have been useful in these prior steps. What remains to be seen is whether he actually follows through on the promise. In any case, I don't see any reason why current margins prevent an altruistic goal.