[BulgarianIdiot]

He's not successful because he's thoughtful and logical.

He's successful because he went to a bunch of venture capitalists & media and said "I'm thoughtful and logical" and that was sufficient to pass the depth of their scrutiny, competence & fact verification.

There are many studies about why people who are incompetent, but extremely confident about themselves (or sufficiently psychopathic to fake they are) get ahead in life. Most "normal" people can't comprehend that someone can just open their mouth and speak about what their accomplishments and skills are, and completely make things up, with zero embarrassment or shame. But Elon is definitely good at that. He's always neck deep in his BS, and always finding someone else to blame and ensure everyone the future is bright and the mistakes are in the past.

[revelio]

SpaceX was funded mostly with his own money, I thought?

[BulgarianIdiot]

These companies are never just one person's money, even if they're a billionaire. He went to investors, institutional, and so on, and he did also put money himself, but its mixed funding. And when it was on the verge of bankruptcy, their 4th attempt at self-landing rockets (after 3 failures) showed some promise, so NASA saved them financially by awarding them with a $1.6 billion contract. SpaceX is about 85% funded by the federal government, 15% by Elon and other investors.

[revelio]

You would not normally describe a company as being "funded" by its customers. NASA was and still is a customer.

[BulgarianIdiot]

NASA gave SpaceX billions, at a time they were near bankrupt, and with no final working products, with the idea at some point in the future SpaceX will do something in return. Investors that fund a startup also give money expecting something in return in the future.

The difference between investor and customer is only one of scale. How much money and what timeframe for return. As that increases risk, accordingly.

When you pay for a house or an apartment that's not built yet, you're investing in construction, you're not a "customer". Of course you expect a house and/or an apartment in a few years. But you invested your money, and that house/apartment may not materialize.

So NASA was an investor. Today they're also a customer, but they're still an investor. Some of their money blew up two days ago.