[renewiltord]

TSMC started with $58 M at $200 M valuation in the late 1980s. I think it’s like 15% annual growth rate since then and the centerpiece of a nation’s geopolitical doctrine. You can build rocket ships in many different ways. You get all sorts of outcomes.

No one really knows outcome till they give it a shot. People used to make fun of the idea of a software guy building spaceships and cars and he’s doing it better than the incumbents. No one knows what will work till it’s done.

[awesomeMilou]

TSMC wasn't bootstrapped in the stricter sense though. Those 58$ million came from Phillips, who also provided the technology and skill transfer for their first manufacturing process.

> People used to make fun of the idea of a software guy building spaceships and cars and he’s doing it better than the incumbents.

Reducing the success of SpaceX to Elon Musks persona alone is, realistically speaking, delusional at best. But everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

[renewiltord]

Exactly. TSMC wasn’t bootstrapped. It’s okay to build products that require a large amount of capital to start. Many of them are very successful.

As for Elon Musk. Many had access to the labour pool that he did. Many tried to do what his companies did. His companies succeeded. Once could be chance, twice is skill. But to each their own.