> starting with the roadster's gearless transmission.
This is a great example of "Habits of Highly Overrated People".
The Tesla company started in 2003, but Elon Musk started in 2004 after the three founders looked for money. Later, Elon Musk sued Eberhard (the actual founder) to have the right to call himself a co-founder.
IE: Elon Musk, in reality with respect to the Roadster, hits #3, #4, #5, and #7 from the listed blogpost.
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Elon's primary contribution was money. The actual founders of Tesla were Eberhard and Tarpenning, and those two seemed to be the technical leaders/brains behind the operations.
Now that we're 10+ years after their departure, Tesla can't make a Cybertruck in a reasonable timeframe. Instead, they get beaten to market by Ford, Rivian, and more.
You're either uninformed or being pointedly obtuse. Tesla has a massive patent portfolio -- starting with the roadster's gearless transmission.
It's a point of fact that building a massive car company within a crystallized industry was a breakthrough in its own right.