Inc.

Beware the Optimism Trap

Many young firms, including Tesla, struggle with deadlines. You have to get real about setting production schedules.

Elon Musk is a hero to many entrepreneurs, for many reasons—his vision, his audacity, his tenacity. But during Tesla’s annual shareholders meeting, he showed another, less common quality: humility. He acknowledged something that few entrepreneurs, let alone Elon Musk, have been willing to admit: “I think I have an issue with time.”

Pegged back by a series of delays in Model 3 production and pummeled by

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