Visionary Elon Musk is forced to focus on the mundane to keep his Tesla dream alive
Elon Musk set out to build a different kind of car company. He succeeded.
Now he's dealing with the consequences.
As became clear over the past week and a half, the man whose mission is to help save Earth for humanity through sustainable transportation and energy - and colonize Mars as a backstop in case that doesn't work - is being forced to focus on goals that are far more mundane, like building high-quality affordable cars and creating an efficient sales, parts and service system.
"Elon has to deal with reality," said Ross Gerber, a Tesla investor and hardcore Musk fan at the Santa Monica investment firm Gerber Kawasaki.
Musk emailed a note to employees Friday that plunged Tesla's stock price 13 percent and wiped out
