
Tesla Released a $1,500 Surfboard That Sold Out in a Day - leonagano
http://fortune.com/2018/07/29/tesla-1500-surfboard/
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wilsonnb2
I think the Tesla fanboys who bought these would have spent $1500 on a coffee
mug if Musk had asked them to. Would have had better margins than decorative
surfboards but I guess they're optimizing for Twitter appeal instead.

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geebee
I'm kind of glad these appear to be targeted at collectors rather than wave
riders. $1500 is a high price for a surf board, though plenty of off the rack
longboards or large wave can crack the $1000 barrier.

Wonder how a Tesla board would be received in the lineup. My guess is that
aside from a few localized breaks, nobody would care much. Might generate more
curiosity than hostility at a lot of spots, and where it would generate
hostility, well, pretty much anything that stands out is a bad idea there. You
know where to keep a low profile (that said, a shiny "Tesla" board in those
rare circumstances would seem like an unusually unwise way of standing out,
kind of like wearing a t-shirt celebrating your tech IPO at an anti-
gentrification rally).

One thing that drives me a little nuts is the very sharp pointy nose, which I
consider to be a non-functional hazard done purely for cosmetics. I actually
think the smooth rounded edge looks better too, kind of like the corners of an
iPhone. But Tesla would hardly be the first or only violator here. And if it's
for decoration on the wall, then no harm no foul.

I'm all for buying surfboards as art. It's no crime to hang them on the wall
and not ride them, as far as I'm concerned, and I highly doubt a shaper is
going to be bummed to get the business. But this Tesla board on my wall as
art? Nah.

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anoncoward111
Once again proving that customer acquisition is the main bottleneck to
acquiring customers, not solution quality.

There are places that give away free stuff right now on this planet that
people won't even ever feel an impulse to acquire.

But because of Elon Musk's appeal and cult-status, Tesla customers feel a
strong impetus to purchase something they likely will never use. It's sole
utility is being a collector's item and potentially granting access to a high
net worth community through a strange quirk of biology that we call
"signaling".

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wpdev_63
There are some people buying them because 'omgtekasldkjd' but I bet the vast
majority of them will be doing this as these will be worth a fortune in 50
years.

Tesla is a historic company, make no mistake about that. This has very little
to do with the marketing and customer acquisition.

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anoncoward111
Tesla is not the most sustainable, cost efficient form of private transport on
Earth. Even among electric cars, there are a lot of other cool options out
there.

Tesla made itself into a something more than a brand-- it is a life-style and
a status symbol. Tesla could sell rice and people would still buy it because
there seems to be a deep human desire to belong to the "it" group

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Maarten88
This is just an old-fashioned surfboard with Tesla esthetics. It may add some
positive association to the Tesla brand. I think it would have been much more
interesting if Tesla had come up with a motorized foiling surfboard.

Marine engines are another market that is ripe for electrification: most boats
are relatively insensitive to the added weight of batteries.

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lardo
[https://store.liftfoils.com/products/efoil](https://store.liftfoils.com/products/efoil)

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writepub
Why? How's it going Tesla's cash crunch? If it won't, stop distracting the
company, Elon

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cassandrajam
Tesla slowly becoming Supreme

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syntaticSugar
Kook move telsa, kook move

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cvaidya1986
Next, Tesla whiteboards.

