Elon Musk definitely deserves a huge share of the credit for SpaceX's success, but there have definitely been other folks who have made (and continue to make) critical contributions.

Just a couple examples would include Tom Mueller, who was responsible for most of the design of the propulsion systems SpaceX currently uses (including the Merlin and Draco engines), and Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's President and COO. SpaceX absolutely owes its existence to Shotwell, both its commercial success, and the fact that it didn't die (a number of times) are directly due to her.

From an outsider's perspective (_very_ outside), it seems like it's really the "synergy" of Elon and Gwynne that have made SpaceX what it is today.

> there must have been a catalyst

There is - having visionary, charismatic founder(s). This pattern has been successful at Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, Tesla\SpaceX, Google.