I think it would be fair to say he's able to see a bet that's worth calling early, and building hype for it.

Those two together means that the engineers who are similarly early, want to come work for you. In a world with no electric car market, if that's what you really want to work on, Tesla is a beacon to you.

It's served him well in several industries now, but I really don't see how that can apply to this new mission of trying to make something of a relevant-but-kinda-failing social network.