I’d say that the reason why the SpaceX cult/business can actually make working rockets is because they have rich feedback from reality when they try to design rockets, even at the pre-testing stage, because while it’s not obvious to a layperson if a rocket does work, it is relatively easy to check the physics of whether a new rocket does work for an expert, meaning the checking of claims can be made legible, which is an enemy to cults in general.
More generally, I’d say the difference between a cult and a high-impact startup/business is whether they can get rich and reliable feedback from a source, and secondarily how legible their theory of impact/claims are.
I’d say that the reason why the SpaceX cult/business can actually make working rockets is because they have rich feedback from reality when they try to design rockets, even at the pre-testing stage, because while it’s not obvious to a layperson if a rocket does work, it is relatively easy to check the physics of whether a new rocket does work for an expert, meaning the checking of claims can be made legible, which is an enemy to cults in general.
More generally, I’d say the difference between a cult and a high-impact startup/business is whether they can get rich and reliable feedback from a source, and secondarily how legible their theory of impact/claims are.
Bigness alone doesn’t cut it.