My wife subscribes to this email newsletter, and I think she actually reads it.

So let’s test that.

I just put down a deposit on a Tesla Cybertruck.

I’m Bill Murphy Jr. Welcome to Understandably, a daily email newsletter.

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A smashing success

I should note (just so I don’t have to sleep on the couch tonight or anything), that this is technically a pre-order deposit, and it’s only $100. Also, it’s fully refundable.

That’s a good thing, because in fairness, this might not be the most practical vehicle choice ever.

We live in a suburb that thinks it’s a city, and we have a tiny little urban driveway. At 79.8 inches wide, I’m not 100 percent sure a Cybertruck will actually fit.

Also, we’re a one-car family, so perhaps I should have discussed this with my wife first.

However, regardless of whether we wind up taking delivery of this boxy, 22nd century-looking thing, I’m intrigued by the way Tesla rolled it all out.

Because the debut of the Cybertruck prototype was a smashing success—in the sense that Tesla’s design chief managed literally to smash the futuristic vehicle’s windows (supposedly armored and nearly impenetrable) simply by throwing a metal ball at them.

Engadget @engadget

The @Tesla #Cybertruck 'Armor Glass' demo didn't go exactly as planned

November 22nd 2019

1,059 Retweets3,150 Likes

Being part of the story

More than 200,000 people have dropped $100 each on pre-order deposits, expressing at least marginal interest in the idea of buying an electric pickup truck that won’t even be available until late 2021 at the earliest.

I suspect a lot of the other pre-orderers are like me.

Maybe they’re not writing daily email newsletters and thus looking for interesting, relevant things to write about each morning.

But, they like the idea of being part of this story, even if they wonder if they’ll ever become a customer.

Imagine if you ran a business, and you could create that kind of passion and engagement.

Imagine rolling out a non-functioning prototype of a product that won’t be available for two years—and creating enough hype to collect $20 million in pre-order deposits upfront.

It’s enough to make you envy Tesla. Now, they just have to build the trucks.

Uh oh. Capacity and logistics have been a challenge since Day 1.

Still. If you’re going to have problems, that’s the kind of problem to have.

7 other things worth reading:

1. A script for the new Star Wars movie ‘Rise of Skywalker’ wound up on eBay, supposedly after a housecleaner swiped it from an actor. (CNBC)

2. Remember the Rich Kids of Instagram? Now meet the Amish kids of TikTok. (The Cut)

3. The co-CEO of Allbirds is calling out Amazon for the way it copied the Allbirds shoe. (The Verge)

4. The subject of the 2014 podcast smash, Serial, lost a chance for a new trial after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear his case. (Vox)

5. Fox says it’s sold out of Super Bowl ads for 2020. Cost: $5.6 million each. (Bloomberg)

6. This heist has now been described as perhaps the biggest jewelry theft in history. (The Guardian)

7. Uber just lost its license to work in London (appeal pending). (The Wall Street Journal)

Photo credit: gmanviz. Ideas and feedback actively solicited. Find me anytime at billmurphyjr@understandably.com, or on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. Be excellent to each other.