An Example Of How Degrees Matter Less

Check out this commercial. I think it’s really well done but the story behind it is illustrative of how the Internet is upsetting traditional ways of doing business.

H/T thecarconnection.com

Collins and Khabushani knew that Tesla Motors is in a curious position: it’s on the tip of everyone’s tongue, and it’s poised for massive growth, but Tesla has never advertised to consumers. So, the daring duo took $1,500 and created a 60-second “faux-mercial” that conveniently blends the “oomph” of Tesla Motors with the “wow” of SpaceX. 

According to Mashable, the fake ad (embedded above) eventually found its way to Musk, who tweeted:

Just discovered a great Tesla ad made by 2 recent college grads. I love it! http://t.co/20dPRD9yrJ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 14, 2014

That pretty much did it. The video was subsequently posted to Tesla’s Facebook and Instagram feeds, and it has since gone viral.

It cost $1500 to make the video but it cost nothing to put it on YouTube, and nothing to Tweet it to the Internet. Once Musk retweeted it, poof instant fame. You couldn’t have done this 20 years ago.

So what lessons can we draw from this?

1. Competence and quality won out over credentials.
2. Reputations (derived from credibility) are the currency of the Internet.
3. The physical locations of the participants did not matter at all. They could have been based in Canada or India for all it mattered.
4. The technology to do this is fairly low cost and accessible.
5. Age doesn’t matter.

The two people who made the ad did recently graduate from the U of Southern California so you can argue that they learned how to do this there. Ok, I will agree that is likely. Even so, keep in mind Universities aren’t selling skills and competencies, they are selling degrees. That creates a disconnect between them and their customers. The ones that resolve this disconnect are the ones that will survive the next 10 years.

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