Aron Meystedt | ValidatorAI.com | Symbolics.com

I spent $1.25 million to buy something...

Marc Andreessen: "Starlink just hit massive subscriber numbers, but most people don't realize this used to be the ultimate 'graveyard' business." Back in the 90s, Bill Gates and Craig McCaw (the guy who basically built what is now AT&T Mobile) teamed up to launch Teledesic—a satellite internet network. The result? A complete catastrophe and total bankruptcy. Motorola tried it next with Iridium. It became a classic business school case study in complete capital destruction. Then Elon Musk comes along and says, "I'm going to do number three." Anyone who knew the history of satellites thought it was the craziest idea in the world. But Elon saw the board differently. In retrospect, it's total genius. Because SpaceX figured out reusable rockets, they were going to be launching constantly. Instead of waiting around for customers to bring him payloads to fill those rockets, he just decided to build his own. He built a consumer-priced, global internet network as a side project at his rocket ship company. It’s an absolute masterclass. Andreessen points out that there's a clear method here—a brilliant mix of the "Henry Ford" and "Alexander the Great" playbooks. It combines raw, zero-to-one invention with massive, brute-force scale. SpaceX isn't just a company anymore; they are literally building their own city down in Texas. It is a unique formula that captures both sides of the spectrum—and yet, it's maybe the least studied and understood business model in the world right now.