SV famously values &quot;execution&quot;. A combination of finding the right market (slightly more complicated than just pumping money into marketing) and staying doggedly focussed.<p>Sometimes if you focus on the wrong thing, you die (and get made fun of). The press coverage the author seems to have such an issue with is famously fickle.<p>Make an electric car that looks like a toaster and a fish and market it to the general consumer. You die. 
Make an electric car that looks like a luxury sedan and market it to the top end of the market. You become Tesla.<p>Obviously, in the latter case he backed up that market selection with world class engineering. The two then get inextricably linked. You have to look past the predilections of the establishment to get there though.