Optimus and Cybercab will be the vast majority of Teslaโs value.
The only things that will scale to incredible size (K2 and beyond) economically are super intelligence, robots, solar power and mass to space.
And, of course, if you have the first two, the rest will follow.
But Roadster is super cool, so weโre doing it anyway.
@RascalRhett1@meggatonman@VinceSheetz If labor costs are 35%, food costs 30%, overhead 10%, rent and taxes the rest ๐, and now labor increases overnight from $16->$20/hr min then your labor costs increase 20%. Rising prices to offset is common sense.
@RascalRhett1@meggatonman@VinceSheetz As a prior franchise owner in CA I assure you they absolutely were ๐.
In N Out & Chick Fil A which was already paying above $20/hr increased prices by 20% across the board over 12 months from mid 2024 to 2025. It wasnโt overnight.
Subway and pizza franchises was 25-35%.
@meggatonman@VinceSheetz When itโs passed down to consumers, tips decrease. For Subway and Papa Johns in CA I believe the average employee full take home pay actually decreased when their wages had increased from $16->$20 per hr. Combination of less hours & less tips.
@meggatonman@VinceSheetz Great example: Californiaโs fast-food minimum wage increase to $20/hour in 2024.
Overnight, less-experienced and less-reliable workers became more expensive to employ. For businesses, the value an entry-level worker provided simply wasnโt enough to justify the higher labor cost.
@meggatonman@VinceSheetz The broader point is that when the cost of entry-level labor rises significantly, the market doesnโt simply absorb the difference. Some of that cost gets passed to consumers, while some can come through fewer hours, fewer jobs, or higher expectations for the workers who remain.
@meggatonman@VinceSheetz To protect margins, businesses also reduced hours, cut benefits, replaced less-experienced employees with fewer, more experienced workers who could generate more value per labor hour.
@meggatonman@VinceSheetz Small businesses and franchise operators were already dealing with thin margins, so adding significant labor costs, on top of rising food costs, fees, and taxes, left them with limited options.
Many had to raise prices for customers to absorb the increased costs.