This is long lead.

We're supposed to learn from our own mistakes that other people's errors can be instructive too.

From efforts to control the weather that went disastrously awry,

to the untimely death of the Segway boss,

history is a treasure trobe of mishaps and meltdowns that can teach us all.

I'm Tim Harford, host of Cautionary Tales, the podcast that minds the greatest fiascos of the past

for their most valuable lessons. Listen to Cautionary Tales, wherever you get your podcasts.

Wow, I can't believe it's actually here.

It's pretty wild, man.

It's 1999, and a CNN camera crew is following a young tech entrepreneur

as he takes delivery on a brand new McLaren sports car.

There is Jonah in the fastest car in the world.

Elon Musk is a 28-year-old South African tech mogul with thinning hair and a baby face.

He's one of the many big winners of the dot-com boom of the late 90s.

He sold his software company to Compaq for a little over $300 million.

Just three years ago, I was showering at the Y and sleeping on the office floor.

And now, obviously, I've got a million-dollar car.

But all that money isn't enough.

Musk already has his site set on his next venture, a financial tech company that one day will become PayPal.

But right now, he's calling it X.com.

I think X.com could absolutely be a multi-billion dollar bonanza.

I'd like to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. That'd be cool.

...