What does it actually take to grow a company from $2 billion to $20 billion in 30 months?
In this episode of FOMO Sapiens, Patrick McGinnis sits down with Jon McNeill, former President of Tesla, former COO of Lyft, and CEO of DVx Ventures. McNeill was in the room during Tesla’s most pivotal growth period, and in his new book, The Algorithm: The Hypergrowth Formula That Transformed Tesla, Lululemon, General Motors, and SpaceX, he does something nobody has done before: document the operating system behind it.
The Algorithm isn’t a personality. It’s a five-step framework that Elon Musk built and that thousands of people at Tesla execute every single day, with or without him in the building.
The conversation covers:
The five steps of the Algorithm: question every requirement, delete every unnecessary step, simplify and optimize, accelerate cycle time, and automate last — and why that order matters
How GM applied these principles to build the Hummer EV in 26 months when the industry standard is 36, and how Lululemon delivered the Canadian Olympic team’s entire Beijing apparel line in eight weeks instead of sixty
Why speed isn’t just an operational advantage, it’s a balance sheet advantage, and why Toyota understood this long before most
The one-way/two-way door decision framework: how to identify which decisions are reversible and move fast on them, and where to slow down because you genuinely can’t go back
What Tesla’s current struggles reveal about what happens when a product-driven company loses focus at the top
Why the best operating systems don’t require a genius — they require clear principles that people can run independently
Patrick and Jon also get into the Cybertruck debate, the skunkworks approach to innovation inside large companies, and why cycle time beats strategy over the long run.
If you’re building something and feel like the process is getting in your way, this episode will change how you think about what’s actually necessary.
Jon McNeill is the CEO and Co-Founder of DVx Ventures. With a track record of founding and scaling companies, Jon has led teams that generated tens of thousands of jobs and delivered multi-billion dollar returns for investors. At DVx, Jon McNeill and his team have launched 12 companies that are attacking broad opportunities in large markets.
Previously, Jon McNeill served as President at Tesla, where revenue grew from $2B to $20B in 30 months, and later as COO at Lyft, helping double revenue and take the company public. He currently sits on the boards of General Motors, Lululemon, Asurion, CrossFit, and Stash.
A frequent speaker and guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, and Stanford GSB, Jon McNeill is known for delivering practical, actionable insights on innovation, leadership, and scaling operations.
In his upcoming book, The Algorithm: The Hypergrowth Formula That Transformed Tesla, SpaceX, Lululemon, and General Motors, Jon shares a behind-the-scenes look at how iconic companies scale and outlines a playbook leaders can use to drive sustained growth and impact.
Jon began his career at Bain & Company and is a graduate of Northwestern University.
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