Sounds familiar. Hype first, promise "next year" availability, deliver on promises never.

Somehow that guy can make a call and raise a billion dollars or 10.

You don't understand, the 'top level' of society is almost entirely made of the dumbest animals on earth. If you can get in front of one of these halfwits without a handler nearby you could come away with millions of dollars and an obligation to give them a stick of spearmint gum.