Large companies are not only a pole of Employment creation Or direct wealth for those who work on them, but, indirectly, they are also an indirect development engine for other companies in the area. Sometimes, they can also be their ruin.
In 2024, a small artisan pastry from San José (California) was about to bankrupt when he tried to satisfy a huge request for cakes for the Tesla offices. A last minute change of opinion left the small business on the verge of bankruptcy and debts. Such and as they counted in The Guardian, Elon Musk had to take action on the matter.
Laura’s sweet request
Voahangy Rasetarinera, owner of the Giving Fourth pastry, received the challenge of facing a request for 2,000 mini cakes for a Tesla employee event.
This request represented a Great economic opportunity for the small businessbut also supposed an important logistics challenge given its magnitude and the scarce resources of the pastry. Rasetarinera consulted their staff and agreed to accept the order by sending the invoice to Tesla. The delivery dates would be Tuesday and Thursday the following week.
Elon Musk’s company diverted the payment of the cakes to an external supplier called City Flavor, which did not respond to payment requests after delivering the first round of cakes. “I was still optimistic while waiting for the payment on Thursday. However, when he did not materialize, I worried.”


That same day, Laura, the contact of Rasetarinera in Tesla, called the pastry maker to apologize for the delay in the payment of the first round alleging the inexperience of the suppliers. On that same call, Laura requested to duplicate the Cake request. In total, the invoice already amounted to $ 16,000 for 4,000 cupcakes that Giving FEET had to deliver, of which he had already delivered half and had not charged anything.
The pastry shop was forced to redouble their efforts paying extra hours To the staff, buying more ingredients that had not yet charged and, more importantly, rejecting other orders to meet the enormous demand of Tesla.
After re -consulting the employees, they all agreed to move forward, so Rasetarinera sent a new invoice extended to Tesla with the new amount and got into flour with the new remittance, but not before sending a message to Laura, to claim the Payment of the first pitch of cakes that had already been delivered.
“I regret to bother you again, but I am a small business. I have no luxury of having infinite resources, so I really need them to pay me to ensure my staff,” the businesswoman wrote to Tesla, Tesla, As published The local medium Kron4.
However, joy lasted little. Just a week before the delivery date, Tesla canceled the order without prior notice. As Rasetarinera explained In the Instagram account of the bakery, “we received an email saying that they canceled the order. There was no explanation. Only a message that said: ‘Hey, I am very sorry, I think we are no longer going to need this order.”
Invoices without paying and 2,000 cupcakes in the oven
The cancellation of the order had serious consequences for giving feet. The pastry He had already invested in ingredients and increased his staff to be able to comply with the assignment of Tesla. What was outlined as a great opportunity to work with a great company, had become an impeded bill of invoices.
Rasetarinera explained on their social networks that “we had to buy additional ingredients, hire extra staff and program extra hours.” All this represented a considerable expense for a small business. “I had invested time, resources and effort based on Tesla’s guarantees, just to stay in the stake,” The owner declared to The Guardian.
The news spread rapidly on social networks and local media That they echoed the bad pass that Tesla had made to this little merchant, generating outrage among users for the lack of consideration of Tesla towards a local business. The voice ran through social networks, even arriving at the ears of Elon Musk himself.
Elon Musk and the unexpected solution
When Elon Musk learned about the situation, he decided to take action on the matter personally. From Your X accountMusk apologized for what happened with the bakery and promised to solve the problem. “I just found out about this. We are solving it immediately,” the billionaire wrote.
Musk’s solution was simple but effective: Tesla would buy all the cakes that Giving Fourth could produce. In addition, the company promised to distribute these cakes between local beneficial organizations. “People should always be able to tell that Tesla will do their best,” Elon Musk wrote in his X message.
For giving feet, this experience It ended up being positive. Not only did they exceed the bad financial drink for the investment made in the order, but also gain advertising and the support of the community. As shown On its websitecurrently, Giving Foot sweetens the parties of some of Silicon Valley’s most important technological companies.
Image | Dvids (Justin Pacheco), Giving Pie
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