From an investment point of view, smart/rich people that invest in start ups know a large percentage of them fail [1]. The idea is to invest smaller amounts in a bunch of crazy ideas in hopes that one of them--for reasons you may not fully understand--succeeds and covers the losses of the others.

Anecdotally: you could argue that a car that drives itself is outlandish, or rentable electric scooters is stupid, or X other idea is ridiculous, but those smart/rich investors are still making money at the end of the day.

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilpatel/2015/01/16/90-of-star...