After reading this article, I can't help but think that Better Place is the Newton, or maybe the Palm of electric cars. Nowadays, we see smartphones and tablets in their near-final form (or at least one that's been stable for a few years), but we forget the many handheld computing devices that were tried before, some that had traction and others that didn't.

Which leads to: as an investor or potential employee, how do you tell whether that hot startup is is a Hi5, a myspace, or a Facebook? Can you know whether your contribution will make a/the difference between the outcomes?