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Derision: It's what would usually greet plans for a futuristic transportation system that could take passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes. But when Elon Musk, the billionaire inventor behind PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX, unveils such a plan, the world pays attention (even if it draws skeptics).

Here are four reasons why the world listens to what Musk has to say:

1. Fanciful Ideas: Before he came up with the idea for the Hyperloop, Musk said he planned to put a man on Mars in 10 to 20 years — and eventually build a colony on the red planet with 80,000 people. For a civilization that hasn't put a man on the moon since 1972, Mars seems far away; Mars in under two decades seems impossible. But 10 years ago, so did a hyped electric car and a successful private space company.

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