In September 2017, Juicero, a Silicon Valley startup, went belly up. Juicero had raised $120 million in VC money to develop a $400 Wi-Fi-enabled “smart” juice machine, that turned out to be as effective as squeezing a juice box with your own two hands! A month later, Teforia, the maker of a $1,000 Internet-connected “smart” tea infuser, shut down (don’t throw away your $20 kettle yet!). Gullible investors had pumped $17 million into Teforia.

In February 2018, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX successfully launched into space Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful rocket, with . . .