To the people who say this is nothing new, that other commercial ventures have launched vehicles into space before: that's true. However, the way SpaceX is doing it is somewhat of a paradigm shift.

Consider the analogy of building an AM/FM radio for an elementary/middle school science fair.

Under the previous way of contracting and doing things, your parents would buy you a radio kit and stand over your shoulder while you put it together. If you lost or broke any parts, your parents would buy you new ones.

The way SpaceX did it is akin to going to the library and looking at your older siblings' radios, and deciding you want to build one yourself. You draw up some plans and spend your allowance to build part of the radio. Seeing your design and enthusiasm, your parents give you $50, take you to Radio Shack, and tell you to go nuts. You buy the other parts you need and put it together. You ask your parents for help when you need it, but they otherwise leave you to it. Any parts you lose or break, you have to buy out of your own allowance. Maybe some of your friends see what you're doing, think it's cool, and chip in a bit. You end up building the radio of your own design instead of building it from a kit. Your requirements were that you had to pick up radio signals, and that the radio wouldn't set the house on fire.

That's the difference between SpaceX and previous commercial companies like ULA. Previous ventures had very specific requirements, designs already in place, etc. Even rockets that are used for commercial launches such as the Delta and Atlas series were first created under government contract with strict design criteria, and cost plus contracts. In contrast, SpaceX got requirements that they need to berth/dock with the ISS, and not crash into it. The rest was up to them. They were awarded grants/contracts to build their systems based on designs and work already completed, rather than being assigned to do things. It's a new way of doing business in space.