13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Ashlee Vance

What surprised you the most?

When Elon Musk was in the third or fourth grade, he had already read all the books in the school library and the neighborhood library. He even tried to convince the librarian to order more books. Because she didn’t, he decided to read the Encyclopaedia Britanni. He said, “That was so helpful. You don’t know what you don’t know. You realize there are all these things out there.”

What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

At the age of 28 he already sold his first business and made $22 million dollars. Most millionaires would have called it quits, not Elon. He invested most of that into his new venture, a startup that would become PayPal. When he sold that and made $180 million, he again put all of his money into three startups. He put $100 million into SpaceX, $70 million into Tesla and $10 million in solar city. Essentially the fastest way to get rid of $180 million. I admire his relentless attitude to being bull headed and confident.

What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

Similar to Steve Jobs, Elon was an alpha. In that he believed everything he did was the correct way. During his first wedding, apparently while Justine and Elon were dancing, he pulled her close and told her, “I am the alpha in this relationship.” During one of their fights she explained that she was his wife not his employee. His response was that if she was his employee, she would have been fired. That’s probably why he has been divorced three times.

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

The biggest failure would have to be when he accepted $3 million in venture capital money from Mohr Davidow Ventures. Because they changed the business plan and took the role of CEO from Elon and made him CTO. Which he said was the biggest regret he ever made. He vowed from that day on to stay as CEO of any new company he forms.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

Elon was a great business man, he was not a nice guy, but was driven and sure of himself. Having photographic memory certainly helped him out, providing him with vast knowledge and confidence. His peers marveled at his coding and team-management skills. As well as superior attention to detail.

And his work ethic is unbeatable, he gave a speech, saying we would work on Saturdays and Sundays and sleep under his desk until it got done. In his first venture, he literally lived in the office. He would have his employees wake him when they got to work.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

The part that was confusing was when he flew to Canada. It says that he had family all over but didn’t let any of them know he was coming. The only prep work his family did was send a letter to his uncle, only to find out after the fact that his uncle moved to the states. Also he only had $100 dollars. For an intelligent person, his plan was extremely flawed and foolish.  

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

1. I would have to ask why he started three companies so close together, SpaceX was barely off the ground when he invested in Tesla? The reason is because I have a feeling he thinks he has so many good inventions he can’t just do one after another, but do them all simultaneously.  

2. The second question would be, what makes you so interested in preserving and enhancing earth? Three of your current companies are all related to either improving life on earth or exploring other areas to improve human civilization.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

In order to work hard, find something that will have a benefit to another person. Because doing good to others, provides the motivation needed to work the long hours and keep you focus on the end goal.

My thoughts on hard work is that when you know it will better yourself, or someone else and you feel passionate about it, then it’s not working hard. You’re doing what you believe will lead to an end goal.