Intro to Elon Musk 2

It is important to understand how Musk operates in order to comprehend his extraordinary success.

1) Musk is a risk taker. He time and again, promises to do the impossible. He purposefully commits to doing things that are really really difficult. What’s the most amazing thing you can imagine in a product: he will promise that in the next model, coming out in 2 years. It is easy to call him delusional. He might not be able to deliver it in that time, but he does them eventually. And that’s what counts. His companies have always been on the verge of bankruptcy, with economic pundits betting on them failing spectacularly. It is because he promises more than he can deliver, but he always pulls through in the end.

2) Musk is a consequentialist. It seems unethical, Musk making things up about his products and companies. But he understands human nature, and public perception. He believes in enthralling the public with larger than life ideas: human colony on Mars, eliminating our reliance on non-renewable energy. These frivolous fantastical displays are ultimately what helped his companies to survive, and raise funding. He captivates the minds of the public, in convincing them that it’s possible, and then making it possible. First beleive, then commit, and then do it. When doing something shady, he knows that he is the good guy, fighting the bad guys. The bad guys have unlimited advantage. The playing field is not level. You have to do somethings that you are not comfortable doing otherwise: manipulate, berate, false promises. He does those things, because ultimately he is driven by “saving humanity”, “colony on Mars”, which triumph all other personal motives like “personal Cruise Boat”, “more money”. It is this integrity, and with, as Dumbeldore would have said, “Greater Good”, that he is justified in doing so.

3) Musk brings out best in other people. He is perceptive, insightful, a hacker at heart. The do-it-yourself spirit is built into him. Apart from that he inspires young talented minds, and taps into their endless potential to work on something that truly changes the world, that they truly care about. He hates excuses, and old ways of thinking. He demands a plan of action from every employee. Tesla was not Musk’s company initially, and Paypal was a result of a merger. SpaceX wouldn’t be anywhere without Tom Mueller. The point is that Musk didn’t do it himself. The things were in place, technologies were mature, people already did the hard work. He brought these obscure things together, in a package. Hired a bunch of really smart hungry people, and gave them direction.

4) Musk is not short sighted. He stays updated on emerging technological breakthroughs. He swims in these science fiction ideas, of taking humanity to the next level. He designed Hyperloop transportation system as a fast, cheap and safe way to travel. He talks a lot about AI, and how important it is that to align values of a super-intelligent AI to ours. He is the largest shareholder in SolarCity(founded by Musk’s cousins), largest installer of solar panels in US. This ability to look beyond his current field of interests, and to predict future trends, sets him apart from other billionaires who sit securely on top of their money stash, waiting for the world to end.

To accomplish these feats, Musk and his team worked tirelessly day and night. To bring down the price of parts, they designed and produced them in house, right from scratch. They delivered products of exceptional quality, in impossible deadlines.

Wait.. how is this way of working even possible or sustainable?

During world wars, we invented atomic bombs, and devised increasingly sophisticated technologies. When there was a space race going on between US and USSR, we landed on the moon. That was 50 years back. Currently we have gone complacent, transformed into uber-consumerist, preyed upon by big corporations. Rich get richer, poor get poorer. We live in a depressed society, where things are incredibly hard to change, which triggers more depression. We have learned to be helpless. Internet has changed that, it gave birth to Silicon Valley, Google, Paypal, Twitter; it is why I am here writing this, instead of being another brain dead drone.

To know more of what I’m talking about, watch this documentary(Inside Job), or  this documentary (The Four Horsemen).

So imagine if there was a giant countdown clock displaying seconds until our extinction on your wrist, in bold red letters. What would we accomplish in that time? Incredible things, I say. We would not eat, we would not sleep, we would work tirelessly; and save ourselves; somehow. I am sure of it.

We all have that clock, inside of us, that looming sense ticking away, that its all fucked. We only need a chance to set things right. If somebody would give us that chance. Elon Musk gave employees of SpaceX and Tesla that chance, he made them believe. He made us believe, that we can do it. That we can do the impossible.