Reading Reflection No. 1
ELON MUSK: TESLA, SPACE X, AND THE QUEST FOR A FANTASTIC FUTURE
I picked this book because my nine year old brother has a crazy obsession with Elon Musk. He loves all things outer space related so I think the idea of Musk flying people to Mars or creating a reusable rocket really tweaked his interest. After reading this, I have to say that Musk is a pretty interesting guy. What surprised me the most about him is the description of his demeanor and overall the way he functions personally. I always knew that he was a bright guy and a hard worker, but that extends really far into his personality as well. He's super tough emotionally with little empathy, which is good when he is trying to get a job done, but negatively impacts his relationship with people. It's this sort of "hard-ass" personality and "never give up"attitude that caused many X.com executives to turn against him and get the board to oust him from CEO. I admired his drive though, even in the face of all the negativity Musk still continues to work hard and attempt to make the company work. After the board removed him from CEO at X.com, he still managed to be a large part of the company and encourage it's success. I least admired the way he cares so much about what other people say of him. I get that reputation is important but throughout the book, overtime something was a little bit off about the facts of the even, Musk would go on record and correct it. This, to me, seemed like a slight waste of time.
I noticed the Musk was very competent in his knowledge of how to make things work. When he first decided to start SpaceX and create his own rocket, he read up on rocket design and manufacturing. This wasn't something that he had a formal education on, he mostly focused on computers and code technology throughout the majority of his life, but he was extremely committed to creating a rebirth in the idea of space travel.
The one part that was slightly confusing to me was just some of the decision that Musk made, specifically concerning the start of SpaceX. I was slightly confused on what his end goal or vision was going into the company. At first, he wanted to get people excited about space travel again, sort of like a publicity stunt I guess. But I really didn't understand how he was going to make money from that sort of thing. Musk was discussing the possibility of sending mice into space or having a live stream of a growing plant on Mars, which seems cool and all, but I didn't really understand the point of that besides just getting media attention. When the goal was redefined to make space travel cheaper, that make more sense to me as the possibilities of things to do with that sort of technology and how to make money from it are endless.
The first question I would ask Musk would be: What were your biggest challenges with your first start up, Zip2? Did it become easier to start later ventures? I would ask this because, considering that Musk is a pretty seasoned entrepreneur at this point, I feel like he would be able to get a company up and running fairly quickly.
The second question would be: If you could do everything over again, from Zip2 to Tesla, what would you do differently? I want to know if there are any grievous mistakes that Musk feels that he made when starting all his various companies.
I think that Musk's opinion of hard-work would be pretty hardcore. He probably considers hard work to be long hour, late nights, and pretty much 24/7 grind. I don't think that Musk would allow for anything less than the most brutal from his employees. I agree with the idea of long hours and late nights being required for a successful business, but I think that there is something to be said for a work and life balance. I think if a person wants to feel fulfilled, then they might want to do more than just work all the time.
I noticed the Musk was very competent in his knowledge of how to make things work. When he first decided to start SpaceX and create his own rocket, he read up on rocket design and manufacturing. This wasn't something that he had a formal education on, he mostly focused on computers and code technology throughout the majority of his life, but he was extremely committed to creating a rebirth in the idea of space travel.
The one part that was slightly confusing to me was just some of the decision that Musk made, specifically concerning the start of SpaceX. I was slightly confused on what his end goal or vision was going into the company. At first, he wanted to get people excited about space travel again, sort of like a publicity stunt I guess. But I really didn't understand how he was going to make money from that sort of thing. Musk was discussing the possibility of sending mice into space or having a live stream of a growing plant on Mars, which seems cool and all, but I didn't really understand the point of that besides just getting media attention. When the goal was redefined to make space travel cheaper, that make more sense to me as the possibilities of things to do with that sort of technology and how to make money from it are endless.
The first question I would ask Musk would be: What were your biggest challenges with your first start up, Zip2? Did it become easier to start later ventures? I would ask this because, considering that Musk is a pretty seasoned entrepreneur at this point, I feel like he would be able to get a company up and running fairly quickly.
The second question would be: If you could do everything over again, from Zip2 to Tesla, what would you do differently? I want to know if there are any grievous mistakes that Musk feels that he made when starting all his various companies.
I think that Musk's opinion of hard-work would be pretty hardcore. He probably considers hard work to be long hour, late nights, and pretty much 24/7 grind. I don't think that Musk would allow for anything less than the most brutal from his employees. I agree with the idea of long hours and late nights being required for a successful business, but I think that there is something to be said for a work and life balance. I think if a person wants to feel fulfilled, then they might want to do more than just work all the time.
Another good post on Elon. What a great competitor, both in his natural world of computing as well as the actual natural world. A man with that much money and such a big influence on people and he is using his money for the good health of the environment, truly amazing.
ReplyDeleteElon Musk is a great success story and a great entrepreneur. I found it interesting that Musk tried to attempt to design a rocket even though he had no formal training in the area, he just read up and taught it to himself. It will be interesting to see how his space travel venture goes and if it is a success.
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