#30 Elon Musk Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

In this episode of Founders podcast, the host delves into the life and work of Elon Musk, as chronicled in Ashley Vance's biography "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future." The conversation highlights Musk's unparalleled work ethic, his capacity for processing complex information, and his unwavering commitment to his companies. Despite facing immense pressure and the brink of financial ruin in 2008, Musk's focus and determination allowed him to save both SpaceX and Tesla. The host and guests discuss Musk's philosophy of working from first principles, his tendency to manufacture in-house to maintain control and reduce costs, and his vision of making space exploration more accessible. They also touch on the importance of re-reading influential books and listening to impactful podcasts to reinforce valuable ideas. The episode is sponsored by Blinkist, offering listeners a discount to access summaries of nonfiction books.

• Elon Musk is recognized for his exceptional intelligence and involvement in diverse fields.
• He demands well-thought-out answers based on fundamental physics principles.
• Musk has a profound understanding of rocket physics, which sets him apart.

"Elon is brilliant. He's involved in just about everything. He understands everything. If he asks you a question, you learn very quickly not to give him a gut reaction. He wants answers that get down to the fundamental laws of physics."

This quote emphasizes Elon Musk's intelligence and the depth of understanding he expects in responses, especially in relation to physics.

"The physics of rockets."

This quote underlines Musk's specific expertise in the physics of rockets, which is acknowledged as exceptional.

"The stuff I have seen him do in his head is crazy. He can in discussions about flying a satellite and whether we can make the right orbit and deliver dragon at the same time and solve all these equations in real time. It's amazing to watch the amount of knowledge he has accumulated over the years."

This quote illustrates Musk's ability to solve complex aerospace problems mentally, showcasing his vast knowledge and analytical skills.

• Competing against Elon Musk is perceived as futile due to his ability to outmaneuver, outthink, and out-execute others.
• Musk's competitive edge is intimidating to those in the same industry.

"Who ever has to compete with Elon. You might as well leave the business and find something else fun to do. He will outmaneuver you, out think you, and out execute you."

This quote conveys the speaker's view that competing with Musk is nearly impossible due to his superior strategic and operational abilities.

• The podcast is sponsored by Blinkist, which offers summaries of nonfiction books.
• Blinkist is recognized and awarded by various organizations, including Apple and the United Nations.
• Listeners of the podcast are offered a discount on Blinkist services.

"Is brought to you by Blinkist. Blinkist puts big ideas from the world's best nonfiction books in powerful little summaries you can read or listen to in just 15 minutes."

This quote introduces Blinkist as the podcast's sponsor and describes the service it provides.

"Blinkist app has been nominated by Apple. As one of the best in the App Store. Blinkist also received the World Summit award granted by the United Nations, as well. As the Google Material Design Award."

This quote highlights the accolades received by Blinkist, lending credibility to the service.

"So get key insights from 2200 plus best selling nonfiction books. They're also adding more summaries every month."

This quote details the breadth of Blinkist's offerings and its commitment to regularly updating its content library.

• Elon Musk's life goal is to turn humans into space colonizers, ensuring a bright future for humanity.
• Musk's ambition is driven by the desire to have a backup plan for human civilization in case of catastrophic events on Earth.

"Turning humans into space colonizers, is his stated life purpose."

This quote summarizes Musk's overarching life goal, highlighting his focus on space colonization.

"I would like to die thinking that humanity has a bright future."

This quote reflects Musk's motivation for his work, which is rooted in optimism for humanity's future.

• Musk can appear shy and awkward but is also known to be charming and humorous.
• He is characterized by a sense of purpose and pressure in conversations.
• Musk expects others to keep up with his high-level and technical discussions.

"On initial encounter, Musk can come off as shy and borderline awkward."

This quote describes the first impression Musk often makes on people, noting his reserved demeanor.

"Musk doesn't really shoot the shit."

This quote underscores Musk's no-nonsense approach to conversation, focusing on substantive topics over small talk.

• Musk's entrepreneurial journey began with Zip2 and continued with PayPal, both of which were highly successful.
• Musk invested his fortune from PayPal into SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, defying conventional wisdom and taking significant risks.
• His companies strive to innovate and rethink industry conventions, often manufacturing products from scratch.

"Short of building an actual money crushing machine, Musk could not have picked a faster way to destroy his fortune."

This quote highlights the high-risk nature of Musk's investments in innovative and capital-intensive companies.

"He became a one man, ultra risk taking venture capital shop and doubled down on making super complex physical goods in two of the most expensive places in the world, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley."

This quote illustrates Musk's unique approach to entrepreneurship, focusing on complex physical products and investing heavily in challenging industries.

• The Founders podcast began with a focus on biographies of interesting people and later narrowed to concentrate on entrepreneurs.
• The host emphasizes the value of revisiting impactful books and podcasts to gain new insights and build upon existing knowledge.

"At the time, founders wasn't called Founders."

This quote indicates the podcast's evolution and its initial broader scope of topics.

"I just had the idea that I was going to read biographies of interesting people and then talk about that."

This quote explains the original concept of the podcast before it specialized in entrepreneurship.

• Musk's vision of colonizing Mars provides a unifying and motivating goal for his employees.
• Working towards seemingly impossible goals is a common thread across his companies.

"It's the sweeping goal that forms a unifying principle over everything he does."

This quote captures how Musk's vision for space colonization influences all his business ventures.

• Elon Musk's passion for reading was evident from a young age, often spending extensive hours engrossed in books.
• His childhood reading habits are remembered by his family as intense and focused.

"The most striking part of Elon's character as a young boy was his compulsion to read."

This quote describes Musk's voracious reading habits during his childhood.

• Musk acknowledges his lack of experience in managing people during his early ventures.
• He reflects on the importance of understanding team dynamics and improving his management skills.

"I had never really run a team of any sort before, Musk said. I had never been a sports captain or a captain of anything or managed a single person."

This quote reveals Musk's initial inexperience with leadership roles and his subsequent learning curve.

• Recognizing that people may not have the same information or assumptions.
• Importance of communicating effectively and considering what others know.
• The need to adapt one's approach based on the audience's knowledge base.

"Even if they would like to behave like you, they don't necessarily have all the assumptions or information that you have in your mind."

This quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing that others may not share your knowledge or assumptions, which can lead to different behaviors or conclusions.

• Persistence in pursuing goals, both professionally and personally.
• Comparing Elon Musk's relentless pursuit in dating to his work ethic.
• Justine, Elon's ex-wife, describes his persistent calling when they met in college.

"He would call very incessantly. She said, you always knew it was Elon because the phone would never stop ringing."

This quote illustrates Musk's persistent nature, as recounted by his ex-wife, highlighting his determination to achieve his goals.

• Elon Musk's preference for creating technologies over passive investing.
• His willingness to take significant personal financial risks.
• Musk's investment in X.com, which later became PayPal, as an example of his risk tolerance.

"I'm not an investor. I like to make technologies real that I think are important for the future and useful in some sort of way."

This quote reflects Musk's philosophy of actively participating in the development of technologies he believes are important, rather than being a passive investor.

• Humans tend to imitate each other's behaviors and ideas.
• The influence of exposure to certain ideas or people on one's actions.
• The benefits of learning from successful individuals' experiences and ideas.

"Humans are deeply memetic, that you have to be very careful, like, the ideas you expose yourself to or the people you hang around, because we just copy each other incessantly."

This quote discusses the concept that humans often mimic each other, which can have significant implications for personal development and success.

• Elon Musk's early recognition of an arbitrage opportunity in the financial market.
• His experience with banks' herd mentality, which later bolstered his confidence to compete against them.

"All the bankers did was copy what everyone else did. If everyone else ran off a bloody cliff, they'd run off a cliff right with them."

This quote captures Musk's realization that many bankers follow the crowd rather than making independent decisions, which informed his approach to business and competition.

• Elon Musk's method of breaking down complex problems into fundamental truths.
• His application of first principles thinking to the aerospace industry.
• The realization that rockets could be made more affordable, inspiring space exploration.

"If you're thinking from first principles, it allows you to reject dogma and to reject conventional wisdom."

This quote conveys the essence of first principles thinking, which involves questioning and breaking down established beliefs to arrive at fundamental truths.

• The intense experience of working with Musk, characterized by extreme challenges and rewards.
• Anecdotes from SpaceX employees illustrating the demanding work environment.

"Experienced a full spectrum of highs and lows that came with working for Musk."

This quote provides insight into the demanding and often volatile nature of working closely with Elon Musk, as experienced by a SpaceX engineer.

• Hallman's personal challenges and Musk's response demonstrate the high-pressure environment at SpaceX.
• Musk's attention to employee obstacles showcases his commitment to removing barriers for his team.
• The story reflects the intense culture at SpaceX where personal sacrifices are often made in the pursuit of innovation and progress.

"Elon can be very demanding, but he'll make sure the obstacles in your way are removed."

This quote highlights Musk's demanding nature but also his willingness to support his employees by removing obstacles that hinder their work.

• Kevin Brogan's reflection on Musk's philosophy emphasizes the urgency of cost-efficiency and time management.
• Musk's approach to decision-making balances frugality with strategic investment to save time.
• The notion of lost revenue due to delays is integral to Musk's forward-thinking strategy.

"He would place this urgency that he expected the revenue in ten years to be $10 million a day, and that every day we were slower to achieve our goals was a day of missing out on that money."

This quote underlines Musk's urgency in achieving goals, equating time with potential revenue and emphasizing the cost of delays.

• Musk's personal financial risk during the 2008 crisis illustrates his dedication to his companies.
• The strategic dilemma Musk faced in potentially having to choose between SpaceX and Tesla showcases his commitment to both ventures.
• The narrative of Musk's struggle and eventual success underscores his resilience and ability to make tough decisions under pressure.

"I will spend my last dollar on these companies. If we have to move into Justine's parents' basement, we'll do it."

This quote exemplifies Musk's willingness to sacrifice personal wealth and comfort for the survival of his companies.

• Garcia's perspective on Musk's character emphasizes his resilience and ability to work under extreme stress.
• Musk's focus and rational decision-making are highlighted as key factors in his success.
• The admiration Musk commands from those who work with him, despite his demanding nature, is a testament to his leadership and vision.

"What he went through in 2008 would have broken anyone else. He didn't just survive. He kept working and stayed focused."

This quote from Garcia captures Musk's exceptional ability to endure stress and maintain focus during the 2008 financial crisis, setting him apart from other executives.

• SpaceX's unique position as the only company focused on conquering the solar system is a key motivator for employees.
• Musk's clear vision for his companies serves as a powerful recruitment tool and inspires a high level of commitment from his team.

"SpaceX is Musk."

This quote encapsulates the idea that SpaceX is not just a company but an embodiment of Musk's personal mission and vision.

• SpaceX's strategy of manufacturing the majority of its components in-house is contrasted with ULA's reliance on a vast network of suppliers.
• The self-reliant approach is seen as a reflection of Musk's philosophy and contributes to SpaceX's efficiency and innovation.

"SpaceX manufactures between 80% and 90% of its rockets, engines, electronics, and other parts."

This quote highlights the extent of SpaceX's in-house manufacturing capabilities, which is a core aspect of its operational strategy.

• The soured relationship between Musk and Bezos is noted, with Musk's candid opinion of Bezos providing insight into the competitive nature of the space industry.
• The anecdote reflects the personal dynamics between two of the world's most prominent entrepreneurs.

"I do think Bezos has an insatiable desire to be king."

This quote reveals Musk's perception of Jeff Bezos, hinting at the competitive tension between their respective space ventures.

• The concept of individual leverage in business is discussed, with the trend of one-person million-dollar businesses highlighted.
• Musk's ability to recruit and motivate individuals to perform at high levels is underscored as a key factor in SpaceX's success.

"And by recruiting hundreds of bright, self-motivated people, SpaceX has maximized the power of the individual."

This quote underscores the importance of individual contribution and the collective impact of motivated employees at SpaceX.

• The individual can work continuously without the need for meetings, consensus, or bringing others up to speed.
• Working alone allows for uninterrupted progress on projects.

The individual doesn't have to hold meetings, reach a consensus, or bring other people up to speed on a project. He just keeps working and working and working.

This quote highlights the efficiency and productivity that can be achieved by working individually without the need for group coordination.

• The creation of the Internet is considered a fortunate event for the current generation.
• The Internet is a powerful tool for learning and access to information, akin to the library of Alexandria.

The time, that we are extremely lucky to be alive when the Internet was created.

Elon Musk expresses gratitude for the existence of the Internet during our lifetime, emphasizing its significance in the modern world.

Me nearly everything I know. It is the modern day equivalent to the library of Alexandria, except it's much harder to burn to the ground. It is indispensable for realizing human rights, combating inequality, accelerating development, and quickening the pace of human progress.

This quote compares the Internet to the historic library of Alexandria, highlighting its resilience and importance in advancing society and individual knowledge.

• SpaceX built upon existing knowledge from NASA and other space programs.
• The company reviewed past research and documentation to inform their rocket design.

So it says they cribbed from past capsule work and read over every paper published by NASA and other aeronautic bodies around projects like Gemini and Apollo.

This quote illustrates how SpaceX utilized previous research and designs from space programs to inform their own innovations.

If you go search for something like Apollo's reentry guidance algorithm, there are these great databases that will just spit out the answer.

This quote demonstrates the ease with which information can be accessed today, aiding in the development of new technologies.

• Tesla faced a decision between creating a hybrid car or an all-electric vehicle.
• The company chose to focus on electric vehicles, believing it to be the future of the automotive industry.

It would be expensive, and the performance would not be as good as an all electric car. And we would have needed to build a team to compete with the core competency of every car company in the world. We would have been betting against all the things we believe in, like the power electronics and batteries improving. We decided to put all that effort into going where we think the endpoint is, and we never looked back.

This quote explains Tesla's rationale for focusing solely on electric vehicles, emphasizing their commitment to their vision and the future they foresee for the automotive industry.

• The potential for electric cars has been present for a long time, but it was overlooked by many.
• Tesla's success is attributed to its uncompromising pursuit of its vision and willingness to embrace what others saw as a poor business opportunity.

Quick to remind people that the chance to build an awesome electric car had been there all along. It's not really like there was a rush to get into this idea, and we got there first. It is frequently forgotten in hindsight that people thought this was the shittiest business opportunity on the planet. The venture capitalists were running for the hills.

This quote from Elon Musk points out that the opportunity for electric cars was always available, but it was not pursued due to negative perceptions.

What separated Tesla from the competition was the willingness to charge after its vision without compromise. A complete commitment to execute to Musk's standards.

This quote emphasizes Tesla's commitment to its vision and the high standards set by Elon Musk as key factors that distinguish the company from its competitors.

• Elon Musk views time as the most valuable currency in life.
• He believes in working as hard as possible due to the finite nature of life.

Is time is the currency of life. Elon came to the conclusion early in his career that life is short. If you really embrace this, it leaves you with the obvious conclusion that you should be working as hard as you can.

This quote conveys Elon Musk's philosophy on the value of time and the importance of dedicating oneself fully to work and life goals.

• The concept of "Grand Theft Life" encourages living boldly and authentically, treating life like a game.
• This approach involves developing oneself and pursuing goals with the same dedication one would give to a video game character.

So if you were playing a game called Grand Theft Life, you would be true to yourself, you'd be bold, you'd actually do what you wanted to do without fear of the consequences.

This quote advocates for a fearless and self-determined approach to life, drawing an analogy to playing a video game.

Like, treat yourself as your video game character and treat life as this game that you're trying to play.

This quote further explains the "Grand Theft Life" philosophy, suggesting that individuals should invest in their personal development and goals as if they were enhancing a character in a game.

• The host asks for listener support through ratings and reviews, especially on Apple Podcasts.
• Regular podcast releases are promised, with a commitment to discipline and timeliness.

The biggest thing you can do to help me, if I've helped you at all, is please go to Apple Podcasts and leave a five star rating.

This quote is a request for listener support to help increase the podcast's visibility and reach.

Every Monday there has to be a new podcast release. So subscribe if you want to see those.

This quote commits to a regular release schedule for the podcast, encouraging listeners to subscribe for consistent content.

• The host offers additional resources such as book recommendations and a secret link for free audiobooks.
• Engagement with the podcast community is encouraged through social media and website visits.

If you want the full story, make sure you read the book, Elon Musk, Tesla SpaceX, and the quest for a fantastic future.

This quote promotes further reading for listeners interested in the full story of Elon Musk's endeavors.

If you're interested in listening to the audio version of this book, then go ahead and use that link. You sign in with your Amazon account. It takes like 30 seconds, and then you can listen to this book and any other book that you want.

This quote offers a resource for accessing audiobooks, providing an option for listeners to engage with the content in a different format.

They're available at founderspodcast.com and they're available in the show notes. So you don't even have to go to the website. If you don't want to buy one of the books, buy ten of them. Buy all of them, and Amazon will send me a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you.

This quote directs listeners to where they can find and purchase the books discussed in the podcast, with a mention of the benefit to the host through affiliate sales.