1) About the entrepreneur: Elon Musk
- What are you most surprised about?
o I am most surprised about the opening sentence in this giant book is, “Do you think I’m insane?” This immediately tells us that he is aware of how outrageous the public views his thoughts but still is confident in every decision he makes. He does not change his business ideas and goals to be what is socially acceptable. By addressing the answer to this question first, definitely grasps the reader’s attention to wanting to know the answer.
- What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
o I most admire Elon Musk’s willingness to take a risk and invent new possibilities. It’s said that, “he could not have picked a faster way to destroy his fortune but by throwing $100 million into SpaceX, $70 million into Tesla, and $10 million into SolarCity.” Even though no other people would have taken that risk, he shows passion to better society and prove that there are more things to invent, do, and see in this world. One man from South Africa completely took over 2 of the most well-known cities in California, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, with these companies.
o I most admire Elon Musk’s willingness to take a risk and invent new possibilities. It’s said that, “he could not have picked a faster way to destroy his fortune but by throwing $100 million into SpaceX, $70 million into Tesla, and $10 million into SolarCity.” Even though no other people would have taken that risk, he shows passion to better society and prove that there are more things to invent, do, and see in this world. One man from South Africa completely took over 2 of the most well-known cities in California, Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, with these companies.
- What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
o The thing I least admire about Elon Musk is the way this book describes his communication. It states that, “he’ll often go rumbling down an esoteric, scientific rabbit hole without providing any helping hands or simplified explanations along the way.” This makes it very confusing for the public to understand where he is coming from and wants to go with all of his business. I think that he would have a much better grasp on everyone if he takes a minute to step back, put himself in our shoes to understand projects, and not be too much like an engineer. His companies and himself would be much more celebrated if he directly spoke to the audience instead of going through PR stunts.
o The thing I least admire about Elon Musk is the way this book describes his communication. It states that, “he’ll often go rumbling down an esoteric, scientific rabbit hole without providing any helping hands or simplified explanations along the way.” This makes it very confusing for the public to understand where he is coming from and wants to go with all of his business. I think that he would have a much better grasp on everyone if he takes a minute to step back, put himself in our shoes to understand projects, and not be too much like an engineer. His companies and himself would be much more celebrated if he directly spoke to the audience instead of going through PR stunts.
- Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
o Elon Musk faced a lot of adversity and failure through the years because the public and press hasn’t seen a high-risk engineer like him since Steve Jobs. People called him crazy and unrealistic only giving false hope for the “ideas of tomorrow.” One of his biggest downfalls were when the second SpaceX launch failed, and the Tesla production was delayed. With the stress of this, Musk’s home life with his marriage and triplets also suffered, ultimately leading to a divorce. But he faced these hard times by taking another look at his life after their divorce and having a more organized life. He spent half the week in one city solely focusing all his efforts on that company and spent the other half of the week in another city solely focusing his efforts on that company.
o Elon Musk faced a lot of adversity and failure through the years because the public and press hasn’t seen a high-risk engineer like him since Steve Jobs. People called him crazy and unrealistic only giving false hope for the “ideas of tomorrow.” One of his biggest downfalls were when the second SpaceX launch failed, and the Tesla production was delayed. With the stress of this, Musk’s home life with his marriage and triplets also suffered, ultimately leading to a divorce. But he faced these hard times by taking another look at his life after their divorce and having a more organized life. He spent half the week in one city solely focusing all his efforts on that company and spent the other half of the week in another city solely focusing his efforts on that company.
2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?
a. Strategic and influential leadership as well as evaluating performance goals are some of his noticeable competencies as an entrepreneur. By taking charge in his ideas and starting business like these shows he knows how to take a leadership position and effectively demonstrate his thought process. Also looking back at their business accomplishments and failures as a whole better help sets their goals realistically for the future. Know that this SpaceX launch failed or there was a bug in the Tesla model and taking the action to fix those makes it a successful company.
3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
a. One part of the read that was really confusing for me was when Elon Musk states, “I would like to die on Mars” in the last paragraph of the book. I would think that of his hard work and accomplishments with these companies, he would want to stay on Earth and see his businesses become more successful of the years. By living on Mars, he would have no connection with anyone back home leaving his wife and kids as well as all the businessmen looking for his advice.
a. Strategic and influential leadership as well as evaluating performance goals are some of his noticeable competencies as an entrepreneur. By taking charge in his ideas and starting business like these shows he knows how to take a leadership position and effectively demonstrate his thought process. Also looking back at their business accomplishments and failures as a whole better help sets their goals realistically for the future. Know that this SpaceX launch failed or there was a bug in the Tesla model and taking the action to fix those makes it a successful company.
3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.
a. One part of the read that was really confusing for me was when Elon Musk states, “I would like to die on Mars” in the last paragraph of the book. I would think that of his hard work and accomplishments with these companies, he would want to stay on Earth and see his businesses become more successful of the years. By living on Mars, he would have no connection with anyone back home leaving his wife and kids as well as all the businessmen looking for his advice.
4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
a. My first question would be, why would you put any amount of money or business deals over a relationship with your family? As his wife self-reflected on their marriage, she became sickened and felt like a trophy wife than anything else. I would think Musk would be happier, calm, and more efficient if he had the support of his family behind him.
b. My second question would be, have you ever thought about selling all of your companies and assets and retiring early? Even though I know he would say absolutely not because of his entrepreneur mindset, I think it would be interesting to hear his explanation and passion for his achievements. But at some point, in his life he will be too old for all of these responsibilities, it is just a matter of when he is willing to let go and to whom he is pass everything off to.
5) What do you think the entrepreneur’s opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
a. I think Elon Musk’s opinion of hard work is merely working as hard as you possibly can until you can’t anymore. By staying at all hours of the night and flying between many different cities around the US every other day, he is putting in everything he can offer. I definitely do not share this option of “hard work.” Instead I think people should work smarter with the support other people by your side to achieve something. I think Elon Musk is just take on too many things for himself and it will fail, just like it has in the past.
a. My first question would be, why would you put any amount of money or business deals over a relationship with your family? As his wife self-reflected on their marriage, she became sickened and felt like a trophy wife than anything else. I would think Musk would be happier, calm, and more efficient if he had the support of his family behind him.
b. My second question would be, have you ever thought about selling all of your companies and assets and retiring early? Even though I know he would say absolutely not because of his entrepreneur mindset, I think it would be interesting to hear his explanation and passion for his achievements. But at some point, in his life he will be too old for all of these responsibilities, it is just a matter of when he is willing to let go and to whom he is pass everything off to.
5) What do you think the entrepreneur’s opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?
a. I think Elon Musk’s opinion of hard work is merely working as hard as you possibly can until you can’t anymore. By staying at all hours of the night and flying between many different cities around the US every other day, he is putting in everything he can offer. I definitely do not share this option of “hard work.” Instead I think people should work smarter with the support other people by your side to achieve something. I think Elon Musk is just take on too many things for himself and it will fail, just like it has in the past.
Hi, Jessica!
ReplyDeleteI found your thoughts and reflection on Elon Musk very interesting and genuine. I did not know that Elon put his business before his family too. I read about Steve Jobs and he did that to his family as well. It is sad how these two great entrepreneurs made that choice, but perhaps it was something they needed to do in order to be able to work on their radically innovative ideas and help the rest of us. I do know that Elon had a child who died due to SIDS as an infant and wonder how traumatic that must have been for him, if at all, or if it contributed in any way to his family life falling apart. What impresses me about Elon is that he is very forward-looking. He has a vision in his mind for the future and all the things he wants to do to help the world (like his hyperloop train idea) and he uses his creative mind to think of solutions to those things he has envisioned.
Hey Jessica,
ReplyDeleteI did my reflection on Steve Jobs, and I find it scarily similar that both entrepreneurs put their business pursuits over their families. It's interesting and admirable that Elon moves forward with his business ideas without any concern what the public opinion is. He is determined and has a ton of self confidence in himself to not worry about what others think of him. Very good reflection!