B. Elon Musk

Elon Musk

Highlights

One thing that Musk holds in the highest regard is resolve, and he respects people who continue on after being told no. — location: 343

highfalutin — location: 377

“I think there are probably too many smart people pursuing Internet stuff, finance, and law,” Musk said on the way. “That is part of the reason why we haven’t seen as much innovation.” — location: 429

avarice. — location: 439

denizens — location: 446

malaise — location: 463

Luddites — location: 507

What Musk has developed that so many of the entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley lack is a meaningful worldview. He’s the possessed genius on the grandest quest anyone has ever concocted. He’s less a CEO chasing riches than a general marshaling troops to secure victory. Where Mark Zuckerberg wants to help you share baby photos, Musk wants to . . . well . . . save the human race from self-imposed or accidental annihilation. — location: 533

“He points out that one of the really tough things is figuring out what questions to ask,” Musk said. “Once you figure out the question, then the answer is relatively easy. I came to the conclusion that really we should aspire to increase the scope and scale of human consciousness in order to better understand what questions to ask.” The teenage Musk then arrived at his ultralogical mission statement. “The only thing that makes sense to do is strive for greater collective enlightenment,” he said. — location: 637

belies — location: 696

torrid — location: 975

“When Elon gets into something, he develops just this different level of interest in it than other people. That is what differentiates Elon from the rest of humanity.” — location: 1005

ballyhooed — location: 1089

unflappable. — location: 1105

“You don’t get to where Elon is now by always being a nice guy, and he was just so driven and sure of himself.” — location: 1246

You have to put yourself in a position where you say, ‘Well, how would this sound to them, knowing what they know?’” — location: 1303

I might have fixed that thing but now I’ve made the person unproductive. It just wasn’t a good way to go about things.” — location: 1309

foibles — location: 1406

modicum — location: 1416

sycophantic — location: 1524

“He comes from the school of thought in the public relations world that you let no inaccuracy go uncorrected,” said Vince Sollitto, the former communications chief at PayPal. “It sets a precedent, and you should fight every out-of-place comma tooth and nail. He takes things very personally and usually seeks war.” — location: 1538

huckster, — location: 1544

pragmatism — location: 1566

regale — location: 1642

regolith, — location: 1693

dreck — location: 1753

foibles, — location: 1863

“I’m not sure why I’d want to talk about extremely sad events. It does no good for the future. If you’ve got other kids and obligations, then wallowing in sadness does no good for anyone around you. I’m not sure what should be done in such situations.” — location: 1903

It was a high-pressure slog full of explosions—or what the engineers politely called “rapid unscheduled disassemblies”—that — location: 1991

What Musk would not tolerate were excuses or the lack of a clear plan of attack. — location: 2028

I thought it was more important to let him know quickly what happened, but I learned it was more important to have all the information.” — location: 2031

“Elon can be very demanding, but he’ll make sure the obstacles in your way are removed,” — location: 2072

atoll — location: 2156

back-of-the-envelope — location: 2268

To the extent that the financial situation unnerved Musk, he rarely if ever let it show to employees. “Elon did a great job of not burdening people with those worries,” — location: 2269

derision. — location: 2460

groused — location: 2646

ginned — location: 2716

foisted — location: 2739

The press had picked up on the fact that Musk tended to talk a huge game and then struggle to deliver on his promises in time, but they didn’t much care. The game he talked was so much bigger than anyone else’s that reporters were comfortable giving Musk leeway. — location: 2929

flubs, — location: 3141

raucous — location: 3152

schadenfreude — location: 3193

pilloried — location: 3265

metamorphosed — location: 3305

apotheosis — location: 3347

maturation — location: 3504

People who have spent significant time with Musk will attest to his abilities to absorb incredible quantities of information with near-flawless recall. — location: 3510

pilloried — location: 3518

Musk guides his engineers into taking ownership of their own delivery dates. — location: 3558

Then, when you say yes, you are not working hard because he told you to. You’re working hard for yourself. It’s a distinction you can feel. You have signed up to do your own work.” — location: 3560

ilk — location: 3576

One of my favorite things about Elon is his ability to make enormous decisions very quickly. That is still how it works today.” — location: 3599

We’re trying to have a really big impact on the space industry. If the rules are such that you can’t make progress, then you have to fight the rules. — location: 3678

conciliator. — location: 3705

He gets twice as much as anyone else out of people.” There’s a degree to which it’s just never enough for Musk, no matter what it is. — location: 3919

kluge — location: 4120

Musk and von Holzhausen had been studying a bunch of preliminary designs in which the handles had yet to be drawn in and started to fall in love with how clean the car looked. — location: 4233

“I may have been optimistic with respect to the timing on some of these things, but I didn’t over-promise on the outcome,” Musk told me during an interview after the Model S launch. “I have done everything I said I was going to do.” — location: 4459

It produces the best Model S it can at the time, and that’s what the customer receives. This means that Tesla does not develop and hold on to a bunch of new features over the course of the year and then unleash them in a new model all at once. It adds features one by one to the manufacturing line when they’re ready. Some customers may be frustrated to miss out on a feature here and there. — location: 4639

cronyism — location: 4736

the unified field theory of Musk. Each one of his businesses is interconnected in the short term and the long term. — location: 4775

“Elon’s worst trait by far, in my opinion, is a complete lack of loyalty or human connection,” — location: 5000

maybe he was just able to detach from human connection to a remarkable degree. What was clear is that people who worked for him were like ammunition: used for a specific purpose until exhausted and discarded.” — location: 5003

emeritus — location: 5104

As Page puts it, “Good ideas are always crazy until they’re not.” — location: 5187

“The way Elon talks about this is that you always need to start with the first principles of a problem. What are the physics of it? How much time will it take? How much will it cost? How much cheaper can I make it? — location: 5191

The biggest battle I have is restricting their video game time because they want to play all the time. The rule is they have to read more than they play video games. — location: 5236

while its network of charging stations has saved upward of four million gallons of gas. — location: 5292

“Sometimes you have to put something out there for people to attack,” Musk said. “In the long run, the stores won’t be important. The way things will really grow is by word of mouth. The stores are like a viral seed to get things going.” — location: 5961