He was a co-founder of PayPal and sold his share in the company for a considerable fortune.
Wanting to devote his life to things that would solve major issues for the human race, he went on to develop a company building electric cars to reduce our need for fossil fuels (Tesla), a company to dramatically reduce the cost of spaceflight (SpaceX) and a solar power company (SolarCity) to eliminate the fossil fuel industry.
Elon Musk hopes to make humanity a multi-planet species by making it possible to colonise Mars.
How does he do it? - Chris Anderson, the curator of the TED Talks, interviewed Elon to find out what makes him tick and exactly what it is that has enabled him to succeed repeatedly. Chris would also like to know whether the essential factors can be identified and encouraged in others. Can Elon Musk become a sort of 'template' or guide for success with extreme projects?
The answer is, quite possibly, 'Yes'. The keys seem to be to aim high, take risks, base new ventures on the underlying principles and work up from there. It's also useful to pay close attention to negative feedback from friends.
Watch the interview for yourself. It is short, fascinating, and informative.
Questions:
See also:
- What most astonishes you about Elon Musk's achievements?
- What is the most interesting part of his thinking? What is fundamental?
- How might you use the underlying principles in business, church, politics, education... ?
- What are you waiting for?
See also:
- Elon Musk
- Elon Musk - Twitter
- Elon Musk - Wikipedia
- Grasshopper at SpaceX - Journeys of heart and mind
- Grasshopper - Wikipedia
- PayPal
- PayPal - Wikipedia
- SolarCity
- SolarCity - Wikipedia
- SpaceX
- SpaceX - Wikipedia
- Tesla Motors
- Tesla Motors - Wikipedia
