Elon Musk - the new Steve Jobs. Rules of Life Elon Musk Bashny.Net

The media are increasingly began to be heard suggestions that Elon Musk - ex-PayPal, CEO of Tesla Motors, Solar City and SpaceX - is the new Steve Jobs. With pleasure I read various articles about him. We have, in the Financial Group Life and venture funds Layf.SREDA, he probably pop star №1

Decided to gather together all the interesting parts of different materials.




< Biography Mask

Elon Musk (Elon Musk) - American engineer, entrepreneur, a billionaire. Participated in the early stages of creating a system PayPal, which was sold in 2002 for 1, $ 5 billion. Chairman of the board of directors of Tesla Motors and SolarCity.

Musk was born June 28, 1971 in Pretoria (South Africa). His father was a South African engineer, his mother - a model originally from Canada. After retiring from the catwalk she worked as a consultant nutritionist. The family had three children.

In 10 years, Musk receives a gift and computer learning program. In 12 years, concludes the first deal: for $ 500 sells Blast Star - he had developed a video game in the style of Space Invaders. The goal of the game to create a mask - shelling series of alien laser gun while driving bottom of the screen.

Teen puts money into shares of pharmaceutical company, for a business that has long followed through newspapers. Musk later sells them for several thousand dollars. The money he spends 17 years to leave his native Pretoria to study in Canada. Parents oppose, but to the prohibitions Musk deaf and financial leverage they have.

In Canada, he learns that a lack of money. "I put various experiments, how to survive on less than $ 1 a day and earn scurvy" - he says Los Angeles Times. For example, eating spaghetti sauce with green pepper (for vitamins). Found that if the hotdog is not ready to buy and collect yourself, it costs about 25-30 cents apiece.

In 1992 he moved to the United States and enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania, studied physics and business. In 1995, he decided to write his doctorate at Stanford University, but the lectures see it a couple of times. Instead, the 23-year-old Musk in an apartment in Palo Alto, which is removed with three students founded the company Zip2. In 1999 Zip2 bought for $ 307 million by Compaq Computer. Of these, the mask goes to $ 20 million. He buys a McLaren F1, a small plane has finally moved from a rented apartment in the condominium.

In March 1999, Musk co-founded X.com. In 2001 the company changed its name to PayPal. In October 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for 1, $ 5 billion at the time of sale mask belonged to 11, 7% stake in the company.

In June 2002, Musk founded his third company SpaceX, which is currently the CEO and chief engineer. The idea in the first approximation, simple and even ordinary: The company assembles small private solar power (power of several kilowatts, which covers the needs of an average household) on the roofs of houses and companies. The trick is that the Solar City does not produce them, and often not even sells and rents, as now expressed in a long-term lease. It helps the customer to calculate how much it will save by switching from conventional to solar energy, developing the design of solar panels for each case, attracts lenders who finance the transaction, and automatically mount panels on the roof. In short, the customer - and this is mainly ordinary Americans - in fact, gets a free personal solar power "turnkey". He did not buy, do not pay any credits. The next twenty years he was just as usual, pay per month for the electricity consumed. Today Solar City is growing faster than any competitor. She has nearly three dozen operations centers across the country, a new customer every five minutes and many months all of those wishing to switch your home or office on solar electricity. The company has established the panel on the tens of thousands of buildings and considers himself a major player in the US market of clean energy.

In June 2010, Tesla Motors conducts its IPO - the first IPO of the automotive companies in the US since 1956, when the stock market went Ford. Since its founding Tesla never showed quarterly profit, and the total loss in 2009 was $ 230, 5 million. But accommodation is superuspeshnym: shares are offered for $ 17 at between $ 14-16, in the first day of trading on the NASDAQ soar by 41 % to $ 23, 89. At the end of 2013, Forbes magazine named shares Tesla - the most profitable shares in the year.

Esquire magazine in 2008, including a mask in the list of 75 most influential people in the XXI century. In June 2011, he was awarded the Heinlein Prize for achievements in space commercialization. In February of the same year Forbes magazine Mask list of 20 most influential CEO at the age of forty.



According to Jon Favreau, director of the film Iron Man, Elon Musk served as a prototype of the protagonist (Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr.). Just Musk appeared in the movie "Iron Man 2" as himself (his friend Tony Stark). By all measures, Musk is more like a comic book character, rather than a real person.

Musk was the second entrepreneur in the history of Silicon Valley, who managed to establish three companies worth more than $ 1 billion - PayPal, SpaceX and Tesla (the first was Jim Clark).

< Terms of business Elon Musk

Masks are not only business, but also an engineer, he is personally involved in the design of the design of electric vehicles and spacecraft. In an era when the "best minds come up with how to get people to click on advertising," Musk devoted himself to space and alternative energy. It plays some other rules and makes it very successful. How did he get it?

< Rule one: Ask the right questions

When Elon Musk started adolescent depression, he began to actively absorb the philosophical and religious literature. But the most valuable lessons, he said, he eventually passed out of the book of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. " "She taught me that the most difficult - is to come up with the right questions. Once you do it, the rest is obtained very simply. " These thoughts brought him an episode in which a giant supercomputer after several million years of thinking responds to "the main question of Life, the universe and everything" meaningless number 42.

"I came to the conclusion that we should seek to expand the limits of the human mind to learn to ask the right questions," - says Musk. He came up with a question for a long time: "When I was in college, I was constantly thinking about that more than anything in the future will affect the fate of humanity?". Musk has decided that it will be online, the transition to renewable energy sources and relocation of people to other planets. He decided to try to contribute in each of these areas. But first he needed the money.

< Rule two: Do ​​not mind analogies - Prepare a reality to the fundamental reason

The main obstacle on the path to true innovation, according to the mask, is the habit of people to think of analogies. As a result, in most cases, they are just trying to do something better, instead of creating something new. Musk thinks fundamentally different way: "In physics, there is a concept of fundamental principles. You prepariruesh reality to its fundamental bases. And you start to build the argument there. This requires much more mental effort ».

For decades, the space seemed impregnable for private business. Its development was dependent on huge budgets and remain the prerogative of governments. Musk was sure that the costs of creating and launching missiles can be reduced tenfold. But first he needed to reformulate the goal of spaceflight. The main mission of SpaceX, Musk says, is not the delivery of astronauts and cargo into orbit, and the colonization of other planets. If you want to relocate part of humanity from the Earth to any satellite of Jupiter, the hell are you, to come up with a way to make it economically.

SpaceX and Musk able to design from scratch a Falcon 9 launch vehicle and spacecraft Dragon. Estimated to NASA, creation of the Falcon 9 was supposed to cost $ 3, 9 billion, SpaceX met the $ 300 million. The company also mask offers the lowest rates in the world for the delivery of cargo into orbit. Today SpaceX has a contract for $ 4 billion, a third of which is accounted for NASA, the rest - to private companies.

Musk himself expects to die on Mars. But not landing.

< Rule Three: Dream - embellishing reality, you change it

In 2008, the Tesla Roadster is the first all-electric car in series production. In 2012, Tesla began selling sedan Model S, aimed at a wider audience. Last summer, at the presentation of Model S Musk categorically stated that twenty years later, more than half of vehicles produced will be fully electric, "I'm sure it will. Willing to put money on it. " Wishing to enter into such a bet there will be enough. Even the most optimistic analysts' estimates, forecast mask can not be realized. But the founder and CEO Tesla is unlikely to bother: embellishing reality, it changes it.

Reality distortion field (reality distortion field) - a term coined by Apple employees to describe the ability of Steve Jobs to convince themselves and others that the challenges facing them impossible task is actually possible. According to subordinates mask at Elon also have such a field. "He just picks up the facts in such a way as to conform to his version of reality" - told The New York Times, former vice president Darryl Tesla Syrah. And here's another quote from Ray Wert, editor in chief of the automotive blog Jalopnik: «I do not believe him. I do not think he's lying. To be honest, I think he believes in what he says. But I am sure that this is completely untrue ».

Tesla Motors repeatedly predicted failure, and start-up several times was on the verge of collapse. Once the mask even had to sell his Maclaren F1, to even slightly prolong the life of a dying company. But he continued to insist that everything is going fine. And somehow miraculously it really get any better.

< Rule Four: invest in projects that can make a difference

"I do not want to be a grandfather who does not know how to check their email. But I'm hardly in the future to make a new internet business. It seems to me that I should focus its efforts on creating things that can affect positively the future of humanity. "" I like to be involved in things that change the world. »

< Rule Five: Always ask: "Why not?»

"I'm always the first thing I think about is whether our knowledge about something true. Maybe there is some other explanation? I did it in the early grades of school. I always questioned everything. This brings the parents to rabies. I never have believed in and always required to answer the question "why?". Then I tried to figure out whether it makes sense they answer. "" Always think about what you could have done better, and ask the right questions. »

< Rule Six: You have to be Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla not

«Tesla Motors is named after Nikola Tesla, since we use some of his inventions. This guy definitely deserves more recognition by society. However, to be honest, I've always liked the more Thomas Edison, because unlike Tesla, he was able to bring their inventions to the mass market and make them available to all mankind. Tesla has failed in this. »

< Rule Seven: work hard. A lot.

"I worked from morning till night. Lived in the same warehouse, where they filmed the office and went to take a shower in the locker room of the local stadium. But I save money on renting an apartment, and in the first two most difficult years kept the company afloat. »

"Work for 80-100 hours a week. This will increase the chances of success. »

"People who know me are usually a good opinion of me. In general, until it's time, until I fired them, they are always a good opinion of me. »

"I think a mistake to hire a large number of people to get a complex technical product. Number of never compensate talent, but as a rule, will slow down the progress and increase the value of the product. »



< Rule eight: You can not change the world not risking

"When Henry Ford began producing cheap and reliable cars, people do not immediately accepted it. It was a huge risk and it paid off. »

«SpaceX wants to be a company that can contribute to the resettlement of people on other planets, because I think this is an ambitious goal, which can stand for life. And although one can never forget the more mundane things, very useful to have such a kind of Holy Grail, which becomes a search for a long-term goal and the main source of inspiration. »

Difficult to mask issued in 2008 - his business is on the verge of bankruptcy. The problems begin as early as 2007, when starts mass production two-seater sports electric car Tesla Roadster. Planned to sell the car for $ 92,000, but in fact it turned out that $ 140 thousand. Are only materials for its production. Musk blames the poor performance of the company's co-founder Martin Eberhard and dismiss him from the post of the General Director. The offense and create a blog Teslafounders.com, which describes mask as heartless and short-sighted man who killed the creative spirit of the company and gave her a present bloodletting. The fact that almost a third of Musk dismisses employees, closes office in Detroit, how can presses on suppliers for cost reduction. As a result Roadster starts to be sold in 2008 for $ 109 000. Later Musk pages Inc admitted that in the crisis years woke up and realized that in a dream plakal.No gradually things are on the mend. In December 2008, NASA concludes with SpaceX contract worth about $ 1, 6 billion for 12 new flights Falcon 9 rocket to the ISS for seven years. In May 2012, a successful test flight takes place without load, in October 2012 without any problems delivered the first shipment. In March this year the truck SpaceX denied three of the four groups of engines and solar panels were not disclosed, but eventually the problem can be solved and docking occurs. Manages to save and Tesla. In October 2008, Musk says the board of directors that he had agreed to attract $ 40 million from shareholders. In fact, he is the only agreed to invest and gives $ 20 million in cash. Impressed by this act, other investors also allocate money. "Soul Elon mastered the idea of ​​changing the world. He said: Well, what with the fact that he had no more money left? "- Says his brother Kimball, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX. In February 2010, Musk said that he spent all the money that was in the bank account, and live on a salary of $ 8255 per month. In June 2010, Tesla Motors conducts IPO - the first IPO of the automotive companies in the US since 1956, when the stock market went Ford. In honor of the IPO Tesla Musk allows himself and the first since 2002 vacation - spends four days in French Polynesia, an additional four-day calls in Brazil to visit relatives. Stops in a rented apartment, "From the time of his youth is the worst thing a place where I had to live - he says Inc. magazine - Stink, sheet stained and, honestly, biting bugs. But it was awesome! We had a great time! ».

< Rule ninth: to hell with an MBA! involved in basic education

"I do not recommend MBA. MBA degree is not required, it is a bad idea. On the MBA courses are taught entirely wrong. There do not teach people to think. And the more prestigious courses, the worse. Because there are trained people to think that they are special, after which they are unable to accept feedback and impartially analyze their own mistakes. I hire rather in spite of the presence of degree, not because of it. Among the senior management of my companies are very few people with MBA. »

"Physics is very helpful, because mathematics, which supports the business, very primitive compared to the mathematical apparatus of physics. I remember how in the course of the analysis of the securities market lecturer explained that such a matrix. I was shocked. If you know the math enough to study physics, the economic problem will be solved without effort. Many scientists underestimate themselves in this area. In fact, they know a lot more than people think. You can just go and make the physical method of thinking to almost any problem - is a versatile techniques and they work in the world economy as well as in the world of physics. »

"Even if you do not want to work after studying physicist, such education is very helpful. So I recommend to study physics as a foundation, then go a little more variety of applications engineering courses in order to determine the most interesting direction for you, and do not neglect the arts and humanities, especially history. And still be a good idea to learn a few economic subjects, at least in order to navigate the terminology. »

< Rule of Ten: nice girls do not like "nerds."









P.S.