I first became interested in Elon Musk when I watched this PandoMonthly fireside chat with him and Sarah Lacy. Having sold several startups and cofounded big companies like PayPal, Tesla, and SpaceX, he quickly became a role model for me as an entrepreneur and I grew to admire his rationality and methodical decision making abilities.

What stood out to me even more than his numerous accomplishments was the diverse range of fields in which he has been successful and how his ability to learn new material and execute on that knowledge has lead to phenomenal success.

As with many well-known figures who are top in their field, Elon’s life has had it’s tremendous highs and extreme lows. I already knew a lot about Elon from watching youtube videos, but I wanted a more intimate understanding of his personal drive and backstory. Like most people, I was ecstatic to read Ashlee Vance’s new biography and am even more excited now to share what I’ve learned!

I’m going to divide up this post into 8 key takeaways that I had from reading this book. In terms of a unbiased review, I think it’s a great read. Even if you already know a lot about Elon Musk. However, it’s clearly biased at times and is written from a certain perspective. Still, definitely recommend checking it out.

1) Elon’s ability to learn and execute is paramount to his success

One of the huge advantages that stood out to me when comparing Musk with other entrepreneurs in the technology space was his unparalleled ability to execute and learn what he needed to learn to get the job done.

For example, although his programming background allowed him to create his first startup, which brought media companies online, it was really his ability to execute despite all of his hinderances, like money and even a place to stay, that ultimately made the company a success.

He built out the initial functionality, continued to expand it, and eventually, him and his brother showed that they could execute well enough that they were able to attract venture capital dollars.

He also showed an amazing ability to retain and use knowledge in industries that were, at one time, completely foreign to him like finance, rocketry, and alternative energy.

The ability to learn and execute disseminated into the type of culture that he created around his companies. He was more interested in having an engineer find out how to build something rather than dealing with a supplier or outsourcing a part.

For those looking to follow in his footsteps or interested in entrepreneurship in general, I think the questions to ask yourself would be:

• How quickly can you learn what needs to be learned?
• What skill set can repeatedly and continuously execute on?

“He…was not afraid to just go figure things out.”

“Musk also began to hone his trademark style of entering an ultra complex business and not letting the fact that he knew little about the industry’s nuances to bother him in the slightest.”

“Musk initially relied on textbooks to form the bulk of his rocketry knowledge. But as SpaceX hired one brilliant person after another, Musk realized he could tap into their stores of knowledge…He would quiz you until he learned ninety percent of what you know”

2) He might be a smart guy, but his passion is unmatched

There is no doubt that Musk is a super smart guy. Not only does he excel at absorbing new bits of information, but he can also do complex calculations in his head, get a feel for what is needed in an industry, and understand the interworking of other human beings.

However, there are a lot of smart people in the world. There are lots of individuals out there who are better at physics, mathematics, or programming than Musk. So why does he succeed? 

At certain a level, intelligence and success are corollary, but there is a point were more intelligence does not lead to more success from a company-building standpoint. Instead, what matters more is drive, work ethic, the ability to learn, and the ability to hire people who are smarter than yourself.

Therefore, it’s Musk’s amazing passion, commitment, and determination to succeed, no matter what it takes, that sets him apart from his peers, not his intelligence. In business, given the correct resources, a less intelligent man who continually tries and works hard will eventually find something that works and resonates with customers (or a way to make it). A more intelligent man who fails to take continuous action and has less desire to see a certain outcome is less likely to be successful.

3) His greater mission and vision unites his employees

It’s obvious that Elon Musk is talented and intelligent, however, in my opinion, it’s his ability to inspire and convince other talented and intelligent individuals to follow him and work for him that makes him stand out as a great entrepreneur.

It seems to me that it’s his inspiring visions and reasons for working hard that are what captivate the hearts and minds of the american public and his employees. He’s not just working hard to make more money and become the richest man in the world. He’s trying to make the entire human race multi-planetary and build an exciting future.

Would you rather work for a big government contractor that is intent on making money or a passionate individual who is genuinely trying to change the world for the better?

“His vision is so clear. He almost hypnotizes you.”

4) He evaluates by rationality, not expertise.

This is one of the hardest things to do, particularly as a young entrepreneur, but you must evaluate opinions, assumptions, and advice based on the rationality that supports them, rather than the expertise of the individual who is speaking out.

A good example of this is the financial industry. Many young americans will invest in this stock or buy this mutual fund because they were advised to do so under the guidance of a financial “professional” who has has “20 years in the business.”

Funny enough, many of these financial professionals have a horrible track record at beating the S&P 500 and an even worse record of being right in terms of market timing or investment choice. Still, many people will still entrust their money to such an individual because they believe that “they know better than they do,” simply because they have some kind of a degree, certification, or have industry experience.

Whether you are evaluating the advice of a financial professional, a veteran entrepreneur, or anyone who claims to be an expert, you must evaluate the advice from the basis of the underlying rationality, not because “he or she who is an expert said it.”

There are great examples of this in the book where Musk basically calls veteran financial professionals idiots or calls someone an idiot with a distinguished background because they came to a faulty illogical conclusion.

5) Determination and persistence is the only thing that matters.

I’ve already mentioned that I think that Musk’s passion is his secret weapon when motivating people to work for him and to get himself to work towards his own goals. But, everyone can be passionate about something temporarily and have that passion fizzle out over time.

Elon Musk has the uncanny ability to be passionate and focused over a very long duration, which ultimately is at the root of his success. Most people would quit after a few failed space launches, but simply by persisting, continuously learning, being “all in,” and trying it again, his next launch, which was a success, made the difference between him being seen as a success and failure in the eyes of history.

Therefore, the line between success and failure is very thin and sometimes it only comes down to determination and persistence. These qualities will decide if you are able to cross over the line from failure to success.

“He does what he wants, and he is relentless about it. It’s Elon’s world, and the rest of us live in it.”

“What he went through in 2008 would have broken anyone else. He didn’t just survive. He kept working and stayed focused. Most people who are under that sort of pressure fray. Their decisions go bad. Elon gets hyperrational. He’s still able to make very clear, long-term decisions. The harder it gets, the better he gets. Anyone who saw what he went through firsthand came away with more respect for the guy. I’ve just never seen anything like his ability to take pain.”

6) Building useful things

When asked how Musk wanted to be seen, he said that he wanted to be seen as useful. He’s also repeatedly said that a business that does not bring a useful product to a consumer that solves some kind of pain points should simply not exist.

Not only does Musk work backwards from the consumer to figure out what he needs to build that will be of use to that individual, but he also continuously asks that question. Tesla is famous for shipping new software that expands the functionality of their fleet and coming up with new and interesting ideas that will future solve energy and transportation problems.

Paul Graham says it well: “Make something people want. Don’t worry too much about making money.”

7) Being in his own world

I’ve also read most of the biography of Bill Gates and one of the things that struck me was the similarity between how individuals described Gates and Musk. Acquaintances both said that these individuals would often retreat into their own world where they would be thinking and not really respond to their surrounding environment, even if people asked them questions.

I think this is a testament to the incredible amount of single-minded focus that both of these individuals exhibit and the way they are able to tune out any kind of distraction.

8) Days spent hustling

Not to draw too much of a parallel (though I do think Musk is a hybrid of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates in terms of skills), but in the same way that Gates was famous for working long hours and getting home late at night only to collapse from exhaustion and sleep, Musk was also a big hustler.

“I had friends who complained that their husbands came home at seven or eight. Elon would come home at eleven and work some more. People didn’t always get the sacrifice he made in order to be where he was.”

His hard work translated to his team, which at SpaceX, are known for working on weekends. It also made him a bit less empathetic I think, because he would be constantly evaluating how key components of his life are aligned toward his larger mission.

“Even then, as essentially a college kid with zits, Elon had this drive that this thing – whatever it was – had to get done and that if he didn’t do it, he’d miss his shot.”

As a CEO, Elon is extremely hands on from working on problems to evaluating the quality of the product. He also has a knack for making complex decisions quickly and moving on. Overall, his hard work in the right industry and with his talents has certainly paid off.

“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.”

Conclusion

“He always works from a different understanding of reality than the rest of us. He is just different than the rest of us.”

There are a lot of abilities, skills, and personal qualities that Elon Musk has that explains why he is where he is today. If I had to pick one key takeaway however from reading his biography, it would be the way that he:

1. Gets smart people to work for him.

2. Gets them to work harder than they ever have in their life.

He and his team are willing to deal with shitty problems and work towards a solution, no matter how many hours they have to put in to get there. This means that he’s put himself in a great position to own great intellectual property and the products that come from dealing with these problems.

When scouting for engineers, Musk has it down pat: “We’re looking for people that have been building things since they were little” and in the same way that coders are evaluated, he measured individuals based on what they have built and how they’ve actually demonstrated their exceptional abilities.

I think that Musk has put himself at the intersection of hardware and software, which is going to become a booming industry in the years to come and draws on the strengths of his Silicon Valley experience.

Interesting Facts.

Started Zip2 – 1995 When Elon was 24.

$3 million was invested in 1996 When Elon was 25.

Zip2 Was sold for $307 million. Elon made $22 million. 1998 When Elon was 28.

Ebay bought paypal in 2002 when elon was 32?

Elon musk was angel investor in Tesla.