"If something is important enough you should try, even if the probably outcome is failure."
-Elon Musk
The sort of lifestyle that I lead I tend to be always on the go, or trying to find ways to improve myself. As you may have already noticed reading my little blurbs, my nose is constantly in a book or my mind is set about trying to find a way to improve my business or life in general. I tend to leave the news and gossip to others. As Eleanor said let the "small minds discuss people".
Of course there are names you just have to be familiar with even if you are anti-social or a bonafide recluse. Names such as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Everyone knows. A name that has started to float around though is one by the name of Elon Musk.
I was vaguely aware of who he was and my perception of him was that he was that Tesla guy. I always remember hearing the possibilities of an electric car and such and, probably like many others, met with extreme skepticism. Cars run on gas. That's what a car is in my mind and many minds. There is so much business surrounding oil where it seems for some countries that 99% of their GDP comes from oil! Of course I'm being extreme on purpose with my numbers but it's just to re emphasize just how big of an impact it has and surely many with vested interests would like to keep it that way. So for me, electric cars seemed still quite a ways a way. Well fast forward years later to now. Hey. This Elon guy might be on to something.
It took some headlines and finding out just how cool Tesla has gotten that I decided to reach out for one of my latest reads: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance.
So this post is not like my normal book reviews as I wanted to focus on a business concept in the book. Although I must say it's a fantastic read which I truly enjoyed in learning the story behind one of our generation's greatest. As you read more and more books, similarities tend to arise. Business books down to the core will have similarities because doing good business is doing good business. I've been brushing up on SEO books and over and over again 20% of it may be a different and highly reviewed book, but really, 80% is all the same. Though not exact, there is definitely a high positive correlation.
With that said, after reading the biographies of such as Steve Jobs and Warren Buffet, it's not too much of a stretch to say that Elon Musk is this generation's rendition.
One of the things that stuck out most to me is Elon's passion coupled with his drastic approach to logic. There is a reiteration of how so many of our greatest minds are trying to figure out how to get someone to click on an ad instead of trying to create something actually meaningful and helpful towards the advancement of humankind. This romanticism has played well for Elon though not intentionally.
Elon believes as a specie to go on, we must find a way to steer away from fossil fuels. And so he invests and ends up running Tesla, and SolarCity which advances the use of Solar Energy. He believes that we must become an interplanetary specie in order to survive on the off chance that something happens to Earth, well then it's game over for us. So he creates SpaceX to advance this need.
The book reasons a huge part of his companies successes is the fact of how he is able to gather some of the greatest upcoming minds in the respective industries due to the passion of his mission. Why join the government program when you can build towards a mission that is to reach Mars. Why join another car company, when you can join the company that's trying to redefine the car.
The mission statement is something that a lot of business owners tend to overlook. What makes you different? Are you really passionate about your mission? It was never about the money. Elon simply took his passion and applied it. And people responded. Be passionate about your mission and people will respond.
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