Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

That ability to stay focused in the midst of a crisis stands as one of Musk’s main advantages over other executives and competitors.

San Francisco has an enduring history with greed. It became a city on the back of the gold rush, and not even a catastrophic earthquake could slow San Francisco’s economic lust for long. Don’t let the granola vibes fool you. Booms and busts are the rhythm of this place.

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

“The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads,” Jeff Hammerbacher, an early Facebook engineer, told me. “That sucks.”

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.”

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

Most impressive to Thiel has been Musk’s ability to find bright, ambitious people and lure them to his companies. “He has the most talented people in the aerospace industry working for him, and the same case can be made for Tesla, where, if you’re a talented mechanical engineer who likes building cars, then you’re going to Tesla because it’s probab

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

The guiding principle at SpaceX is to embrace your work and get stuff done. People who await guidance or detailed instructions languish.