The reading that I chose to do, out of the first half of the list, was Elon Musk, and the story of SpaceX, Tesla and the push for a fantastic future. What surprised me the most, had to have been Musk's dark past. In my lifetime, all I have ever heard about Musk has been opinions, whether it be from people talking about him, or people writing about him. What I did know is that there was little doubt about how smart the man was, and how well he encompassed the entrepreneurial spirit, whether that come in the form of Tesla, SpaceX, or even the Boring Company. His creativity and ingenuity are clearly ahead of a vast majority of people who will live in our lifetime. That's why it came as such a surprise to me, when I read about how he came home from a brutal school day, just to work through a brutal a brutal home life. It was hard to read about his emotionally abusive father, and the fact that his father would consistently do rough things, such as force Musk and his brother to sit, so that he could lecture the two of them for hours. What I admired most about Musk, after reading about him, was the fact that money was never his main driver, like it seems to be for so many other people. I have always found it odd, when you hear about a billionaire whose main focus was never the money, but the work. He was driven to prove that he could build better technology, and better products, and he wanted to prove that to the world. I also admire his will to continue to work. After selling Paypal, and clearing hundreds of millions of dollars, Musk got right back to work, with 100 hour workweeks, just to get Tesla Company, and SpaceX off of the ground. What I don't admire about Musk however, is his inability to judge the competency of his own employees. In the reading, readers were informed that Musk consistently asked for the impossible and in some cases, "the impossible on top of the impossible." It was interesting, yet difficult, to learn that a man that intellectual and inspiring could also be tough or impossible to work with or for. There is also the fact that he routinely hogs credit for work, and seems overly willing to fire employees and colleagues. Despite all that however, Musk encountered failure quite consistently, whether it was as a young boy, or a working man. It was clear though, that Musk battled that failure with a next to none work ethic. He refused to quit or back down from any job or task that stood in his way, which is a big part of why he is so successful today.
I noticed several competencies that Musk exhibited. Some of the most obvious included creativity and ingenuity, and his ability to make something out of nothing. His hard working nature, and determination were also clearly identified in the reading. Finally, the book made it clear how intelligent Musk was, especially when talking about his first start-ups and how they were created in part due to his internet prowess.
The one part of the reading that was confusing to me, would have to be the section on his first start-up, which was the web software, Zip2. The reason being, is that I do not have much of a mind for software or programming, which is why the section about it was tough to understand, especially if I had only read it once and then just simply moved on.
If I were able to ask him 2 questions, the first would be what he was thinking of creating next, since I am sure he has thought about it, and my other question would be about whether or not he thought each and every venture would be possible. I'd ask the first question, because Musk has had some crazy and brilliant ideas, and I would find it very intriguing to be able to listen in on a possible future business venture. I would ask the second question, because Musk has invested large sums of money in risky ventures, for example, his effort to make space travel less costly, and the fact that he could create a rocket that could bring men to Mars.
I think Musk's idea of hard work would have to be an everlasting fight to succeed. The reason being is that he would work 100 hour weeks, after already making hundreds of millions of dollars. As long as he had a dream, and idea, he would work until he made that idea a reality and a business. I do agree with his mindset though, because I have always thought that if you want something in life, and if you want to succeed at it, then you have to work, and if it takes you an entire lifetime of work, then so be it.
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