Elon Musk may be one of the most polarizing people in business. Actually, forget “may be,” he is almost certainly in the top three. It takes a master of their craft to be able to make a book about such a person required reading, and that is why Walter Isaacson was the only option to write this biography. Despite Musk’s perceived indifference to making others happy, or doing what he should, there are all sorts of lessons that can be learned from his accomplishments and failures. Below are the three biggest takeaways I had:
1. Dream Big
Many of us have parents that encourage us to dream big. “You can do anything you want to do,” they say. But somewhere between adolescence and adulthood, many of us lose that ability to think big and instead begin thinking practically. You choose one job, then another, and before you know it you’re 15 years into a career that is hard to change. There is nothing wrong with that path, but it makes it difficult to change the world.
Musk, on the other hand, identified three areas he thought would truly affect humanity, and he focused all of his effort on those areas: the internet, sustainable energy, and space travel. Space travel, in particular, is not an area most of us would’ve thought there were business opportunities. In fact, I’m still not sure SpaceX will truly help humanity in any way. But the lesson is that when you have a truly big, audacious mission, you find ways to impose your will to make that mission happen. You are so much more powerful chasing a mission than a profitable business. For a mission, profit is a means to an end, not the end goal itself.
2. Bet On Yourself
At one point during Tesla’s earlier days, Musk was trying to negotiate a new round of funding, but many weren’t sure the company was going to make it. Musk decided to negotiate that he receive zero pay unless the company hit a set of astronomical targets. It was a huge gamble, one that he may never have made if SpaceX hadn’t been successful. Musk bet on himself and drove an almost maniacal level of improvement for the company. 5 years later, Tesla had hit every single target and Musk was awarded a $58 Billion pay day. It is, perhaps, the single greatest example of betting on yourself paying off that I can think of.
Not many people enjoy taking risks. We’re evolutionarily wired to avoid as much risk as possible. Musk is a different animal, but betting on yourself doesn’t have to be for a $58B payday. Is there a new job or career that you’d like to go after? Would you like to move your family into a nicer area or a bigger home? Do you want to retire with a certain amount saved? These are all attainable goals, and they rely mostly on your effort. Are you willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. Can you put yourself in a mindset where no matter what obstacles get in your way, you will not be denied. There is a lot of research that shows “luck” tends to go up when individuals focus on manifesting something positive. This is where betting on yourself pays dividends.
3. Achieve Giant Goals with Small Steps
When you’re dealing with giant goals, they can seem overwhelming to begin acting on. Take SpaceX for example. Musk’s ultimate goal is for humans to become an interplanetary species, but he didn’t just come out and start a company to do that. First he built a company (SpaceX) to make space exploration more affordable. Then he built a company (Starlink) to begin generating huge profits to help fund new space exploration. He did the same thing with Tesla. In order to be able to manufacture an electric vehicle for the masses, he started with the higher-end Roadster and Model S to gain the profits, manufacturing scale and brand identity needed for such a goal.
This is perhaps the biggest takeaway I had from the book. Any goal can seem impossible if it’s big enough. The key is to break the goal down into smaller “chunk goals” that help you build momentum. That momentum you build will make people sit up and take notice of your goal, and sometimes it will make them start thinking about how they can help you achieve it. Tesla has disrupted the auto industry for all of the biggest players, but it has also taken massive investments from both Toyota and General Motors. Goals are always easier to achieve with friends as opposed to enemies.