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Elon Musk on How to Build the Future

(www.ycombinator.com)
1106 points sama | 3 comments | 15 Sep 16 18:05 UTC | HN request time: 0.776s | source
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rpedela ◴[16 Sep 16 02:06 UTC] No.12511432[source]▶
I would be far more interested in how to build a successful business. Everyone asks Elon about his big ideas, but how do you turn those big ideas into reality, specifically? I have never seen anyone ask him those questions. I thoroughly enjoyed the interview with Jessica Livingston because that was the primary topic. A missed opportunity in my opinion. I hope the rest of the interviews are more about the nuts and bolts of how to build a successful business.

EDIT

Ask him about the early days at PayPal. What are the lessons he learned that he applied to Tesla and SpaceX? What worked for PayPal but not the other companies and why?

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1. Bakary ◴[16 Sep 16 03:47 UTC] No.12511687[source]▶
The problem is that even with a highly intelligent and driven person like Musk there also is a definite role played by luck and circumstances. Therefore it's highly unlikely to be able to garner some actionable insights from past successes other than the most general ones.
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2. lunula ◴[16 Sep 16 06:26 UTC] No.12512231[source]▶
Which ironically means that such people are not uniquely prepared to guide our future. Maybe we could pick selfless but intelligent people as our leaders. Any benefit that this "experience" gives to Mr. Musk is overwhelmed by his penchant for flashy, greedy narcissism. Exhibit: the hyperloop.
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3. kulu2002 ◴[16 Sep 16 13:45 UTC] No.12513917[source]▶
"Selfless" is the Keyword!