Elon Musk

For those of us familiar with the work of Ashlee Vance, it will come as no surprise that this is one incredibly well-written book. His pieces for Bloomberg Businessweek and the New York Times were always well thought out and thoroughly researched - and, like Elon, Ashlee was born in South Africa so it came as no surprise that his biography of Musk is very engaging and provides an in-depth view into his business methodologies and companies. Vance writes about Musk in an objective way that is straightforward and educational. I was hooked from the first page through the last - I could not put the book down! The book begins by covering the early years of Musk’s life. He does not spend too much time delving into his childhood but just enough for the reader to understand how these first critical years shaped Musk to become the driven man he is today. He discusses his upbringing in South Africa (which I assume he can somewhat relate to), followed by his time in Canada ultimately how he made it to the United States. A majority of the book covers his time in the United States because the book mostly discusses the creation of his companies. That said, one of the main reasons I enjoyed this book so much is because Vance writes as much about Elon Musk as a person as he does Musk the inventor and entrepreneur. While most things that I have read about Elon Musk focus on his businesses acumen, very few sources shine a light on him as a human being, which I think is important. The parts about his relationships past and present were discussed with open honesty and make him somewhat relatable - a difficult feat in this age of "celebrity" idolization. When I have discussed people like Elon with my son, I remind him that we are all human beings, and humans being, and it is important to focus on the hard work and dedication instead of the celebrity. I feel like this book helps manage peoples' expectations around what it actually takes to be successful. Vance does an excellent job of covering the beginning of Musk’s career including his companies Zip2 and Paypal. Vance then covers the history of Tesla and SpaceX and the hard work and determination (and dare I say some luck?) that it took for those companies to reach success. The book discusses the complexities of Musk’s companies and his unique thought process that helped make these companies the powerhouses they are today. Vance delves into the inventive mind of Musk and writes about it in a way that is inspiring for those looking to pursue their own dreams and aspirations. Before I bought this book, I read a review that stated that the reviewer was disappointed that Vance didn’t discuss in-depth details of the technology behind Musk’s companies. I believe that is actually a good thing. It makes the book easy to read for those who aren’t technologically savvy and helps protect what I assume are trade secrets. This book is for anyone who is interested in learning more about Elon Musk or anyone who is interested in learning about what it takes to run a very successful company or in Musk’s case, numerous successful companies. This is not a puff piece but more an honest, nonbiased biography about one of the world’s most interesting people. I have already recommended it to a few friends who are both fans of Elon's and those who are focused on business as a career. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

There is an article on Business Insider titled “Steve Jobs Vs. Elon Musk – Which Tech Legend Actually Accomplished More” which was inspired by the question “Who is the next Steve Jobs?”. That has been a big question to people since the passing of Steve Jobs. The judgement has been left to many fanatics of the Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs. But to Musk, when asked about trying to emulate Steve Jobs, he simply responded “No”. Then what is the legend that he is building? The answer can be found in Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, a biography written by Ashlee Vance and published in 2015. For the first time Musk has consented to cooperate with an author to tell his life’s story. He respected Vance’s determination and inability to take “no” for an answer. In fact, this is how Musk operates as well. This book provides genuine insights into Musk’s life by elaborately recounting his life’s events in conjunction with recording different perspectives of people close to him. The book does not only give us his side though, but spends just as much time highlighting his vision and talents as it does illustrating his deep rooted flaws and massive ego. By doing this, it captures how Elon Musk can be a brilliant innovator as well as being overly demanding and critical of both his employees and family. Musk’s motivations are conveyed especially well throughout the biography and help to give insight into his immense drive as well as his choice of start ups. It was particularly interesting reading about the evolution in Musk’s character and motivations after his near death experience with Malaria. Including experiences such as these help to explain how adversity has helped to mold Elon Musk into the man he is today and are some of the most interesting parts to read through. It also captures much of his personal life including some of Musk’s highest highs and lowest lows. And without a doubt one of his lowest points covered in the book, is his divorce with his ex-wife and the mother of his five children. The book provides extensive detail of this time period and shows the reader how Musk was not always the media darling he sometimes appears to be today. The author gives us personal details of Musk’s divorce and how it was made into a public spectacle in which he played the villain. This came at a time when his businesses were failing and he was at risk of losing everything. However, the book does a good job transitioning from this low point into some of Musk’s greatest accomplishments and his experience finding new love. Vance covers many aspects of Musk’s life, but one of the things the book focuses on is the company he is most well known for, Tesla. It takes us from the beginnings of Tesla, and shows us the successes and failures of the company, and reminds us why Elon Musk is a household name, summing the company up in one statement, “Tesla had transformed the car into a gadget.” Throughout the book, we are reminded how Tesla has created a car that is more than a means of transportation; it’s an extension of our gadgets. Reading about Musk’s dreams and then seeing the process of him creating those dreams was inspiring. At the very end of the book, Musk states that he “would like to die on Mars.” This book shows us a man who, through failure, has succeeded but won’t stop until he has accomplished all he plans to accomplish.

Voilà un innovateur au parcours décoiffant ! Passionné de jeux et développeur talentueux, Elon Musk se refuse d’abord à créer des jeux, considérant que cette activité ne lui permettra pas d’avoir un impact sur l’humanité. De fait, son rêve ultime est de coloniser Mars. En attendant d’y parvenir, il est capable de complètement révolutionner des secteurs d’activité auxquels il ne connaît rien de prime abord. Alors que l’industrie automobile était moribonde aux États-Unis, il conçoit une voiture de sport puis une berline électriques au design révolutionnaire et aux performances inédites. Les premières voitures se sont vendues 100 000 $ avant même d’être construites ! En parallèle, pour contribuer à son rêve ultime, il s’attaque à l’aérospatiale et se donne comme objectif de devenir le premier lanceur low cost de satellites de taille moyenne. Il ne parvient pas à négocier l’achat de fusées aux Russes et conçoit sa première fusée dans le vol de retour de Moscou, après avoir lu un manuel technique. En 2012, il réussit à envoyer un ravitaillement à la station en orbite ISS et à faire revenir la fusée sur terre. Son dernier projet consiste à créer l’Hyperloop, une sorte de tube électromagnétique qui permettrait de relier Los Angeles et San Francisco en 30 minutes. Il pourrait bien y parvenir ! Elon Musk s’avère attachant par sa capacité à innover de façon radicale dans des secteurs qui ne connaissaient plus que des améliorations marginales. Mais la biographie est également très transparente sur son exigence hors pair qui le rend tyrannique avec ses collaborateurs. Ne lisez pas cet ouvrage comme un manuel de management, mais plutôt comme un stimulant à l’innovation si vous avez le sentiment d’avoir fait le tour de votre secteur d’activité !

This book provides excellent insight into the mind of a genius. He is one of the greatest minds of my time, and this book allowed me to observe his thought process for a few minutes. I love it.

Auch wenn das Buch mehr die Unternehmen Tesla und SpaceX beschreibt, so kann man dennoch einen guten Einblick in die Welt Elons gewinnen. Angefangen bei seinem Leben in Südafrika und seinem ersten Startup in Amerika merkt man recht schnell, dass dieser Mensch immer Großes vor hat und nicht aufgibt, bis er diese Dinge erreicht. Stets angetrieben durch die Frage "Wie kann ich das Leben der Menschen verbessern? Wie kann ich dafür Sorgen, dass die Menschen auch noch lange bestehen bleiben?" macht er sich daran, Alternativen für die endlichen, fossilen Energieträger salonfähig zu machen, sowie die Raumfahrt mit einem typischen Startup-Approach völlig umzukrempeln und neu zu erfinden. Er ist meiner Meinung nach einer der wenigen Menschen, die kurzfristige und persönliche Profite völlig vernachlässigen (Er hat seine vielen hundert Mio. bis zum Bankrott in seine eigenen Firmen gesteckt und verloren), um langfristig das Leben der Menschen nachhaltig und für immer zu verbessern- das zeigt, wie ernst er es mit seinem Vorhaben meint, die Welt zu verändern. Er hat nicht nur die Raumfahrt schon jetzt komplett verändert, sondern auch die Art Elektrofahrzeuge zu bauen- auch wenn Elon Tesla nicht gegründet hat, so ist es ihm zu verdanken, dass Tesla überhaupt erst so groß und verbreitet wie heute ist. Dieser Mann hat keine Angst vor großen Ideen und scheut vor nichts zurück, um diese umzusetzen- Auch wenn er dabei soweit geht, dass er sein Leben und das seiner Mitmenschen diesen Ideen unterordnet. Selten habe ich mich so klein, unbedeutend und unwichtig gefühlt, wie nach diesem Buch. Dieser Mann hingegen erschafft gerade Dinge, die die Welt für immer verändern und gehört für mich zu den wichtigsten Menschen unserer Zeit und dieses Jahrhunderts. ...Man kann nur hoffen, dass er nicht zu früh aufgrund eines Herzinfarkts stirbt.

I ordered this book as I had an interest in Tesla and SpaceX, but knew little more than that covered by mainstream news columns. This book has now turned that interest in to an obsession, and has genuinely made me excited about the future of technology and the human race. I found Vance's writing style extremely engaging, and finished the book in a week - including reading all appendices and notes - something I have never done before. As other reviewers have stated the content gives a very thorough account of Musk's personal life and his approach to business, including the clinical manner in which he squeezes every drop of talent from his employees - and discards them if they don't perform. Not all aspects of Musk will be to everyones tastes, and I found myself intrigued by the obvious truths surrounding his strive for perfection. I think this is the most fascinating aspect of Musk and it's obvious that he innately pursues every goal with a "definite major purpose" whatever the cost (socially and financially), whilst pushing for "constant improvement" and perfection; you just can't fault the guy - he delivers what global superpowers and large corporations simply can't or won't do. After finishing the book I feel like my eyes have been opened to what is possible and what is being achieved right now. If Musk delivers on his long term goal of a unified field theory our future is very bright indeed. Buy this book.

Nice book cover. Nice feel. good read