AGAINST ALL ODDS - Elon Musk (Motivational Video)
Summary
TLDRIn this inspiring transcript, an innovator reflects on the challenges of pioneering commercial space flight, despite opposition from American heroes like Neil Armstrong. The speaker shares personal anecdotes of risk-taking and perseverance, emphasizing the importance of pursuing bold endeavors. He discusses the pivotal decision to split resources between two companies, the failures and learnings from SpaceX's early launches, and the motivation behind starting Tesla. The narrative is a testament to the power of ambition, resilience, and the belief in a multi-planetary future for humanity.
Takeaways
- 🚀 Elon Musk expresses sadness over the criticism from his heroes, Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, regarding commercial space flight.
- 🤔 He wishes his heroes would visit SpaceX and see the progress, hoping it might change their perspective on commercial space endeavors.
- 🛠 Musk faced a tough decision in 2008, having to choose between investing his remaining funds into one company or splitting them between two, risking the survival of both.
- 💰 He chose to split the funds, and fortunately, both companies survived, illustrating the high-stakes decisions entrepreneurs must make.
- 🔥 The first three SpaceX launches failed, with the fourth being the make-or-break point for the company's survival.
- 🔧 Musk took on the role of chief engineer for the rocket at SpaceX due to difficulties in finding a suitable candidate, which may have contributed to initial failures.
- 🚀 Despite multiple failures, Musk never considered giving up, emphasizing the importance of perseverance in the face of adversity.
- 👨👩👧👦 Musk advises taking risks early in life, before family obligations make it harder to pursue uncertain ventures.
- 🛣 He believes in the importance of making a significant difference in space flight and making it accessible to more people.
- 🌱 Musk thought Tesla might fail but aimed to change the perception that electric cars had to be unattractive and slow.
- 🌟 He emphasizes the importance of pursuing ventures that are important and inspiring, even if they seem unlikely to succeed.
- 💡 Musk shares his early struggles, including working around the clock and living in an office, to highlight the dedication required for entrepreneurial success.
Q & A
What is the speaker's opinion on the views of American heroes like Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan regarding commercial space flight?
-The speaker expresses sadness that these heroes have testified against commercial space flight, as they are his heroes. He wishes they would visit and see the hardware to potentially change their minds.
What was the difficult choice the speaker faced in 2008, and how much money was involved?
-In 2008, the speaker had to decide between investing the remaining $30-40 million into one company, risking the other's failure, or splitting it between two companies, risking both might fail.
How did the speaker's companies fare after he decided to split the money between them?
-Fortunately, both companies survived after the money was split between them.
What was the speaker's biggest failure in the context of SpaceX, and how did it affect the company?
-The biggest failure was the first three launches of SpaceX, which all failed. The company barely managed to scrape together enough resources for the fourth launch, which was critical for their survival.
Why did the speaker end up being the chief engineer of the rocket for SpaceX?
-The speaker could not find a suitable chief engineer for the rocket. Good candidates wouldn't join, and hiring bad ones was pointless, so he took on the role himself.
What was the speaker's attitude towards failure, especially after the third failure in a row?
-The speaker never considered giving up, despite the third failure in a row. He believes in not giving up even when faced with multiple failures.
Why did the speaker's friend show him videos of rockets blowing up?
-The speaker's friend wanted to discourage him from starting a rocket company by showing the risks involved, as the friend was concerned about the speaker potentially losing all his money.
What does the speaker believe is the right time to take risks, and why?
-The speaker believes that the right time to take risks is when one is young and without many obligations, as taking risks becomes harder once one has a family.
What was the speaker's initial expectation for Tesla, and what misconception did he want to address?
-The speaker did not expect Tesla to be successful initially. He wanted to address the misconception that electric cars had to be ugly, slow, and boring.
How does the speaker approach decision-making when everyone tells him it's a crazy idea?
-The speaker acknowledges his fear but believes in pursuing something if it's important enough, despite the fear and the opinions of others.
What is the speaker's advice for those starting a company, especially regarding their passion for the work?
-The speaker advises that if you're starting a company, it's important to really like what you're doing because if you don't, life is too short and you won't be able to make it work.
Outlines
🚀 Pursuing Space Dreams Despite Skepticism
The speaker expresses sadness over the disapproval of commercial space flight by American heroes like Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan. Despite being inspired by them, the speaker hopes they would visit and see the progress, believing it might change their minds. The speaker reminisces about a difficult financial decision in 2008, where they had to choose between investing in one company or splitting the funds, risking the survival of both. They recount the failures of SpaceX's initial launches and the struggle to find competent engineers, leading them to take on the role themselves. The speaker emphasizes the importance of perseverance, even when faced with the advice of many to abandon the endeavor.
🌟 The Importance of Taking Risks and Following Passions
The speaker encourages taking risks, especially when young and without family obligations, as it becomes harder to do so later in life. They recount their own journey, starting with Tesla, where they aimed to challenge the stereotype of electric cars being slow and unattractive. Despite not expecting success, they believed in the importance of the mission. The speaker reflects on the necessity of having a vision that excites and motivates, contrasting a future confined to Earth with one of interplanetary exploration. They share their early entrepreneurial experience, working tirelessly and living in an office, highlighting the importance of passion for one's work as a driving force for success.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Commercial Space Flight
💡SpaceX
💡Risk Taking
💡Chief Engineer
💡Electric Car
💡Failure
💡Multiplanetary Species
💡Adventure
💡Obligations
💡Inspiration
💡Hard Work
Highlights
American heroes like Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan have testified against commercial space flight, which the speaker finds disappointing as they are his heroes.
The speaker wishes Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan would visit and see the progress made, believing it would change their minds about commercial space flight.
The speaker was inspired by Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan to pursue space flight, but is saddened by their opposition.
In 2008, the speaker faced a difficult decision to either invest his remaining $30-40 million into one company, risking the other's failure, or split it and risk both companies failing. He chose to split it and both companies survived.
The speaker believes making space flight accessible to almost anyone is a significant goal worth pursuing.
SpaceX faced multiple failures in its early launches, with the third failure nearly leading to the company's collapse.
The speaker had difficulty finding a qualified chief engineer for SpaceX, ultimately taking on the role himself, which may have contributed to the initial failures.
Despite the failures and opposition, the speaker never considered giving up on SpaceX.
A friend tried to dissuade the speaker from starting a rocket company by showing him videos of rocket explosions, but the speaker remained undeterred.
The speaker believes taking risks is important, especially when young and without family obligations, as risks become harder to take later in life.
The speaker encourages taking bold risks now, as one won't regret it later in life.
The speaker did not expect Tesla to be successful, but aimed to change the perception that electric cars had to be slow, boring, and unattractive.
Even if the probable outcome is failure, the speaker believes it's important to try if something is meaningful enough.
The speaker finds the idea of becoming a multi-planetary species and exploring beyond Earth crucial for humanity's long-term survival and inspiring for people.
When starting their first company, the speaker and his brother lived in their office, showered at the YMCA, and worked tirelessly day and night, demonstrating their dedication and hard work.
The speaker advises really liking what you do when starting a company, as it makes it easier to work hard and stay dedicated even when facing challenges.
Transcripts
you know there are American Heroes who
don't like this idea Neil Armstrong Jean
cernon have both testified against
commercial space flight in the way that
you're developing it and I wonder what
you think of
that I was very sad to see that uh
because those guys are
yeah you know those guys are heroes of
mine so it's really tough you know I I I
wish they would come and visit and and
see the hardware that would dring C and
and I think that would change their
mind they inspired you to do this didn't
they
yes and to see them casting stones in
your
direction it's
difficult did you expect them to cheer
you
on certainly hoping they would what are
you trying to prove to them what I'm
trying to do is is to make a significant
difference in in space flight and and
and help make space flight accessible to
to almost
anyone one of the most difficult choices
I've ever faced uh in life was was in
2008
um and um I think I had
uh like maybe $30 million left or 30 or
$40 million left in 2008 I had two
choices I could put it all into one
company
and then the other company would
definitely die um or split it between
the two companies and but if I split it
between two companies then both might
die um and you when you put your Blood
Sweat and Tears into creating something
building something it's like a child and
so it's like which one am I going to let
one starve to death I couldn't ring
myself to do it so I put I I split the
money between the two fortunately thank
goodness uh they both came
through what was your biggest failure
and how did it change you well there's a
ton of failures along the way that's for
sure except as as I said for for SpaceX
the first three launches
failed and uh we're just barely able to
scrape together enough parts and and
money to do the the fourth launch that
fourth launch and failed we would have
been dead so multiple failures along the
way um
I I tried very hard to to get the right
expertise in for for SpaceX I tried hard
to to find a great uh chief engineer for
the rocket but it not the good Chief
Engineers wouldn't join and the bad ones
well there was no no point in hiring
them so I ended up being chief engineer
of the rocket um so if I could have
found somebody better then we would have
maybe had less than three
failures that third failure in a row did
you think I need to pack this in never
why not I don't never give
up so many people try to talk me out of
starting a ro company it was it was
crazy one good friend of mine collected
a whole series of videos of rockets
blowing up and made me watch those he
just didn't want me to lose all my money
we're doing these things that uh seem
unlikely to succeed and we've been
fortunate and at least thus far they
have succeeded now is the time to take
risk you don't have kids as you get
older your obligations increase
and once you have a family you start
taking risk not just for yourself but
for your family as well it gets much
harder to uh do things that might not
work out um so now is the time to do
that uh before you before you have those
obligations so would I would encourage
you to take risks now do something bold
um you won't regret it how did you
figure you were going to start a car
company and be successful at it well I I
didn't really think Tesla would be
successful I thought we would most
likely fail but I thought that we at
least could address the false perception
that people had that an electric car had
to be ugly and slow and and boring like
a golf cart but you say you didn't
expect the company to be successful then
why try if something's important enough
you should try even if the probable
outcome is
failure or how do you think about making
a decision when everyone tells you this
is a crazy idea or where do you get the
internal strength to do that well first
of all I'd say I I actually think I I
think I fear feel fear quite strongly
um so it's not as though I just have the
absence of fear I feel it quite strongly
um but there are just times when
something is important enough you've
believe it enough that you do it in
spite of fear I I think about what what
technology solution is necessary in
order to achieve the particular goal and
then try to make as much progress in
that direction as possible I think the
being a multiplan species and being out
there Among the Stars is important for
uh the long-term survival of humanity
and uh that's one reason um but then the
part that I find personally most
motivating is that it creates a sense of
adventure and it makes people excited
about the
future um if you consider two Futures
one where uh we are forever confined to
Earth until eventually something
terrible happens or another future where
we are out there on many planets maybe
even going beyond the solar system um I
think that second version is incredibly
exciting and inspiring and there need to
be reasons to get up in the morning you
know life can't just be about solving
problems otherwise what's the point
there's got to be things that people
find inspiring U and make life worth
living when my brother and I were
starting our first company uh in instead
of getting an apartment we just rented a
a small office and we slept on the couch
um and we we showered at the the YMCA
and uh we're we're so hot up we had one
computer so the this the the website was
up during the day uh and I was coding at
night 7 days a week all the
time um and I I uh s briefly had a go
for in that period and in order to be
with me she have to sleep in the office
so I work hard like it I mean every
waking hour that's that's the the thing
I would I would say if if you
particularly if you're starting a
company what whatever area that you get
into um given that you know even if
you're if you're the best the best
there's always a chance of failure so I
think it's important that you really
like whatever you're doing um if you
don't like it life is too short if you
like what you're doing you think about
it even when you're not working I mean
it'll just it it's it's something that
your mind is drawn to um and and if you
don't like it you just really can't make
it work I
[Music]
think
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