But this stifles innovation and keeps us mired in the “this-is-how-it’s-always-done” belief. Most people revert to existing solutions when faced with a complex problem. Instead of buying rockets, Musk decided to build rockets by himself, and SpaceX was born.

He found that the materials cost around two percent of the cost of a rocket. He examined what a rocket was made of – aerospace-grade aluminum alloys, titanium, copper and carbon fiber – and checked the value of those metals on the commodity market. Musk applied first principles to rethink the problem. They were building a Ferrari for every launch when Honda Accord could do the trick. Rockets were expensive, felt that the industry has not evolved over 50 years, with lack of competition aerospace companies were building expensive rockets for achieving maximum performance rather than serving the purpose on hand. In 2002, Musk began pursuing his quest to send his rockets to Mars but ran into a major challenge right from the beginning. Here are six lessons from the genius that is Musk which we can apply in our lives. That was until Ashlee Vance gave us insights into Musk’s mind through his biography titled Elon Musk.

By age 46, he built companies that disrupted three industries – PayPal (Financial Services), Tesla Motors (Automobiles) and SpaceX (Aerospace).īut the man remained an enigma for most of us. “Good ideas are always crazy until they’re not.”Įlon Musk is one of the trailblazing entrepreneurs of our times.

Elon musk biography ashlee vance