Subscribe
Sign in
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, Quest for a Fantastic Future — The life of the audacious entrepreneur
43
Replies
NOTE: Bumping this post because of the readathon - start reading the book and share your thoughts with us at #PHReadathon - Ashlee will chat with us tomorrow about the book, stay tuned for more details :)
It is my pleasure to welcome author Ashlee Vance for a live AMA starting at 1130 AM PST...Ask questions in advance!
Remember: We're reading the Elon Musk book as a community by Sunday and then we'll talk to Ashlee again about it Sunday night!
Readathon link: https://www.facebook.com/events/...
Also - check out this beautifully done video of the book by @pfanis:
@valleyhack: Can you start by telling us a bit how the book originated? What was your intended goal when starting and how did that change, if at all, while writing?
@eriktorenberg The book started in sort a funny way. I was not an Elon fan at all. He'd always seemed to me like a guy promising the world and then very much struggling to deliver, and I'd pegged him as sort a one note techno-utopian sort of a dude. But then, in 2012, a lot changed for me. SpaceX made it to the ISS. Tesla came out with the Model S, and SolarCity went public. That's an incredible, unprecedented run for an industrialist. This prompted me to do a cover story on Elon for Businessweek in mid-2012, and while doing that I was blown away by Tesla and especially by SpaceX, and I also found Elon to have one of the more interesting life stories I'd ever run across and to be a very complex character.
I came away from that cover story wanting to write a book on him and how he operates. Initially, I'd thought of doing sort of a fly on the wall thing where I got tons of access to Tesla and SpaceX. That, however, became unrealistic because Elon would not initially participate with the book. So, I charged off in dogged reporter mode and interviewed hundreds of people - his friends, family, enemies, ex-girlfriends, workers, etc. After doing that for about two years, Elon ended up agreeing to do interviews and to give me access to the companies.
In retrospect, I feel like the book that I'd originally set out to do would have been awful. It would have likely ended up as such a love fest, and it would have been too easy. Hopefully most people will agree that the actual book that came out has a lot more teeth and nuance and depth and just a ton more reporting.
@valleyhack @eriktorenberg I was curious why there wasn't more about Solar City in the book. I've always felt that it's looked at as Elon's step-daughter, but it's doing arguably the most to change the world.
@valleyhack This book looks great. I'm looking forward to listening to it on Audible.
I think the heroes in a given industry tend to be overly-glorified. I tend to worship my heroes in industries like business and comedy. For example, folks like Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey are my heroes, and it's easy to think that they're perfect people who do no wrongs and don't wrong others. It's always interesting to see how these people are imperfect though. For instance, after reading "Hatching Twitter" by Nick Bilton, it became clear to me that Jack Dorsey is a human being that's far from perfect.
What stories about Elon Musk make him look imperfect, unlikable, and human?
@valleyhack Which of Elon's companies do you think is the most transformational and why?
@erictwillis I have to confess that SpaceX is the story I like the most. It's the most unlikely company. It's the most radical. It had the craziest journey. And certainly if Elon actually gets to reusable rockets and then a colony on Mars, he will have altered the course of the human species - which I think counts as transformational.
I also think SpaceX is the hardest company for competitors to deal with. It's such a blank slate in an industry filled with old, slow-moving competitors.
Because I have to ask: what's your #MuskLevelIdea? https://docs.google.com/spreadsh...
@beller Buildings with modular infrastructure that can be upgraded and one day upgrade themselves via robots, so that you always have the latest and greatest technology.
Biographies typically seem to center around who a person was or what they accomplished. What was it like writing about a man who has already done so much, yet may very well have the greatest accomplishments of his life ahead of him? I don't see Elon slowing down anytime soon!
@jacksondahl Yeah, you can certainly argue that it's too soon to do this type of book on Elon. Then again, someone was going to do it, and I wanted that someone to be me. Stay tuned for the sequel.
Been listening to this through audible, really great insights to Musk, how he operates and who he is. Really engaging so far!
@nasherasher It's kind of amazing how well it's done on Audible. The numbers were some of the highest HarperCollins had ever seen. Am still trying to figure out if this is because it's skewed toward Silicon Valley or Tesla drivers or what.
@valleyhack - Thanks for writing this!
1. Did Elon have a say on what made it in or out of the book?
2. What was your biggest (or most surprising) takeaway about how Elon interacts with others?
@brentsum No, Elon did not get a say on what went into the book, although he did request control. The book basically opens with our negotiation on this subject.
I was most surprised with just how intense Elon is. Because we spent about 3 years interacting, I got a real taste for what his employees and friends and family see. It's only when you're really up close to him that you feel the full impact of how intense he is. Never met anyone like him.
@valleyhack I have a question off Slack from @Shobhansuri "As you were previously turned down by Elon for this book, How did you manage to convince him?"
@bentossell Again, this is how the book opens in pretty gory detail. But, basically, I wore him down over time. He seemed to think that I would give up on doing the book, and then when I kept going and going and going and dozens of people told him about my efforts, I think he decided it was in his best interests to cooperate.
@valleyhack Thanks for doing this AMA :)
What is one thing you can tell us about Elon that we won't come across in the book (or maybe couldn't be included)??
@valleyhack - Thanks for writing this book. Still working my way through it, but I love the background and how you got to writing the book with Elon's help.
Don't know if you've seen the latest season of House of Cards - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho.... Any parallels between the interviews Frank Underwood did with Tom Yates and yours with Elon? Would love to hear more about the process and anything you didn't describe in the book.
If you were @BoredElonMusk (https://twitter.com/BoredElonMusk), what would you say?
@kunalslab A combo kids car seat/toilet that analyzes their stool for optimal nap time
Fascinating read. I appreciate the time he took to settle on his world view and how he allowed his childhood interests continue to play a key role in that. Then, he went about focusing on stuff that contributed to furthering that world view.
@kaufman_jack I am nearing the end of the audiobook and it is great. The narrator did a wonderful job.
Just about every story told about Musk in the book makes note of his imperfections and the negative reaction by some of those around him. However, he never cares. He likes to ignore those that don't agree with him, which works out in his favor some of the time, but we all know that kind of mindset can definitely get you into trouble. You also learn he isn't so good with relationships, but that isn't a big surprise.
@valleyhack thanks so much for doing this AMA! I'm still reading the book - PH Readathon this weekend to finish - but finding it really interesting so far. What was your major take-away from writing the book - that one thing you discovered that made you stop what you were doing? The thing that most surprised you, or that you maybe weren't expecting to discover when you first set out to write it? Thanks!
@ems_hodge There are so many things - hence the book. But my major feeling after doing the book was that I needed to do more with my life and be more exact about my two or three major priorities and how I planned to achieve them. Elon basically maximizes his life. His lifestyle is too much for me, but I did come away wanting to do more with my time.
Also, his life story is extraordinary. Full of so many ups and downs and risks. He's in the running for the most interesting man in the world for sure.
Toolhouse