Reading Reflection No. 3- Assignment 27A

1.     You read about your entrepreneur:

·      What surprised you the most?

I would say that the fact that he almost died before creating SpaceX, Tesla, and investing in SolarCity is the most surprising to me. He was on vacation out of the county and ends up contracting the worst form of malaria and almost dies. This surprised me the most because it is crazy to think these companies never would of existed if he had died. He has accomplished such great things in the Space, solar panel, and car industry and I could not really image what the world would be like without him, because yes, his companies have impacted the world.

·      What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

I would say I most admired his drive and will to not fail. I really think the word failure is not in Elon’s vocabulary. He sets his mind to something and does it, no matter who thinks he is crazy or can’t do it. He proves people like this wrong time and time again. He had hardships throughout the creation of Tesla and SpaceX, with many setbacks along the way but never gave up and always believed in his vision of the future.

·      What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

I least admire the way he treats people at work. He treats employees and peers at work as disposable, without a second thought. Someone does something wrong they are fired, Musk thinks he can do the job better they are fired, they do not agree with Musk’s idea they are fired. While this may be a slight over exaggeration for the most part it is true. A prime example would be Musk firing his second hand women. She asks for a raise, he tells her to go on vacation and when she gets back she is fired. After being his second hand for decades.

·      Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Musk encountered plenty of adversity and failure. SpaceX almost did not make it past its first successful launch. At the fourth launch Musk had run out of money and it was either going to be a successful launch of the end of Musk, thankfully it was successfully and SpaceX has been able to be created into what it is today. He had similar feats with Tesla, with putting cars out years behind schedule, but he pushed through and that company too is successful today.

2.     What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?

The main core competency that Elon Musk exhibited would have to innovation. With Tesla and SpaceX he created something that no one thought was possible, let alone something that would succeed the way these two companies have. Electric cars are the future, and I think all car companies need to get on this bandwagon and only create electric cars, if for no other reason than to help the environment. Earth is currently our only home, why would you not want to do everything in you power to make sure your home is healthy. Another competency that Musk exhibits would be technology, which goes hand in hand with innovation. Like I stated above, he created something people laughed at because they thought it was impossible. I think it is truly remarkable, all that he was able to create.

3.     Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

The biggest thing that confused me, as stated above, was the way he treated people. I understand he is a very smart man, and wants things done better and faster than anyone else and on his terms, his way. Though I do not think that gives him the right to treat people the way he does. He is very dismissive to people and talks down to just about everyone who has worked for him. I understand he is doing some ground breaking things with his company but none of this would be possible without his employees and other members of boards, etc. that work with and for him.

4.     If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

I would ask what his plans for the future are, specifically regarding going to Mars and how he thinks life is going to be sustained there when he brings people there. He has always had a dream of life on Mars and he truly believes it can happen in his lifetime, so I think hearing him talk about that would be extremely interesting. I would also ask him if there were any specifics in the book, like stories that were told, comments that people said, that he would like to address or change. I know at the beginning of the book the author addressed the fact that at first Elon wanted to be able to go through the book and add in his opinions, etc. about certain aspects of the book he might disagree with which the author did not allow. I would like to know which aspects he disagrees with or what he would change about the book.

5.     For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur’s opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I think that Musk’s opinion of hard work would be more harsh than mine. He sees hard work as doing the impossible and doing it quicker and more efficiently than anyone else has even tried. He asked for the impossible countless times throughout the book and was delivered just that, with minimal satisfaction given because he saw that he could be done and wanted more next.