elonology.com

Author: x.com/Garin

  • Stay Optimistic

    Stay Optimistic

    Elon has said: “It’s better to be optimistic and wrong than to be pessimistic and right.”

    Looking on the bright side of life is the most lit way to think.

    When you see the positive in everything more positive outcomes naturally flow.

    For example, when you see everything as a positive you will look for and find the lessons in the hardships.

    Pessimistic thinking leads to pessimistic outcomes.

    You reap what you sow: So sow the seeds of success with smart and optimistic thinking!

    Stay optimistic and work to make the positive future you envision real.

    As Peter Drucker says  “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”

    When Elon started SpaceX and Tesla he said the most likely outcome was probably failure…

    But ever the optimist Elon and his teams persisted and because of this optimism and persistence SpaceX and Tesla have weathered brutal storms and simultaneously risen to achieve success at the highest level.

  • Maintain a Startup Mindset

    Maintain a Startup Mindset

    On the Lex Fridman podcast episode 333 Lex interviewed the former Director of AI at Tesla Andrej Karpathy, who had the opportunity to work with Elon Musk, and is currently working on AGI.  (AGI is a hypothetical intelligent agent which can learn to replicate any intellectual task that human beings or other animals can.) 

    Lex asked: “What did you learn from working with Elon Musk?”

    Andrej replied: I think the most I’ve learned is about how to sort of run organizations efficiently and how to create efficient organizations and how to fight entropy in an organization. (Entropy means gradual decline into disorder.)

    He basically runs the world’s biggest startups. I would say Tesla and SpaceX are the world’s biggest startups.

    Tesla is actually multiple startups. I think it’s better to look at it that way… 

    The Tesla tech tree is an awesome example of this.

    In the interview with Lex, Andrej continues:

    He has a very good intuition for streamline processes, making everything efficient. Best part is no part simplifying focusing and removing barriers moving very quickly, making big moves all this is very startup, but at scale.

    Cybertruck is an example of bold Startup thinking since it breaks the mold of a traditional truck.

    “Disruptive technology where you really have a big technology discontinuity…tends to come from new companies.” ~Elon Musk

    The Startup ethos Elon cultivates is especially evident at SpaceX.  Because SpaceX is still owned in majority privately Elon has the freedom to move rapidly and implement innovations without answering to investors.

    Elon retains majority control of SpaceX and because of this he can tweet whatever he wants about SpaceX.  By staying private Elon is able to steer SpaceX in whatever direction he chooses.

    Elon’s majority control of SpaceX helps ensure the rapid roll out of new technology.  

    Hopefully Elon never loses majority ownership of SpaceX because he is clearly steering SpaceX rockets towards greatness and his accomplishments so far are nothing short of fantastic.

    The problem with taking a company public is how investors tend to be solely concerned about ROI and quarterly shareholder meetings.  And this might create conflict with SpaceX since SpaceX is optimizing to make human life multi-planetary rather than optimizing for maximum profitability.  However interplanetary transit will certainly be big business one day if it can be achieved.

    This is why Elon intends to IPO Starlink the Internet company, not SpaceX the rocket company.

  • Speed, Engineering and Passion

    Speed, Engineering and Passion

    Three Pillars Driving Tesla’s Success

    Speed, Engineering and Passion are the three key areas former Tesla Supercharger UX employee Michael Rihani suggests were key to Tesla’s success, which empowered the company to rapidly iterate innovations and evolve.

    The best insights from his tweet storm after leaving Tesla he said:

    1. Speed

    Tesla’s #1 differentiated advantage is its incredible speed. Plaid mode, for sure. The speed is uncomfortable at first, but employees quickly get comfortable with it.

    2. Engineering

    Tesla is the #1 place undergraduate engineering students want to work. Why?

    Because we stand around a circle table, throw a difficult engineering problem on that table, and everyone — from the SVP, to product, to engineers, to interns — look at that problem, rollup up their sleeves, and immediately dive into solving it, together.

    No hesitation. No politics. Tesla is one of the most collaborative places I’ve ever seen.

    Furthermore, Tesla has some of the nicest and smartest engineers he says he’s ever worked with.

    3. Passion

    It doesn’t feel like work when you’re surrounded by stunning colleagues who are aligned to a north star mission – like accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy. 

    Speed, Engineering and Passion: Apply them to the culture of your company for a positive outcome.everyone — from the SVP, to product, to engineers, to interns — look at that problem, rollup up their sleeves, and immediately dive into solving it, together.

    No hesitation. No politics. Tesla is one of the most collaborative places I’ve ever seen.

    Furthermore, Tesla has some of the nicest and smartest engineers he says he’s ever worked with.

    3. Passion

    It doesn’t feel like work when you’re surrounded by stunning colleagues who are aligned to a north star mission – like accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy. 

    Speed, Engineering and Passion:

    Apply them to the culture of your company for a positive outcome.

  • Lead by Example (Show Up Early and Stay Late)

    Lead by Example (Show Up Early and Stay Late)

    How to Lead Like Elon: Show Up Early, Stay Late, and Embed Yourself in the Action.

    Elon leads his companies from the trenches, not some holier than thou ivory tower.  

    At SpaceX offices he has a cubicle like everyone else, not a walled off office.  He says this is because doors prevent communication, so they use cubicles so communication can flow more easily. 

    At Tesla he has a desk on the factory floor.  His area is very clean and on point, with few items to feature.  All that was on the desk was a computer, sunglasses and his keys.

    By being deeply entrenched in the technology Elon is able to expedite efficiencies and fix problems in real time.

    Elon identifies as an Engineer more so than a suit and tie CEO: “I encounter CEO’s who don’t know the details of their technology and that’s ridiculous to me.”

    Elon started from the first prototypes and earned his place at the top.  His willingness to stay hungry and keep working hard despite massive success is a big part of what keeps his companies on top.

    Elon does not walk around SpaceX campus in a suit like he owns the place – even though he does own the place.

    He lives in a humble $69,000 boxabl house ($50k + upgrades) he rents on site.

    Elon has also been known to sleep on the Tesla factory floor in a sleeping bag or in the board room.

    When Elon bought Twitter recently he slept there also, in a library room.

    He also created this shirt as a play on #staywoke merch he found at Twitter.

  • Elon Musk’s 5-Step Algorithm: The Secret to Production Success

    Elon Musk’s 5-Step Algorithm: The Secret to Production Success

    Elon Musk’s Memorable Edge: Turn Complexity into Simple, Timeless Rules

    The more memorable your management style the more enduring it will be…

    And Elons management style is timeless.

    He recently tweeted “Time is the ultimate currency” and the truth he tweeted is enduring…

    As is his 2025 tweet about energy.

    This coming from the man who said (Jan 15th on Twitter) “The thing we call money is just an information system for labor allocation.”

    In our increasingly distracted world memorability is key.

    So if you can distill your management ethos into rhymes you should do so…

    “If it’s long it’s wrong, if it’s tight it’s right.” as Elon would say…

    Another effective way of managing is to distill your management strategies into a list…

    On a SpaceX tour with Everyday Astronaut (Tim Dodd) Elon shared a five part process for production success:

    1. Make your requirements less dumb
    2. Delete the part or process
    3. Simplify or optimize
    4. Accelerate cycle time
    5. Automate

    The supreme strategy seems to be: Simplify.

    Words are simply suppressed simplifications of reality after all…

    So leverage the memorability of your words using lists and rhymes if you are seeking to help yourself and your team make the most of your time.

  • Make People Wait (Timing is Everything)

    Make People Wait (Timing is Everything)

    The Power of Strategic Delays

    Elon is notorious for running late.

    When he was a kid his brother Kimbal would tell him the actual time was ahead of time so Elon would make it to the bus on time for school.

    These days Elon claims to still have a problem with punctuality but people are definitely willing to wait.

    Waiting builds anticipation…

    The Tesla Plaid event was one of many great examples of this.  Rather than launching exactly on time the June 2021 event was scheduled for…

    It started 21 minutes late.

    The Tesla 2021 Q2 earning call (which blew everyone away with Tesla netting over a billion in profit) started a few minutes late as well.

    The reason for these delays I believe is a strategic one.

    Elon has said “Timing is everything” in the past and he certainly is not ignorant of the importance of time.

    A smart sales strategy is to spend as much time with your prospect as possible.

    Long form webinars often have a superior conversion rate to short webinars for high priced products, for example.

    This is because people value their time and when more time is invested there is more pressure for people to take action so they can realize a positive ROI for their time spent.

    Another example of this is the “sideways sales letter” product launch formula pioneered by Jeff Walker.

    This formula has produced over a billion in launches and leverages anticipation built by a series of videos over a week or so launch sequence to maximize profit on launch day.

    Make people wait and – so long as you don’t piss them off and make them leave – you get more power in the situation.

    Anticipation amplifies enjoyment when the product/service waited for finally comes through.

    How Musk’s Timing Works

    • Timeboxing/Time-Blocking: He divides his day into tiny, fixed blocks (often 5 minutes) for specific tasks (engineering, emails, family).
    • Task Batching: Grouping similar tasks together to handle them efficiently.
    • Prioritization: Focusing on core engineering and manufacturing problems, spending most time there.
    • Eliminating Decisions: Pre-planning prevents wasting time deciding what to do next. 

    The Core Philosophy

    • Work Expands to Fill Time: He uses strict blocks to prevent tasks from taking longer than they should (Parkinson’s Law).
    • Feedback Loops: He constantly refines his schedule using feedback to improve efficiency.
  • Vertically Integrate

    Vertically Integrate

    Vertical integration is the combination in one company of two or more stages of production normally operated by separate companies.

    After multiple trips to Russia where more vodka was involved than strategy…

    Elon did the math and realized the raw cost of material components of a rocket could make rockets much more affordable if vertical integration was involved.

    This means the raw materials for a rocket coming in one side…

    And a fully finished rocket coming out the other.

    Tesla taps into the power of vertical integration also…

    In fact Tesla is the most vertically integrated auto maker on earth…

    And with this vertical integration there are both cost savings and efficiency improvements.

    There are also supply chain reliability reasons for integrating vertically.

    Because the less you rely on others for your production line…

    The more reliable the entire process will flow.

    And the most efficient and reliable company often equates with the best…

    Manufacturing is hard…so many entrepreneurs shy away from it.

    But Elon certainly has not.

    Part of the reason is because he feels manufacturing is an area of business that deserves more respect and is ripe for innovation: 

    “There’s more potential for innovation in manufacturing than there is in the design of a car – by a long shot…

    We believe in manufacturing and we believe a company that values manufacturing as highly as we do is going to attract the best minds in manufacturing.” (Q1 2016 earnings call)
    Certainly focusing on the alien dreadnought “machine that builds the machine” has enabled Tesla to crank out plenty of next level machines, with no sign of slowing down.

    Tesla just announced they have produced 9 million vehicles worldwide. And SpaceX is almost at 600 successful missions to space. Congrats to Elon and his teams!

    9-million-vehicles-produced-by-tesla
  • Humanity Becoming Multi-Planetary Is Important

    Humanity Becoming Multi-Planetary Is Important

    Multi-Planetary Life: The Key to Survival, Competition, and Greater Happiness

    When life becomes multi-planetary humanity and consciousness will effectively have a back up plan.

    And another option for survival if life on Earth becomes too boring, dangerous, polluted, corrupt, etc.

    Competition creates a more compelling situation for everyone involved.

    If life/laws/etc become better on Mars this will create a pressure for Earth to try harder to keep its inhabitants happy.

    More places for happiness to exist leads to more happiness overall.

  • Have a Sense of Urgency

    Have a Sense of Urgency

    Elon Musk on Urgency: Why Slow and Steady Loses the Race

    The saying “Patience is a virtue” is more harmful than it is beneficial in many situations.

    Urgency is often more of a virtue than patience.

    Without a sense of urgency important tasks will be patiently deferred indefinitely.

    Elon is a man who fully grasps the necessity of urgency for accelerating important advancements.

    Elon’s sense of urgency permeates many of his actions.

    Elon even eats fast and has said “If there was a way that I could not eat, so I could work more, I would not eat. I wish there was a way to get nutrients without sitting down for a meal.”

    Apparently when Elon goes to the washroom he even uses the urinal urgently. 

    Efficiency is an element of everything Elon does.

    elon-musk-driving-fast

    In a business context Elon’s sense of urgency manifests itself through the aggressive timelines he sets.  This is especially brilliant.  Aggressive timelines necessitate innovative thinking and an aggressive work ethic.

    The timelines Elon sets are aggressive to the point of borderline unrealistic.  He said his unrealistic expectations are a result of his optimism and it seems like they help his teams get more done in less time.  

    Elon and Tesla do occasionally end up pushing back timelines, but if you zoom out and look at what Tesla has accomplished in the past two decades it’s obvious the urgent timeline strategy is beneficial.

    Even if Tesla and SpaceX companies’ projects are late, they almost accomplish what they set out to do, and are making great progress over time.

    “I kind of say when I think it can occur, but then I’m typically optimistic about these things…It pretty much always happens, but not exactly on the timeframe.“

    Urgency is certainly an asset when it helps expedite positive results.

    Slow and steady will lose the race to urgent and steady every time.

  • The Most Likely Outcome

    The Most Likely Outcome

    Elon Musk and the Power of Laughter: Why Entertainment Shapes Reality

    From posting memes, to hosting a meme review, to cracking jokes on Twitter and everywhere else, Elon Musk is a hilarious man.

    And being funny is a powerful trait.

    Elon said if there is ever a scandal about him *please* call it Elongate.

    elon-musk-laughing

    Laughter is so physically positive many consider it the best medicine.

    There is something instinctive about laughing.  It’s intrinsic.  It’s automatic.  It makes you feel good.

    Laughter is positive.  Like action, it is an antidote to despair.

    Elon gets this and part of the reason he is loved by so many is because he makes a good joke.  

    The most entertaining outcome is the most likely.