elonology.com

Category: Innovation

  • Elon’s Why: Saving the World

    “The heroes of the books I read, The Lord of the Rings and the Foundation series, always felt a duty to save the world.“

    ~Elon Musk

    Elon’s businesses are seen through the lens of saving the world.

    They are distilled as Mission Statements and Master Plans.

    With SpaceX the overarching goal is to make human life multi-planetary with a city on Mars.

    Tesla has four master plans, in fact.

    Two have already been completed in full.

    On Tesla’s website there are links to the other four Master plans:

    The first plan summarizes them as:

    1. Build sports car
    2. Use that money to build an affordable car
    3. Use that money to build an even more affordable car
    4. While doing above, also provide zero emission electric power generation options

    Plan deux is:

    1. Create stunning solar roofs with seamlessly integrated battery storage
    2. Expand the electric vehicle product line to address all major segments
    3. Develop a self-driving capability that is 10X safer than manual via massive fleet learning
    4. Enable your car to make money for you when you aren’t using it

    Master Plan Part 3 the mission is:

    A roadmap for achieving a fully sustainable global energy economy by shifting all energy use—transport, heating, industry—to renewable sources.

    This is explained .PDF to outline a proposed path to reach a sustainable global energy economy through end-use electrification and sustainable electricity generation and storage.

    With Plan 4the mission is :

    We’re accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable abundance.

    It is posted on X and Elon calls it Master Plan Part IV.

    The new Tesla Model S Plaid is the fastest production car in the world and the first production car ever to go 0-60 MPH in under 2.0 seconds. It also goes 0-100 km/h in 2.1 seconds.  This is called the “Tesla effect” and Tesla has affected the entire market to shift towards Electricity by 2035…

    Tesla Model S

    In Tesla’s X post Tesla claims Since Tesla’s founding, each iteration of our master plan has focused on our north star: to deliver unconstrained sustainability without compromise.

    The PDF about this topic and landing page prior explain Growth is infinite and in videos such as the Nov 2025 video with Joe Rogan Elon explain this will likely mean unlimited goods and services for everyone.  Eventually.

    Elon has completed parts one and two and has made amazing strides forward with plans 3 and 4.

    Tesla’s Optimus Robots Elon claims will become a bigger business than the cars by affecting the labor force and helping create sustainable abundance at scale.

    xAi and Grok (ai) are two (somewhat) new ventures which playing more of a and a term Elon has been using more and more is Convergence to describe the crossover between his companies.

    What makes this most impressive is how he has done so while building a rocket company which sends more payload to orbit than all other companies and countries combined, and the only rockets which relaunch.

    SpaceX has hustled its way into the #1 spot in the world of rockets with an awesome mission as well. The Mission of SpaceX is found at SpaceX.com/mission where it says: 

    “You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great – and that’s what being a spacefaring civilization is all about. It’s about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past. And I can’t think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars.” -Elon Musk

    Revolutionizing the Automotive and Aerospace Companies

    Elon’s brilliant mind, epic work ethic and the awesome teams he has assembled have produced the most valuable car company in the world: Tesla.

    Simultaneously Elon and his teams have built the most successful rocket company in the world: SpaceX.

    And when the epic SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket first lifted off it became the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two.

    The new Starship rocket exceeds even Falcon Heavy with the Super Heavy booster boasting 33 Raptor engines in the first stage booster, and six Raptor engines in the upper stage.

    SpaceX has effectively revolutionized the rocket industry with their ability to rapidly launch, refurbish, and re-use rockets.

    The Falcon Heavy can lift more than twice the payload of the next closest operational vehicle, the Delta IV Heavy, at one-third the cost.

    As of the time of writing (December 2025) SpaceX has launched 591 completed missions.

    And even though Elon has sent his original Tesla Roadster into orbit around Mars and the sun, Elon is down to Earth…for now.

    And the best part is with SpaceX the mission of making life multiplanetary is well on its way to becoming a reality.  There is a mission coming when Mars is closest to Earth.

    The rocket will have the name Heart of Gold.  Inspired by the book Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

    However with strong growth so far of his core companies in 2023 so Elon looks in strong shape to regain the title and is well positioned for even greater financial growth in the future…

    Elon enjoyed a number of achievements in recent years, specifically with rolling out the Starlink high speed internet system and his massive move to buy the social network Twitter for $44 billion.

    As of mid-December 2025, Starlink has over 10,000 satellites launched, with around 9,000+ actively operational and providing internet service.

    Interestingly DOGE spelled backwards is E God…and Elon calls himself the Dogefather.  DOGE in the US government context means Department of Government Efficiency.

    DOGE is also a crypto currency with the symbol $DOGE.  He has said “Don’t bet the farm on DOGE” in the past so be careful with your investments.  DOGE has supply added to the market daily so be careful when investing as it is not anti-inflationary in design like Bitcoin.
    Elon’s massive wealth is a great indication of the value he has added to the market.

    His humanity saving missions are his why.

  • Focus on Signal Over Noise

    For years Elon and Tesla never spent any money on advertising.

    They focused instead on investing in R&D and design since these aspects of business help make the products as good as possible.

     “I ask myself: Will this activity result in a better product or service? If not, I stop those efforts.”

    There are grey areas like “Is a Tesla sign design an ad?” but ultimately the important takeaway is how money invested into design and manufacturing is a far better value than money burned on ads that do not significantly move a company forward.

    Elon has created Billions of dollars in growth by focusing his investments and then exercising control to accelerate growth.

    Here’s a quote from Elon talking with Inc. on the subject:

    “It’s OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.”

    Speaking of focus, a powerful statement Elon shared at the USC commencement address he gave is to:

    “Focus on signal over noise. A lot of companies get confused.  They spend money on things that don’t actually make the product better.

    For example at Tesla we’ve never spent any money on advertising.  We put all of the money into R&D and manufacturing and design to try to make the car as good as possible.

    And I think that’s the way to go.

    For any given company just keep thinking about are these efforts that people expending are they resulting in a better product or service, and if they are not, stop those efforts.“

    Focus on what actually moves the needle forward.  

    Focus on signal over noise.

  • Create The Most Compelling Product or Service Possible

    Create The Most Compelling Product or Service Possible

    Build It Like Elon: The Secret to Creating Products That Sell Themselves

    Creating an amazing product is one of the strongest types of marketing there is.

    Word of mouth marketing is a remarkable form of influencer marketing and it remains powerful to this day.

    Influencers, the media, and everyone in between are all human beings.  And the best way to get them to spread the word about your company for free is to develop an incredible product or service that amazes and delights.

    Apple is an example of this.  Although Apple certainly does not shy away from advertising their marketing would fall flat if their products and design were not high quality.

    Elon explains how for him it is not about the companies, it is about creating compelling products and services, and companies are the means to this end.

    In an interview with the Babylon Bee Elon elaborates:

    “It’s not like I care about starting companies.  Like is there is a very compelling product or service that’s the thing that is important, not the company.  A company is just an assemblage of people to create a compelling product or service.  And if a company does not provide great products or services it should not exist.”

    So relentlessly strive to improve the product or service you have to offer.

    When media outlets start talking about how your product is the best you’ll know you are on the right track.

  • Relentlessly Improve Your Products

    Relentlessly Improve Your Products

    elon-musk-in-factory-grok

    Incremental Gains, Monumental Success.

    In a 2020 video interview with the Wall Street Journal Elon shares advice geared towards other CEO’s: 

    Elon recommends CEO’s “Spend less time with finance and in conference rooms and on powerpoint and spend more time trying to make your product as amazing as possible.” 

    “Make your product better.  That is what really matters.”

    Step 1: “Have You Tried?  Like really tried.”

    Step 2: “Try Harder”

    This reminds me of one of my favorite Elon quotes of all time, which he shared with a bunch of high schoolers who he did a Hack Club ask me anything video chat with.  Elon said: 

    “You’ve got to try.  Believe in yourself and try.  People can do way more than they think.”

    Be an absolute perfectionist about the product you produce or the service you provide.

    As I write this I just put down my phone and stopped a doom scroll on Christmas to shift my attention to Elonology.  Because I’m taking Elon’s advice to Try Harder and do what is necessary to make this book great.

    The company that invests the most effort and produces the most beneficial innovations is likely to win long term.

  • Innovate Faster

    Innovate Faster

    Embrace Risk and Rapid Cycles: Building the Future Like Elon.

    The decisions Elon makes may appear risky to others but because of the setup of his companies he is able to roll out innovations on the fly.

    Fast decisions give Elon’s companies an edge because either they improve, or they learn, and this helps innovation.

    Elon’s companies have an edge whereas entrenched management in legacy companies cannot keep up due to managerial lag.

    Too often people are paralyzed by fear and suffer from analysis paralysis.

    Without an element of risk a great reward is rarely found.

    There is risk of company decay and death when no action is taken at all.

    Safe is risky and risky is safe.

    Innovation is how you win and innovation requires a degree of action taking risk.

    But avoiding innovation is a bigger risk.  Innovation requires a focus on what could be rather than what already is.

    Elon has said “What matters is the rate of innovation.”

    “What exactly is innovation?” you might be wondering.  

    At Tesla AI day Elon explained: “In general innovation is how many iterations and what is the average progress between each iteration.  And so if you can reduce the time between iterations the rate of improvement is much better.”

    Innovating more effectively and rapidly than your competition gives your business the best chance of success…

    So always be “risk taking” and innovating!

    The faster your rate of innovation the faster your business will rise in power and capture market share.

    Tesla has been innovating faster than other car companies and the compounding effect of all of these innovations are an essential part of the reason why Tesla is now the most valuable car company with no signs of slowing down.

    Amazon has been innovating more than Wal-Mart and this makes it clear how Amazon has been gaining market share from Wal-Mart.

    Innovation is future focused and being future focused is key if you want a more fantastic future.

    Elon certainly is and says:

    “I think within the next five years we will see the electrification of aircrafts.  First propeller, then turboprop, then jet engines.”

    “What is important is that we establish a self-sustaining city on Mars so the future of consciousness and life as we know it can survive.”

    Elon goes on about innovation in an interview with Offshore Northern Seas.

    “Establish an expectation of innovation, and the compensation structure must reflect that…there must also be an allowance for failure because if you are trying something new, necessarily there is some chance it will not work.  If you punish people too much for failure they will respond accordingly and the innovation you get will not be very incrementalist.”

    So keep thinking ahead because the future is where we’ll be spending the rest of our lives.

  • Reason Up From First Principles

    Reason Up From First Principles

    The Musk Method: How First Principles Built SpaceX and Tesla.

    In his interview with Kevin Rose, Elon explains his thoughts about reasoning up from first principles.

    “Boil things down to the most fundamental truths. Then reason up from there…

    Thinking about things in the limit of high and low…

    Thinking of things in hypothesis…

    The scientific principle essentially.

    These things are incredibly important in all arenas…

    Most people tend to think by analogy or by comparison of something that already exists…

    And that is sort of a mental shortcut.”

    “First principles thinking is saying OK what are the most fundamental truths that we know about any situation…

    The things that are at a very granular level the building blocks that we are most convinced are true…

    And then you reason up from those most fundamental axioms.”

    “Cogent thinking would be another way to refer to it as.”

    “Do they lead to a conclusion?”

    “What is the probability associated with that conclusion?…because reality is really probability.  It’s not deterministic; One or the other.”

    In an interview with the University of California Television (UCTV) Elon said:

    The way I tend to view problems is from a physics standpoint.  I think Physics is a good analytical framework and one of the key things in Physics is to reason from first principles.

    To reason from first principles is contrary to the way most human reasoning takes place, which is by analogy.

    Reasoning from first principles means you figure out what are the fundamental truths, or that people are pretty sure are fundamental truths, and can you build up to a conclusion from that.

    And if you come up with some idea and it appears to violate one of those fundamental truths then you’re probably wrong or you should get a really big prize or something like that.

    This may seem sort of obvious when it’s explained but it’s actually not what people do.

    Reasoning by analogies is helpful because it’s a shortcut, and it’s mostly correct, but it tends to be most incorrect when you’re dealing with new things.  Because it’s hard to analogize to something really new.”

    To give an example of using first principles thinking at a talk Elon gave at the Oxford Martin School he explained how first principles thinking to rocket building.

    The way first principles thinking applies to rocketry and improving the ability to create orbital rockets is to say:

    (Rocket Example)

    “OK well: What are the materials that go into a rocket?  How much does each material constituent weigh? What’s the cost of that raw material? And that’s going to set some floor.  As to the cost of the rocket. 

     And that actually turns out to be a relatively small number, something well under five percent of the cost of a rocket.  And in some cases closer to one or two percent.

    That’s the magic wand number.  So if you have piles of raw material on the floor.  And you just wave a magic wand.  And rearrange them.  Then that would be the best case scenario for a rocket.

    So I was able to see well there’s clearly a great deal of room for improvement, even if you consider rockets to be expendable.

    So that’s sort of what I mean by thinking about things from first principles standpoint.

    If on the other hand I analyzed it by analogy and said ok well what are all other rocket companies, what do their rockets costs.  What historically have other rockets cost.  And that would be sort of an analogy thing but it does not illustrate what the true potential is.

    And so a first principles approach is a good way to understand what new things are possible, so this is a good framework.

    That doesn’t mean you will be successful but at least you can determine if success is one of the possibilities that is important I think.

    Clearly using first principles thinking is powerful.

    Although Elon might not have a “magic wand” he certainly has been able to drastically improve the cost of launching rockets to orbit.

    First principles thinking is fundamental to Elon’s success.

    And first principles thinking can be fundamental to your thinking too…

    So reason up from first principles and strive for a market leadership position by doing so.

  • Create Win/Win Situations

    Create Win/Win Situations

    Collaborative Advantage: How to Build Partnerships Where Everyone Wins.

    Tesla and SpaceX are winning because they are creating the most innovative products with the most value built in.

    Because SpaceX developed reusable rockets they are able to achieve a cost advantage and offer their customers a better price for getting to orbit.

    With Tesla because the cars are electric they enable their customers to charge their vehicles “free” when they also invest in a solar or other renewable energy capture system.

    Again this offers customers cost savings and enables more room to capture profit and share savings.

    Elon explains his powerful business philosophy around this at “The House Always Wins” talk:

    “We believe in doing deals where both parties benefit, and, when there is an asymmetry or underperformance on our part…

    Our goal in doing so is to build long-term trust. 

    If people know that we will not take advantage of them and aspire to fairness, even at our expense, they are much more likely to want to work with us in the future.“

    Buying a car or solar system are two of the biggest purchases a person can make so trust is totally a factor at the individual consumer level.

    Long term success is more powerful than trying to make a short term quick buck:  Striving and succeeding in becoming the trusted brand in your industry will enable more sales to flow your way as more people trust you and your company.

    Long term trust is essential for repeated purchases over time and creating customers for life.

  • Innovation Matters Most

    Innovation Matters Most

    Innovate or Evaporate: The Modern Business Mandate.

    On a call with investment bankers in 2018 Elon refused several bone headed comments and told day traders or investors afraid of volatility straight up not to buy Tesla stock because:

    “I am not here to convince you to buy our stock…I could care less.” 

    What Elon does care about is innovation.  He shared some powerful insights about innovation on the on the call:

    “What matters is the pace of innovation.  It is a fundamental determinant to competitiveness…

    Let’s say competitors, maybe they come out with something new every six years.  We’re maybe every two to three years.

    So if our innovation is let’s say twice that of any given competitor…

    And this is true generally of companies in any industry…

    Whichever company has the highest rate of innovation, unless that company is actively killed by it’s competitors in some way that’s nefarious, or shoots itself in the foot, it will at some point exceed those competitors…

    Like this is obvious that this would occur with Amazon and Wal-Mart because wal-mart’s rate of innovation was negligible. And Amazon’s was very high.  The outcome was obvious a long time ago.”

    In a more recent interview about the AxelSpringer Award (Which Elon ended up winning) Elon echoed similar sentiments saying: “The company with the higher rate of innovation will unequivocally win long term.”

    The lesson here is clear: Innovation matters most.

    Moreover the more aggressively you innovate and iterate the faster you will dominate.

    “Innovation per year is what matters.  Not innovation absent time.  Because if you want to make say 100% improvement in something and that took 100 years, or one year, that’s radically different…

    So it’s like “what is your rate of innovation?” that matters and “is the rate of innovation accelerating or decelerating?”

    At InvestHK Elon said: Innovation comes from questioning the way things have been done before…

    And if in the education system you’re taught not to do that that will inhibit entrepreneurship.

    Interviewer: “Being able to question what you were taught?”

    Elon: “Being able to say: ‘Is there a better way?”

    Elon has innovated with Tesla to the point where multiple sources, and undeniable facts, confirm Tesla has created the best car ever.

    Looking for a better way creates the game changing level of innovation you need to have a position in the marketplace where you are in a category of your own.

    Here are some of Elon’s quotes on innovation:

    “Starting and growing a business is as much about the innovation, drive, and determination of the people behind it as the product they sell.”

    “Great companies are built on great products.”

    “Failure is essentially irrelevant unless it is catastrophic.”

    Although Elon does not strive for failure, he certainly does not hide from it either.  The failing rockets taught their teams lessons. Then the info learned led to persistence and success with SpaceX after their first three rockets failed and he was down to his last investment capital.

    Facing failure head on and learning from it is a lesson I learned the hard way.  Once I got a speeding ticket and rather than setting the court date in my calendar I shoved the ticket in a folder and forgot about it.  Since I missed the court date I got the maximum fine in my absence.

    Had I faced that situation head on maybe I would have emerged successful.  Probably I would have gotten a lesser fine, or perhaps the cop would not have shown up for the court date and my ticket would have been dropped.

    These days no matter how difficult the issue I might be facing I deal with it as soon as possible so it does not become ignored or forgotten about, causing the punishment of ignorance over time.

    Action is the antidote to despair. 

    As Elon says: 

    “Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”

    “If every time somebody came up with an idea it had to be successful you don’t get people coming up with examples.”

    Failure is not to be feared.  In fact just the opposite: It should be encouraged!

    Because with more experiments, which will cause more failures, you will ultimately end up with more successes and a faster pace of innovation.

  • Gaining a Competitive Advantage

    Innovate Faster or Die: How Elon Musk Gains a Competitive Edge

    Innovation is absolutely a vital key to gaining a competitive advantage in your industry…

    At MIT Elon explained: “In terms of our competitiveness, it mostly comes down to our pace of innovation.  Our pace of innovation is much, much faster than the big aerospace companies or the country driven systems…

    This is generally true.  If you look at innovation from larger companies and smaller companies, smaller companies are generally better at innovating than larger companies…because smaller companies would die if they didn’t try innovating.“

    Innovate or die.

    And don’t let the small size of your company deter you…small, smart and technically strong often trumps large, clunky and wasteful.

  • Ignore The Competition

    Why Elon Musk Doesn’t Obsess Over Competitors.

    When speaking at the InvestHK conference Elon said:

    “We don’t think too much about what competitors are doing because I think it’s important to be just focused on making the best possible products…

    It’s sort of analogous to what they say about you if you’re in a canoe if you’re in a race.  They say don’t worry about what the other runners are doing, just run.”

    Elon does not suggest ignoring competition altogether.  Competition can inspire innovation but obsessing over the competition distracts from obsessing over your own business.

    So be aware of your competition but don’t let it distract you from your main goal: Making your business and your life as awesome as possible.

    The grass will be greener on your side when you focus more energy on making your grass green and less time worrying about your neighbors grass.