The Tesla factory was inspired by the SpaceX work environment and features plenty of bright paint and a well lit environment.
The Tesla factory can be seen in the image below of a WIRED timelapse video of the Tesla Model S production line below.
The Tesla factory also features pedal bikes that employees can use to get around faster.
These innovations and many more help make for an efficient environment where maximum productivity can occur.Elon calls the Tesla factories Alien Dreadnaughts and this factory fly through shows how much robotics and machinery is used inside the belly of the Giga factory Berlin.
Elon said that the single best piece of advice he can give is to:
“Constantly think about how you can be doing things better.”
I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.
I think that’s the single best piece of advice: Constantly think about how you could be doing things better and questioning yourself.
I doubt if Elon would advocate questioning yourself if it afflicts you with analysis paralysis that stops you from taking action to make progress in the direction of your goals.
Know yourself. Question yourself insofar as it enables you to better yourself.
Many words could describe Elon Musk: Genius, Determined, Successful…but perhaps the word that describes him most of all is: driven.
If you want to emulate Elon’s success, find the drive in yourself to work hard and execute on making your dreams a reality.
The more hours you work the greater your odds of success are.
“You’re not going to create revolutionary cars or rockets on 40 hours a week. It just won’t work. Colonizing Mars isn’t going to happen on 40 hours a week.“
~Vogue, Sept 21st, 2015
The only thing better than a perfectly executed plan is perfect execution of a better plan.
Start by finding your drive and refining your execution plan:
As you execute on your goals and action items, question how you can improve your plan and actions.
Invest in your success by putting in as much work and effort towards your business as humanly possible.
When SpaceX was told to wait to launch rockets in the U.S. Elon went and found an island in the Pacific he could use straight away.
Elon once jumped on his private jet and flew to England to take a needed machine tool to a factory in France and speed up production.
When Tesla needed to test a prototype in the cold he hired an ice-cream truck with a big refrigerated trailer.
When there is a will there is often a way.
When you are willing to improvise and take action to solve the problems you face this will help you find your way through the darkness of despair and into the brightness of success.
Elon, like many highly successful people, is a voracious reader and learner.
Elons knowledge impresses because he has read and listened to so much content over the course of his life.
“You don’t know what you don’t know. You realize there are all these things out there.“
One of the reasons Elon prefers reading to listening to content is because “Reading has a faster bit upload rate.“
AKA you can consume more information by reading than you can by listening.
Elon was an especially excellent reader in his youth and his excessive knowledge is proof he continues his information.
Musk spent his childhood with his nose in a book. He read every book in the library then read the Encyclopaedia Britannica from cover to cover.
They’d kick him out of the book store sometimes for being there reading for so long.
If you want to know what you don’t know it’s a good idea to read up.
On a reddit AMA (Ask me Anything) Elon shared thoughts about learning:
“I think most people can learn alot more than they think they can.”
To learn more you need to read more.
One way I have been able to read more is by setting a daily page goal of 10 pages. Often times I will read more than 10 pages and by ensuring I hit my goal of 10 pages a day keeps me learning more every day.
Another reading strategy I use is by keeping an active “Books To Read” list in my Google Keep app. The way I work with my list is to sort the list with the books I believe to be the most valuable at the top of the list. Then when it’s time for a new book I simply buy – or borrow from the library – the books at the top of the list.
Having a couple of books on the go at a time can help you stay engaged and eager to continue achieving your daily goal of reading 10+ pages.
It’s also important to re-read the best books you have ever read from time to time to refresh your mind with their powerful knowledge.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk had announced on Twitter that the carmaker would accept the most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin as a mode of payment to purchase a Tesla.
Less than two months later Tesla stopped accepting Bitcoin as a method of payment citing environmental concerns around how Bitcoin miners were not using sustainably produced electricity.
On X (Twitter ath the time) he explained: “When there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions.”
If you have a business, especially if your business is online, you should consider accepting bitcoin. The more methods of payment you offer the larger your profit potential and potential customer base will be.
Elon is late to the bitcoin party but better late than never. He shared these thoughts about Bitcoin on a Clubhouse chat:
“I do at this point think bitcoin is a good thing. So I am a supporter of bitcoin. Like I said I’m late to the party but I am a supporter of bitcoin.
And I think Bitcoin is really on the verge of getting broad acceptance by sort of conventional finance people.
As a friend of mine said, the most entertaining outcome is often the most likely.
The most entertaining outcome would be that Dogecoin becomes the currency of Earth in the future.”
Elon is a huge fan of Dogecoin and even pumped it during his monologue when he hosted Saturday Night Live. He is very bullish on Dogecoin and plans to hold it over time, as he explained with this catchy rhyme: “I might pump, but I don’t dump.”
A Company is a group of people working together to create a product or service.
In his commencement speech at USC Elon Musk explained that if you are creating or joining a company the most important thing is to attract great people.
“Join a group that is amazing that you really respect or if you are building a company you’ve got to gather great people.”
For a company to be great it must be made up of great people.
With Tesla Elon says a College degree – or even high school – is not needed.
What is needed is a track record of exceptional results. Elon is smart enough to know exceptional people do not always have college degrees.
In the past I started and grew an inspirational quotes website until we were acquired…
The most enduring and persistent quote that continually resurfaced was from Jim Rohn:
“You’re the average of the five people spend the most time with.”
Or in other words: You are the company you keep.
So keep great company.
Surround yourself with great people.
And give the hard working people on your teams credit when credit is due.
In conversation with Bill Gates Elon said:
“Most of the time – I get way too much credit or attention for what I do. I’m just the visible element. But the reason those companies are successful isbecause we have extremely talented people at all levels that are making it happen.”
Gotta love Elon’s humility.
Because of Elon’s willingness to share the credit undoubtedly his employees are willing to work harder than if Elon selfishly claimed the success was all him – even though it’s clear Elon and his involvement is a massively positive vector for success.
Elon’s powerful friends and terrific teams helped make it happen.
Within the space of a decade Elon went from being an immigrant to the United States, sleeping in his office and showering at the YMCA, to being a dot com multi-millionaire taking delivery of a million dollar McLaren Supercar.
Elon used what he had, did what he could, and it worked for him.
“At the beginning we had one computer which would be the web server during the day and then at night I’d program on it. And we’d sleep in the office.
It was cheaper to rent the office than to rent an apartment so we just rented the office and slept in the office and showered at the YMCA.”
Elon was born in South Africa but it didn’t stop him from moving to Canada, and then to America and Silicon Valley to be a part of the dot com boom.
Maybe you are starting out from a humble beginning. When I started my first online website I started it from my bedroom while in University and living at home with my parents…
Yet despite my humble beginning I grew my blog into a success to the tune of thousands of visitors a day.
If you have a laptop and an Internet connection a world of awesome potential awaits you.
Dream big, work hard and act boldly, because these days more than ever: When there is a will there often is a way.
Why would Elon Musk choose to sleep on the factory floor you might ask?
Because while he was asking Tesla employees to work around the clock to achieve company goals he was right there with them.
Elon leads by example.
Leading by example is a powerful way to lead.
When Elon needs to stay at a factory to get something done he stays and will get the work done.
On a Clubhouse app audio recording Elon shared how he slept on the factory floor, with the smell of iron filings in the air, because he wanted Tesla employees to see him there giving it his all for Tesla and the team…
Those who have seen Elon sleeping on a factory floor have witnessed Elon’s level of work ethos.
Seeing is believing.
But if you see something online you should be more careful with thinking what you see happened in real life. Image in this post is made by Elon’s Ai company Grok.
From Elon’s USC Commencement speech he described the importance of hiring smart and said:
“If you are forming a company the most important thing is to attract great people.
All a company is, is a group of people that are gathered together to create a product or service.
So depending on how talented and hard working that group is and the degree to which they are focused cohesively in a good direction that will determine the success of the company.
So do everything you can to gather great people if you’re creating a company.“
How can you tell if someone is great?
There are many different ways talent and greatness are expressed and the types of talent you may need will vary.
One trait Elon looks for when hiring new people is to look for problem solvers and evidence of exceptional ability.
When Elon interviews someone he asks about the problems the interviewee worked on:
“And how they solved them…if someone was really the person that solved it they’ll be able to answer multiple levels.
They’ll be able to go down to the brass tacks and if they were not they’ll get stuck.
And then you can say oh this person was not really the person who solved it because anyone who struggled hard with a problem never forgets it.“
Problem solvers are great people and the people who solve the greatest problems are definitely deserving of their greatness.
