27A - Reading Reflection 3

I read the book Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance

What surprised you the most: I was most surprised by his childhood. He had a difficult family life in South Africa and was bullied a lot in school. He had a hard social life life as kid and resorted to his early learning by being self taught.

What did you most admire: Elon Musk work effort impressed me the most. He is an extremely hard worker and is very dedicated to his work. He is working on two big projects, SpaceX and Tesla, and is constantly flying back and fourth to work on them. I also admire his entrepreneurship mind that started at such a young age. He had big ideas and did not let his dreams go away. He always had an interest about renewable energy and colonizing planets. 

What about the entrepreneur  did you least admire: Elon is so focused and determined on his business goals and dreams that he doesn't leave himself any free time. He also expects this type of work ethic on his employees and can be seen as inconsiderate.

Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?: When Elon was fresh out of college he had many failures but his failure helped him grow. He was into physics and the internet. He got into the internet when it was brand new and many businesses saw it as a fad. In the beginning Elons websites would crash. He eventually grew his companies and sold them to make millions. with his money he started spaceX. With spaceX he has had many failures. His goals for SpaceX are very ambitious and has launch dates scheduled that have never happened.

 What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?: Elon rarely took no for an answer. He is good at looking way into the future and seeing what is good and necessary for humanity. When he started making electric cars people thought it was a waste of time. Now scientist are coming out warning people about climate change. Elon is also heavily involved with solar energy.

 Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. I find SpaceX to be the most confusing. Some of his ideas are way out there and almost seem like a crazy person is coming up with them. However Elon is extremely successful and worth billions.

If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? I would ask him how much of success came from luck. I would ask this because there are many people who are ambitious and have crazy dreams but they never come true. I want to know if he has something different in him, than just ambition or if luck had something to do with his success. I would also ask him,  if you ended up living in South Africa longer would you be where you are today, or is living in America a significant factor.


What is hard work: Elon and I have some disagreements on hard work. I believe in hard work but I also think their should be some time for leisure. Elon has a very hard work ethic and it has made him billions. However, it might effect his social and family life. He has been divorced twice and their are numerous complaints from employees about him. I do like how his work comes from ambition and passion. He would say to work hard on things you love to do. I agree that if I do not enjoy something I should not waste my time working hard on it.