Elon Musk

dowie · 2 Sep 2016 at 23:29

Zethor said:
He is a bit of a loon but some people are blindly throwing money at his projects, no doubt convinced he is the next Steve Jobs. He isn't, Jobs' products were massive hits from the start while Musk's are struggling or they don't yet exist:

SpaceX - regular failures (one yesterday)
Tesla - in the red since its inception
Hyperloop - concept phase
SolarCity - in the red until he bought it from himself

The dreams he has been selling have not materialized yet and I doubt they ever will.

Tesla could work out as could Space X

though I can see some of what you're saying - people are blowing smoke up his arse a bit too much... He did well with paypal and has billions to his name, now he's got the resources to invest in cool things - it isn't like he's the only person to come up with a hyperloop or a self driving car etc.. but he's got the resources to throw at those things.

Caged · 2 Sep 2016 at 23:33

He sounds like a truly horrible person to be around, but also undoubtedly incredibly talented. Can't have it all, I suppose.

C.R.A.Z.Y · 2 Sep 2016 at 23:33

Also Musk is a decent human being where as Jobs was a grade A ***hole

Glaucus · 3 Sep 2016 at 00:42

dowie said:
Tesla could work out as could Space X

though I can see some of what you're saying - people are blowing smoke up his arse a bit too much... He did well with paypal and has billions to his name, now he's got the resources to invest in cool things - it isn't like he's the only person to come up with a hyperloop or a self driving car etc.. but he's got the resources to throw at those things.

its not just the resources, he has the mentality, he risked all his money several times, and he's a brilliant engineer, who learns stuff at astonishing rate.
other people could have done what he did, but they didn't.

blowing smoke up his arse, no.
but he has genuinely advanced technology, in many areas. There's a reason behind why people like him, and its not based on nothing.

i wouldn't say he;s a roll model though. Unless you want your kids to work a truly insane amount of hours, and have the stress he has, not to mention his failed private life. although by all accounts he is getting better at balancing work-life ratio.

Tephnos · 3 Sep 2016 at 00:53

Oh yeah, he is not someone that you want to aspire to be for the average man. He's a very sacrificial person. His joy is in the progress he's making.

For most of us, it's goofing off with free time, not being overworked.

dowie · 3 Sep 2016 at 01:22

Glaucus said:
its not just the resources, he has the mentality, he risked all his money several times, and he's a brilliant engineer, who learns stuff at astonishing rate.
other people could have done what he did, but they didn't.

I never said it was 'just' the resources :confused:

I'm not sure he's risked 'all his money' several times

Glaucus · 3 Sep 2016 at 01:24

dowie said:
I'm not sure he's risked 'all his money' several times

he really has. he put everything he had into spacex and came so close to failure, if the 4th launch of falcon 1 didnt work, that was going to be it, he had no more money to invest.
same with tesla he came very close to failing there as well. Same year, it came so close to total failure for him,
not many people with such wealth are willing to put everything behind stuff, which other people say cant be done.

dowie · 3 Sep 2016 at 01:28

having no more money to invest isn't the same as he risked 'all his money'

Glaucus · 3 Sep 2016 at 01:29

dowie said:
having no more money to invest isn't the same as he risked 'all his money'

no he risked it all.
read Elon Musk By Ashlee Vance

if you want to know how close he came to total fialure, as well as what he;s like at work and out.

dowie · 3 Sep 2016 at 01:31

OK so how did he fund Tesla's series A round if 'all his money' was invested in Space X?

He just had an extra few million that he'd forgotten about?

Glaucus · 3 Sep 2016 at 01:32

dowie said:
OK so how did he fund Tesla's series A round if 'all his money' was invested in Space X?

he funded both and then had to get investors to stump up, in several more rounds of funding. he had nothing left.

both spacex and tesla both almost failed in 2008 at the same time.

dowie · 3 Sep 2016 at 01:38

Yes - I know he's funded both, that was the point I was highlighting

if he'd invested 'all his money' in Space X he'd not be able to then invest in Tesla

Glaucus · 3 Sep 2016 at 01:40

dowie said:
Yes - I know he's funded both, that was the point I was highlighting

if he'd invested 'all his money' in Space X he'd not be able to then invest in Tesla

what are you driveling on about.
he invested all his money into both companies. you do relaise he can invest in one both, but still invest his left over money into a single comapny.

why would anyone go with what you say rather than people who actually know him and talked to him.

dowie · 3 Sep 2016 at 01:46

It was a simple correction to your statement that

Glaucus said:
he risked all his money several times

When actually he invested in more than one ventures over overlapping times periods.

Merlin5 · 6 Mar 2018 at 23:00

This guy is the most hard working visionary, fingers in so many pies simultaneously and so much confidence in taking massive risks. Quite incredible what he's achieved and how he went about getting his success. Look what he's got up his sleeve next. Relieving traffic congestion by cars going underground. Could it be a reality, possibly a global reality in the near future?

NVP · 6 Mar 2018 at 23:26

Not sure why but I just think there's something dodgy about him. Good & bad ideas, a wild dreamer with lots of money that's already been a benefit to the world... yet there's just... something.

Either he's a kiddie fiddler, or owns slaves, or operates an underground ufc for ms sufferers, or is just a bit of a *****.

rubberduck · 7 Mar 2018 at 00:09

dowie said:
It was a simple correction to your statement that

When actually he invested in more than one ventures over overlapping times periods.

I thought there is no such thing as a risk free investment or indeed lack of investment so couldn't you technically say we are all risking everything all the time?

dowie · 7 Mar 2018 at 00:31

rubberduck said:
I thought there is no such thing as a risk free investment or indeed lack of investment so couldn't you technically say we are all risking everything all the time?

you could if you like... there is some risk of a nuclear apocalypse for example and perhaps then all our money is at risk... though I suspect we'd have rather more things to worry about than money if that were to happen.

you're quoting a rather old post btw.. and in the context of that post the poster is essentially talking about him going all in on some venture which doesn't really seem to have been the case.

Flibster · 7 Mar 2018 at 00:48

NVP said:
Not sure why but I just think there's something dodgy about him. Good & bad ideas, a wild dreamer with lots of money that's already been a benefit to the world... yet there's just... something.

Either he's a kiddie fiddler, or owns slaves, or operates an underground ufc for ms sufferers, or is just a bit of a *****.

Other than being a single thermonuclear device away from being the full Bond villain?

Rroff · 7 Mar 2018 at 00:54

NVP said:
Not sure why but I just think there's something dodgy about him. Good & bad ideas, a wild dreamer with lots of money that's already been a benefit to the world... yet there's just... something.

Either he's a kiddie fiddler, or owns slaves, or operates an underground ufc for ms sufferers, or is just a bit of a *****.

I suspect he is somewhere bordering on the Autistic spectrum but high functioning. It tends to make social interaction difficult and leads to people having an odd perception of the individual as it can be a bit of a no man's land between "normal" and the symptoms of full blown Autism like syndrome.