Elon Musk is my president

This man is not a human being. Let me tell you why

Aug 25, 2019

Post #4

A couple of weeks ago, I applied for a scout position at a vc firm and this was one of the questions on the application form. I wrote this whole piece before noticing that the word count limit was just 150 🌚🌚🌚 (I still need to work on reading instructions before jumping in with two feet). Anyway good content for the blog. Thank goodness I didn’t delete all this. Hope you’re inspired someway and somehow by this piece.

Tell us about something you’ve learned recently that you are excited about? *

I’ll start with my conclusion: the future is exciting. Are you ready?

I’m fascinated by those rare people in history who manage to dramatically change the world during their short time here, and I’ve always liked to study those people and read their biographies. Those people know something the rest of us don’t, and we can learn something valuable from them. I had the chance to read more on Elon Musk, how he reasons using first principles, why he’s building these companies, and through these companies, how he’s literally solving humanity’s problems with innovations in the internet, automotive, aerospace, solar energy, energy storage, satellite, high-speed ground transportation and multi-planetary expansion. He has never strayed from his childlike curiosity (which a lot of us do unfortunately, by going through he traditional education system) and reasons by first principles. First principles thinking is the act of boiling a process down to the fundamental parts that you know are true and building up from there. A first principle is a basic assumption that cannot be deduced any further. Over two thousand years ago, Aristotle defined a first principle as “the first basis from which a thing is known.” From reading all these posts on Elon, I have a better understanding (and more questions) of the history of cars, the story of energy, climate change, monopolies, capitalism, . I’m a buff for absorbing new knowledge and reading about Elon was very refreshing.

Now, I’ve been inspired to train myself to think in first principles, which should make me better at identifying diamond in the rough founders and ideas.

So I chanced on this blog called Wait But Why (@waitbutwhy on Twitter and listen to his podcast episode with Tim Ferris here) a couple of weeks ago and I have been hooked since then. This blog, written by Tim Urban, probably gave me the most interesting and detailed analysis on Elon Musk, how he reasons using first principles, why he’s building these companies, and through these companies, how he’s literally solving humanity’s problems! And to be clear, learning about both the blog and Elon Musk is what I’m excited about.

While in college, he had this conviction to answer this question: “what will most affect the future of humanity?” and the answer he came up with was “the internet, sustainable energy, space exploration, in particular the permanent extension of life beyond Earth artificial intelligence; and reprogramming the human genetic code.” I’m not entirely sure how he finds the time, but after close inspection, he’s done just that by getting involved in the following industries: the internet, automotive, aerospace, solar energy, energy storage, satellite, high-speed ground transportation and multi-planetary expansion; PayPal (exited), Tesla, Space X, Solar City, Tesla (again), Space X (again), Hyperloop + the Boring Company and Space X, respectively. After gorging on their content, I’m the newest Elon Musk stan and I’m so excited about learning more on him and eventually meeting him in the future. This blog also piqued my interest in artificial intelligence and I’m pretty excited to see how Artificial General Intelligence and Artificial Super Intelligence develop in the near or far future, depending on who you ask. And guess what, Elon Musk is making sure we’re set for the long term by also leading a revolution in artificial intelligence by building Neuralink!

I will just go ahead to list a couple of things on my extensive list of why I particularly find impressive about Elon and what he’s doing after reading this blog:

He is an avid self-learner and would read for 10 hours a day as a child. he also memorized nine year old, he had memorized the Encyclopedia Britannica by fourth grade. He studied a 6-month course on how to program in 3 days…as a 12 year old. What were you doing when you were nine? Hm.
He has never strayed from his childlike curiosity (which a lot of us do unfortunately, by going through he traditional education system) and reasons by first principles. First principles thinking is the act of boiling a process down to the fundamental parts that you know are true and building up from there. A first principle is a basic assumption that cannot be deduced any further. Over two thousand years ago, Aristotle defined a first principle as “the first basis from which a thing is known.”
Once he exits a venture, he goes head-first into a new, harder, more complex one with his own money. This also shows that he doesn’t follow normal rulebooks.
He is BOLD, takes enormously big bets on himself and has high levels of conviction in his ideas, which generally go up against big players in established industries such as the auto industry, the oil industry, the aerospace industry, the military-industrial complex, the energy utilities—and he might actually be winning. And all of this, it really seems, for the purpose of giving our species a better future. He is the true definition of a disruptive innovator
In 2002, he started SpaceX with the stated purpose of revolutionizing the cost of space travel in order to make humans a multi-planetary species by colonizing Mars with at least a million people over the next century. He was also able to build the world’s first reusable rocket. He invested 100m$ into this venture
In 2004, he started Tesla, with the purpose of revolutionizing the worldwide car industry by significantly accelerating the advent of a mostly electric car world to bring humanity towards a sustainable energy future. He personally funded this with 70m. By the way, there had never been a successful electric car startup and the lat time a US car startup succeeded was Chrysler in 1925 and the last time an automotive company went public was Ford in 1956. He changed that with Tesla.
He founded (and funded with 10m$) SolarCity with his cousins with the goal to revolutionize energy production by creating a large distributed utility that would install solar panel systems on millions of people’s homes, dramatically reducing their consumption of fossil fuel-generated electricity and ultimately “accelerating mass adoption of sustainable energy.”
By the way, all the above happened only four years following the PayPal sale. He didn’t have unlimited money to fund these ventures but he’s been able to extend the runway for both SpaceX and Tesla through a combination of luck with timing and relentless effort.
He’s built very very good companies that offer the lowest cost in history for launching things into space; have the highest Consumer Reports ratings and highest safety rating in the automotive industry; produce the world’s most formidable battery company; have become the latest installer of solar panels in the United States. He’s a living legend.
One executive at Tesla described interacting with Musk like this: “Any conversation’s fairly high stakes because he’ll be very opinionated, and he can go deeper than you expect or are prepared for or deeper than your knowledge goes on a given topic, and it does feel like a high wire act interacting with him, especially when you find yourself in a technical disagreement.” He is a self-learned expert that constantly questions conventional modes of operation.
He has high levels of integrity that comes through in his consistent messages. He’s been saying the same things in interviews for over a decade and says what he really means, no matter the situation. I don’t think there’s that many people alive with such obsessions with truth and accuracy, who are also welcome of negative criticism. He’s also not a hypocrite and leads by example.

From reading all these posts on Elon, I have a better understanding (and more questions) of the history of cars, the story of energy, climate change, monopolies, capitalism, . I’m a buff for absorbing new knowledge and reading about Elon was very refreshing.

Now, I’ve been inspired to train myself to think in first principles, which should make me better at identifying diamond in the rough founders and ideas. I’ll be doing this while wearing my WWED (What would Elon Do?) hat and wearing my “Elon Musk is my president” shirt while drinking a tall glass of the Elon Musk Kool-Aid.

Please read these articles. Especially the Elon Musk series. It will seriously blow your mind.

Article List—Articles I’ve read in the past 24 hours or so

Podcast— A podcast channel listened to this morning

This week in startups - Jason Calacanis and a rotating group of guest experts bring you this weekly take on the best, worst, most outrageous and interesting stories from the world of Web companies. Calacanis, a podcasting pioneer, gives you an insider's look at what's happening in the tech industry with his trademark blunt style and good humor. Looking to start your own company? Need strategies for improving your business or motivating your team? Just want to catch up on what's happening in Silicon Valley and beyond? Your journey begins here.

Business Wars - Netflix vs. HBO. Nike vs. Adidas. Business is war. Sometimes the prize is your wallet, or your attention. Sometimes, it’s just the fun of beating the other guy. The outcome of these battles shapes what we buy and how we live. Business Wars gives you the unauthorized, real story of what drives these companies and their leaders, inventors, investors and executives to new heights -- or to ruin. Hosted by David Brown, former anchor of Marketplace. From Wondery, the network behind Dirty John and American History Tellers.

Imagined Life - What is it like to be famous before you’re famous? What is it like to walk in the shoes of another person? Each episode of Imagined Life takes you on an immersive journey into the life of a world-famous person. It’ll be someone you may think you know, even admire -- or maybe the opposite. You’ll get clues to your identity along the way. But only in the final moments will you find out who “you” really are. So sit back, let go, and -- imagine your life, with our hosts, Oscar nominated Virginia Madsen and celebrated voice actor Robbie Daymond. From Wondery, the network behind Dirty John.

Book—What I’m reading now or in the recent past

I hope by now you know what I’m still reading. I wasn’t going to finish that book in a day 😂. Anyway, check out another book on KKR— Barbarians at the Gate. Solidified my understanding of the saying, “the rich would always get richer.”

And kids, don’t forget. Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter. Stay safe.

musings of a wannabe African VC

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