The Subtle Art of Questioning
#16
“Musk sampled a handful of ideologies and then ended up more or less back where he had started, embracing the sci-fi lessons found in one of the most influential books in his life: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. “He points out that one of the really tough things is figuring out what questions to ask,” Musk said. “Once you figure out the question, then the answer is relatively easy. I came to the conclusion that we should aspire to increase the scope and scale of human consciousness in order to better understand why questions to ask.”
This is an excerpt from Elon’s biography and quite validates what I think about being a VC. Last week, I basically said to Jeph that “investors are lazy because it’s the entrepreneurs doing all the hard work. And investors are privileged to have money that they can make more of by backing a founder.” The next morning I took my words back. Investors have to ask the questions to make sure founders are solving the right problems or have the right business models to scale. Making money is a by-product of asking these right questions of founders, getting satisfactory answers and supporting the business with hard-earned cash. No one is lazy in this game.
Also thought back to “A More Beautiful Question” and also thought about why I love that book so much. This book deconstructs why children stop questioning with time. As a valuable skill, simply asking asking “why” has given rise to immensely innovative businesses like Polaroid, Airbnb and Netflix. This book would help the reader rebuild his or her childlike curiosity and use that mindset to solve problems.
Article List— What I’m reading
We’re taking a break today. Enjoy your weekend. 😅
Podcast— What I’m listening to
Imagined Life: This series tells you the story of a famous person and their experiences before they became known worldwide. And the person’s identity is revealed just at the end of the episode. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every single episode they’ve put out.
Book—What I’m reading x2. My book list is nearing 1000 books. Send help 🌚
Still on Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. Another couple of chapters done. Still haven’t learnt anything new. I feel like I know this man.
Remember folks: “Until the lion learns to write, every story will glorify the hunter.”
Please share + subscribe.