As a man who has repeatedly made history, Musk has demonstrated his outstanding ability in many fields. He manages six companies with the potential to disrupt the industry in their respective fields, including: SpaceX (rocket launch and recycling), Tesla (electric vehicles), The Boring Company (Hyperloop), OpenAI (Artificial Intelligence), Future of Life Institute (Future of Life Research), and Neuralink (Brain Chip).
The following is Musk's shocking speech, a compulsory course for every parent.
When I was a child, people often asked me what I was going to do when I grew up, and I didn't really know. Then I thought it would be cool to invent, because the science fiction writer Arthur. Clark (author of 2001: A Space Odyssey) once said, "Any technology that is advanced enough is no different from magic." ”
Think about it, three hundred years ago, if humans saw that today we can fly, we can communicate from afar, we can use the Internet, we can immediately find information around the world, they will say, this is magic. If I could invent very advanced technology, wouldn't it be like magic?
I have always had a sense of crisis in existence, and I want to find out what the meaning of life is and what the purpose of all things exists. The final conclusion is that if we have a way to make the world's knowledge more and more advanced, then we will be more capable of asking better questions, improving the wisdom of all mankind, and striving for a higher level of collective civilization for a lifetime, which is the meaning of living.
1) I want to do something that will affect the future of mankind
So, I decided to study physics and business. Because to achieve such a lofty goal, you must understand how the universe works, how the economy works, and also find the best talent team to invent things together.
In 1995, I came to California (to Stanford University for a Ph.D.) to find out how to increase the energy density of electric vehicles, for example, whether there are better capacitors that can be used as a replacement for batteries. But at that time, with the rise of the Internet, I was faced with two choices: continue to research capacitor technology, which has little chance of success, or devote myself to the network business. In the end, I chose to drop out of school and participate in online entrepreneurship, one of which was PayPal.
The most important realization of the founding PayPal comes from its birth process. We originally intended to use PayPal to provide integrated financial services, which is a large and complex system. As a result, every time I introduce the system to others, everyone is not interested. When we introduce it again, there is a small function of email payment in the system, and everyone becomes interested.
So we decided to focus on email payments, and PayPal was a hit. However, if we had not noticed the reactions of others and made changes, we might not have been so successful. So, it's important to gather feedback and use it to correct your previous assumptions.
In October 2002, EBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion in shares. Musk is the largest shareholder, holding 11.7% and cashing out $180 million.
After PayPal success, I began to wonder, what are the problems in front of me that are most likely to affect the future of humanity? I think the biggest problem facing the planet is sustainable energy, which is how to produce and consume energy in a sustainable way. If this problem is not solved in the twenty-first century, we will be in the foresight of disaster. Another big problem that could affect human survival is how to migrate to other planets.
2, if you have a dream, you have to let it go
The first led me to tesla and SolarCity (the largest rooftop solar system supplier in the United States); the second led me to found SpaceX, a space technology company.
In 2002, to solve the problem of space transportation, I founded SpaceX. People I talked to at the time advised me not to do it, and a friend went to find a movie of the rocket explosion for me (laughter). He's actually not wrong, I've never made a physical product, so it was really difficult at the beginning, and the rocket launch failed three times in a row, which was very painful.
But we learned from every failure, and finally succeeded in the fourth launch in 2008, putting Falcon One into Earth orbit, by which time I had used up all my funds and thankfully succeeded.
After that, our transport rockets went from Falcon One to Falcon Nine, and developed the Wyvern spacecraft. Recently, after launching, Wyvern successfully connected to the International Space Station and returned to Earth. I really pinched a handful of cold sweat and couldn't believe we did it.
But there is more to be achieved if humans want to move to other planets. So, I hope you guys join SpaceX or other space exploration companies as well. In fact, I am quite optimistic about the future of the earth, I think there is a 99% chance that humans will be able to live in peace for a long time. However, even if the future risk of the earth is only 1%, it is enough to stimulate us to prepare in advance and make a "planet backup".
In 2003, to prove the potential of electric vehicles, I founded Tesla. In the past, many people thought that electric cars were too slow, not far to run, and ugly, no different from golf carts. To change people's impressions, we developed the Tesla Roadster, an electric sports car that is fast, runs far and has a pulling style.
So, to start a company, you have to actually prototype the product. Because, no matter how wonderful the paper work and PowerPoint report, it is not as convincing as coming up with the actual product.
After the Roadster came out, some people said, "Even if you make an expensive limited-edition sports car, do you have the ability to make a real mass production car?" "No problem, we launched a four-door motorhome Model S, proof for everyone to see.
That's how I started my business along the way. I would say that you are all magicians of the twenty-first century, imagination has no limits, don't let anything stop you, enjoy magic.
Below, I'd like to share a few tips for success, some of which you may have heard of, but are worth re-emphasizing.
I would encourage you that now is the best time to take a risk, and if you have a dream, let it go and make sure you don't regret it!
Aim for the moon, and if you fail, at least fall on the clouds.
3) I think people can choose to be extraordinary
In a person's life, if he does not experience several failures, he will miss the opportunity to challenge himself to the limits.
People are too afraid of failure. People over-amplify the fear of failure. Imagine what it would be like to fail? You may be hungry and you may lose your shelter, but I feel the courage to try. Sometimes, people define their abilities, and they don't actually realize how great their abilities are.
As far as I'm concerned, I'll never give up, I mean, Never!
Accept failure, but not abandonment.
Your goal is important: If I were purely trying to optimize my net worth, I wouldn't choose these businesses. I'll be in real estate or finance, or, frankly, in oil.
But what we need to consider is what people are really living for. What is the meaning of human life. Is what we are doing expanding the map of human intelligence?
From PayPal along the way, I've been thinking, "Well, what are the factors that are most likely to affect the future of humanity?" Instead of thinking "What is the best way to make money?" ”
For me, what I'm going to do is something meaningful, to do what I can to make the world a better place, and that's what I want to do. I want to change the world, and I hope to be able to do my best to create a new world where people can enjoy life, and that's what I want to do. For that, I don't mind taking risks.
I hope that what I do will have a profound impact on people's lives. Either don't do it, or do it historically.
Finally, worryingly, today's children's motivation to learn and progress is almost entirely driven by external stress and rewards. The result is that they will have neither grand goals nor perseverance. I don't want to imagine such a future.
I believe that with enough internal drive, ordinary children can achieve extraordinary things.
All of my achievements today stem from the words of the author of 2001: "Any technology that is advanced enough is no different from magic." ”