Elon Musk

I went into this book honestly not knowing much about Elon Musk or his background. It's often easy to hate on billionaires and Elon Musk is no exception to that. However, I came away from this book with two distinct impressions about Elon Musk.

1. He's a misunderstood genius
2. He's even more of a jerk than I could imagine

When I think of successful people, I try not to lump them all into one category. In Western society, we tend to think of successful people as rich and wealthy. In that regard, Elon Musk is extremely successful. As such, we all undoubtedly have things to learn from him. On the other hand, it's evident that Elon has turbulent relationships with those around him. Throughout the book, Isaacson constantly echos the rhetorical question — is Elon actually happy? Does money bring happiness? As I see it, I don't think Elon is successful in this facet of life. Despite all of his monumental secular accomplishments in engineering and business, I'd argue that Elon has failed to create lasting relationships with other individuals.

That said, Elon had a very difficult upbringing. It's not only impressive but frankly miraculous that he has gotten to where he is in the face of his background. Don't get me wrong, he's had plenty of luck along the way, but it speaks for his sheer resoluteness to accomplish as much as he has. He is a true embodiment of the Steve Jobs quote "the ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do". Many people will quote this, but Elon lives it. This is why I stand by the notion that Elon is a "misunderstood genius". His vision is revolutionary. Whether you agree with the way he does things or not (which I do not FYI), you can't deny he is one of the few humans in our lifetimes that will actually change society as a whole.

As I said, I don't agree with his tactics at all. Perhaps I don't have the vision that Elon does, but I disagree in the ideaology of "the end justifies the means". It's evident that Musk will crusade for whatever he personally deems as correct, despite the disastrous wreckage he leaves behind. To me, there are more important things in life. I value individual relationships too much to sacrifice life's precious jewels for the sake of innovation. And, I recognize that some may see that as selfish. While I see many of Elon's actions as selfish, others may see him as an altruistic figure that is truly advancing the future of humanity.

Here's my final take: Read the book, but don't take it as a guidebook for building a business or changing the world. On the contrary, take it as a long list of things not to do. Don't read it and think, "to be successful, I need to start approaching life like Elon Musk". Take the positive things that he did and apply them to your life. Then, more importantly, take the lessons he learned from his mistakes and apply them without having to experience the same things.