Barb's Book Reviews: Review of "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" by Ashlee Vance

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Review of "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" by Ashlee Vance

Billionaire Elon Musk is a businessman, engineer, and inventor with a radical vision for the future of mankind. In fact Musk wants nothing less than to establish a human colony on Mars.....with a view toward exploring Jupiter's moon Europa someday.

Jupiter and Europa

Musk fears there will be another mass extinction event - like the asteroid that destroyed 75% of Earth's species at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary 65 million years ago - and he wants people to have somewhere to go.

There was a mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary

I agree with Musk that Earth is likely to become inhospitable to humans someday, but I fear we'll ruin the planet ourselves - with over-exploitation, pollution, war, and disease. (And then we'd probably do the same thing to Mars. I'm a skeptic.)

In any case, Musk puts his money where his mouth is. In 2002 the audacious entrepreneur founded the rocket company SpaceX. SpaceX is already launching satellites for several countries, and carrying supplies to the International Space Station.

SpaceX

In the future, Musk wants rockets to bring people, equipment, and provisions to the red planet.....ideally in the next 50 to 100 years.

SpaceX is just one of Musk's far-sighted enterprises. In this book Ashlee Vance explores Musk's various business ventures, and provides insight into the developer's character and personal life.

Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1971.

He had a difficult childhood, being viciously bullied at school and tormented by his father, Errol. The book has few details about Errol's behavior (no one will talk about it), but it's revealing that grandpa Musk isn't allowed to meet Elon's five sons.

Elon Musk's father Errol

As a youngster Elon devoured books, and - with his photographic memory - recalled everything he read. Elon was also an inventive child who built rockets and created video games.

Little Elon Musk

When he was 17-years-old Elon moved to his mother's home country, Canada.....and the penniless teen bunked with relatives, did odd jobs, and went to school.

Young Elon Musk

Eventually, Elon ended up at the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in economics and physics. Musk then moved to California and entered the business world.

Vance did extensive research and describes Musk's business projects in elaborate detail, including: how they started; financing; development; failures; successes; leadership; personnel; buy-outs; etc. Musk's trajectory didn't go straight from start-up to billionaire. Far from it. In fact the developer nearly went bankrupt several times....to the glee of naysayers and jealous rivals. Musk carried on, though, and was successul in the end. (So yay Elon!....and pooh on the guys who tried to take him down!)

In this brief review I'll just provide a quick summary of Musk's business activities. For a full picture, you'll have to read the book.

Musk's first venture after college was Zip2 - a kind of online Yellow Pages/Mapquest that allowed users to find businesses and get directions. When Zip2 was sold, Musk founded an internet banking venture that became PayPal. These were profitable pursuits that provided money for additional investments.

Musk founded SpaceX - the aforementioned rocket company in 2002, and co-founded Tesla Motors - which manufactures environmentally friendly electric cars in 2003.

Then, in 2006, Musk helped his cousins launch SolarCity - a company that fabricates, markets, and installs solar panels.

Among other things, Tesla and SolarCity are meant to reduce the use of fossil fuels and lower carbon pollution....which would help preserve the Earth and its inhabitants. In this vein, Musk also hopes to build 'hyperloops' - high speed trains that travel on a loop between major cities like New York and Washington DC; and Los Angeles and San Francisco. President Obama is said to be a fan of this project.

Hyperloop

Musk's various ventures require smart, capable personnel and the developer was (and is) always on the lookout for the brightest students, the best engineers, the most foreward-thinking inventors, and so on.

Elon Musk giving commencement address

Caltech students

Musk is notoriously difficult to work for and - when he wants something done - refuses to hear "I can't do it." If you really can't do it, Musk is likely to let you go and do it himself. Musk expects employees to work long hours without complaint.....and has a reputation for upbraiding and firing personnel. Thus, he's quite ruthless on a business level.

Elon Musk is notoriously hard to work with

In private life, though, Musk is said to be a fun guy who likes to make jokes; laugh; attend costume parties; play video games with his kids; and generally have a good time. Musk has five sons - twins and triplets - from his first marriage to Justine Musk and is now wed to the actress Tallulah Riley. The entrepeneur has a brutal work schedule - he often works 100 or more hours per week - but takes his sons all over the world with him. Musk is also close to his brother and cousins, and often collaborates with them on business projects.

Elon Musk's first wife Justine Musk

Elon Musk with his second wife Tallulah Riley

Elon Musk with his sons

In addition to influencing national and international corporations, Musk has impacted popular culture. After the actor, Robert Downey Jr., visited the SpaceX factory, he modeled aspects of his character 'Tony Stark' (Iron Man) on the billionaire entrepreneur. And Musk guest starred on an episode of 'The Simpsons' called 'The Musk Who Fell to Earth.' The Simpsons segment is hilarious and gives a cartoonish - but probably accurate....picture of the entrepreneur as an imaginative inventor and concerned citizen of the Earth. (The episode is available on YouTube.)

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark (Iron Man)

Elon Musk on The Simpsons

Vance's discussions of the ups and downs of Musk's businesses are especially well-researched and interesting. The author explains how Tesla ultimately built an electric roadster that's beautiful, comfortable, kid-seat friendly, and (more or less) reasonably-priced (if you're rich); and how a rocket was finally launched after heartbreaking failures due to mechanical errors, sloshing fuel, and other hard-to-foresee factors.

Vance also discusses the problems involved when private companies - like Musk's enterprises - compete with established (though inferior) businesses that have government support. Some corporations are beloved by politicians because of monetary contributions, lobbyists, factories in their districts; etc. It's hard to compete with such companies, and they caused massive headaches for Musk. But, of course, he prevailed in the end.

I admire Musk for his brilliance and accomplishments, and I like this book. I'd recommend the book to readers interested in Elon Musk; his far-reaching business ventures; and the future of the planet.

Rating: 4.5 stars

2 comments:

JacquiFebruary 5, 2018 at 1:53 PM
Musk is an interesting man. I would say so much diversity in his products wouldn't work but he seems to be doing nicely.
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Barb's Book Reviews

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Review of "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future" by Ashlee Vance

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