Book: 20230915 to 20240613, "Elon Musk" by Walter Isaacson

20230915 - Prologue: muse of fire

Do we have to sacrifice some virtues to make huge success?

In "Selfish Gene" and game theory, the one who want to play fairly can only get slightly above average return.

Asset, power and fame are like a building. No matter how high the building is, it only takes very short time to collapse.

Unless the adventure itself is the main goal, unless we really enjoy the pain and happiness come with the journey, we'd like to lose ourselves in the pursue of our aim.

20230916 - Adventures

Gene and home education are both critical.

How about environment? Friends when we are little?

If we have siblings, then friends are not that important.

Errol Musk's emerald processing business are destroyed by artifical emerald from Russia?! How many Black Swans are hiding around us?

20230916 - A mind of his own: Pretoria, the 1970s

Elon Musk is an unique genius. 

1. In his eyes, most of people are quite dumb, and he didn't know how to hide that feeling when he was little. That could be the source of his trouble in childhood.

2. He doesn't fear risk.That's definitely from his gene.

His parents still provided abundent book. He was lucky.

20230916 - Life with father: Pretoria, the 1980s

His father Errol more or less has mental illness, although quite smart.

No doubt he still love his kids, when he doesn't lose his mind.

20230916 - The seeker: Pretoria, the 1980s

Philosophy doesn't tell us the meaning of life. Maybe the answer is just too cold.

"Selfish Gene" is right. We are just the vehicle of our gene.

Why do we want to figure out the meaning of our lives? I guess most of people have their own version of the answer, which help their survival.

Mars Colony is the goal of life that Elon Musk found. That surely helps our gene to survive and grow.

20230916 - Escape velocity: Leaving South Africa, 1989

I guess by now Elon Musk had got correct view of world. He knows the reality deeply, so his choice is correct.

To him, USA is the best place.

20230917 - Canada: 1989

By that time, Elon Musk's family is just a normal immigrant family. Nothing special.

But Elon Musk was kind of visionary already.

20230917 - Queen's: Kingston, Ontario, 1990-1991

Social skill is always his weakness. Does he finally know how to enjoy parties? Why he like parties so much?

My guess: he want to see other people be happy.

20230917 - Penn: Philadelphia, 1992-1994

Elon Musk is not just good at study. He knows what to choose to learn.

Industrial relationship? WOW

20230917 - Go west: Silicon Valley, 1994-1995

He really can saw the the tide of time! But he are also not that sure, that's why he made the hedge of the bet.

He's really good at obtain resources. The banker and the prefessor provided critical advices.

Were there some other big guys provided incorrect advices but were ignored by Elon Musk?

20230929 - Zip2: Palo Alto, 1995-1999

Zip2 could be online business service provider + map. Where did the visionary of Elon Musk come from?

He understand things from bottom level, and he is fearless, and he had plenty of practice (coding).

He is also luck. If there was no support from his parents(28k+10k in 1995, roughly 70k in 2023) and brother, he may not be able of building Zip2.

20230929 - Justine: Palo Alto, the 1990s

Elon Musk needs a wife which is beautiful, smart, knowledgeable, independent and full of drama.  :-)

20230929 - X.com: Palo Alto 1999-2000

Even Elon Musk had to reply on burning money to attract users quickly! But I guess that he knew when he should stop. Why did he believe that X.com has huge advantage over PayPal? Did he just play a game?

Internet bubble surely played important role during X.com growth.

20230929 - The coup: PayPal, September 2000

This chapter only tells us a little bit of what happened there. We will never know who is right and who is wrong.

If Elon Musk is fully in charge, will X.com go crash? Will it be turned into a trillion dollar company?

20230930 - Mars: SpaceX, 2001

Idiot Index.

I guess, the harder some product is to build, the higher its Idiot Index is.

Similar to income.

20230930 - Rocket man: SpaceX, 2002

How to avoid wasting time? Set up ridiculous plan.

Can I read a book in three days, or even two days? How many hours do I need to read 50 pages?

Can I at least read 50 to 60 pages per day?

20230930 - Fathers and sons: Los Angeles, 2002

Errol Musk could not control his desire, and don't have anything good to do.

He was talented, but why slided so much?

20230930 - Revving up: SpaceX, 2002

Elon Musk knows a lot about rocket, and that's the reason that he can pick up the right people.

The people who have idea, work hard to implement it and take risks of it can be the cofounder.

20230930 - Musk's rules for rocket-building: SpaceX, 2002-2003

Fast failing and rebuild is not feasible if people have deep understanding about their work. Or else, there will be too many reiteration which would cost too much.

20231010 - Mr. Musk goes to Washington: SpaceX, 2002-2003

20231010 - Founders: Tesla, 2003-2004

20231010 - The roadster: Tesla, 2004-2006

Elon Musk has deep understanding about car. That's why he noticed so many problems with normal cars, even with Lotus sports car.

That means, in his eyes, the problems are everywhere, opportunities are everywhere.

20231011 - Kwaj: SpaceX, 2005-2006

20231011 - Two strikes: Kwaj, 2006-2007

Every part and component has someone be responsible for it. That's great idea.

Can we apply this idea to other projects? Can I apply it to my work and life?

20231011 - The SWAT team: Tesla, 2006-2008

20231011 - Taking the wheel: Tesla, 2007-2008

Quite often that hard approach is the right approach.

How about BYD? At the moment, BYD BEV productions is almost more than Tesla now, but it doesn't support autonomous driving, and it's at much lower price range. Tesla sacrificed production for potential Robotaxi.

Does that worth it?

20231011 - Divorce: 2008

Different biography focus on different aspect?

20231011 - Talulah: 2008

20231011 - Strike three: Kwaj, August 3, 2008

20231011 - On the brink: Tesla and SpaceX, 2008

The stress let Elon Musk hyperfocus, but the cost?

Can we still say that Elon Musk was very lucky? Yes, or else both Tesla and SpaceX might go bust.

20231019 - The fourth launch: Kwaj, August-September 2008

I think that NASA would lend more money if the fourth launch failed again. But who knows?

20231019 - Saving Tesla: December 2008

What's the role of luck in Tesla's survival?

20231020 - The Model S: Tesla, 2009

No details at all. The Model S just appeared like miracle.

Disappointing.

20231020 - Private space: SpaceX, 2009-2010

Obama's understanding about the solution is correct. Unfortunately, the same problem is still plaguing USA, although much less now.

20231021 - Falcon 9 liftoff: Cape Canaveral, 2010

20231021 - Marrying Talulah: September 2010

20231021 - Manufacturing: Tesla, 2010-2013

20231021 - Musk and Bezos: SpaceX, 2013-2014

Bezos's perception about the world seems wrong. I guess that's the reason that he could not make it.

20231021 - The falcon hears the falconer: SpaceX, 2014-2015

Bezos should admit defeat honestly.

Now, when people look back, what he said made him look like a clown.

Bezos and Musk, both look like normal people when they are arguing.

20231021 - The Talulah roller coaster: 2012-2015

Poor Talulah. She is a normal woman, who cannot bear loneliness.

I guess, she is not strong enough. Elon Musk's wife has to find a way to be indepedent.

20240501 - Artificial intelligence: OpenAI, 2012-2015

20240502 - The launc of autopilot: Tesla, 2014-2016

20240502 - Solar: Tesla energy, 2004-2016

20240502 - The boring company: 2016

20240502 - Rocky relationships: 2016-2017

20240502 - Descent into the dark: 2017

20240502 - Fremont factory hell: Tesla, 2018

I did the five commandments relatively well, but completely miss the sense of urgency.

Five commandments: p284

1. Question every requirement. Each should come with the name of the

person who made it. You should never accept that a requirement came

from a department, such as from “the legal department” or “the safety

department.” You need to know the name of the real person who made

that requirement. Then you should question it, no matter how smart that

person is. Requirements from smart people are the most dangerous,

because people are less likely to question them. Always do so, even if the

requirement came from me. Then make the requirements less dumb.

2. Delete any part or process you can. You may have to add them back later.

In fact, if you do not end up adding back at least 10% of them, then you

didn’t delete enough.

3. Simplify and optimize. This should come after step two. A common

mistake is to simplify and optimize a part or a process that should not exist.

4. Accelerate cycle time. Every process can be speeded up. But only do this

after you have followed the first three steps. In the Tesla factory, I

mistakenly spent a lot of time accelerating processes that I later realized

should have been deleted.

5. Automate. That comes last. The big mistake in Nevada and at Fremont

was that I began by trying to automate every step. We should have waited

until all the requirements had been questioned, parts and processes deleted,

and the bugs were shaken out.

The algorithm was sometimes accompanied by a few corollaries, among them:

All technical managers must have hands-on experience. For example, managers

of software teams must spend at least 20% of their time coding. Solar roof

managers must spend time on the roofs doing installations. Otherwise, they

are like a cavalry leader who can’t ride a horse or a general who can’t use a

sword.

Comradery is dangerous. It makes it hard for people to challenge each other’s

work. There is a tendency to not want to throw a colleague under the bus.

That needs to be avoided.

It’s OK to be wrong. Just don’t be confident and wrong.

Never ask your troops to do something you’re not willing to do.

Whenever there are problems to solve, don’t just meet with your managers.

Do a skip level, where you meet with the level right below your managers.

When hiring, look for people with the right attitude. Skills can be taught.

Attitude changes require a brain transplant.

A maniacal sense of urgency is our operating principle.

The only rules are the ones dictated by the laws of physics. Everything else is a

recommendation.

20240502 - Open-loop warning: 2018

20240502 - Fallout: 2018

How long will Elon Musk stay in stable status?

I think things are not that bad. His father didn't go crazy even at age 80.

20240518 - Grimes: 2018

20240518 - Shanghai: Tesla, 2015-2019

20240518 - Cybertruck: Tesla, 2018-2019

20240518 - Starlink: SpaceX, 2015-2018

20240518 - Starship: SpaceX, 2018-2019

20240518 - Autonomy day: Tesla, April 2019

20240518 - Giga Texas: Tesla, 2020-2021

20240518 - Family life: 2020

20240518 - Full throttle: SpaceX, 2020

20240518 - Bezos vs. Musk, round 2: SpaceX, 2021

20240518 - Starship surge: SpaceX, July 2021

Raptor cost p363

This chaptor is the best one in this book, I guess.

It tells us the details about how Elon Musk manage the company.

20240518 - Solar surge: summer 2021

20240518 - Nights out: summer, 2021

20240518 - Inspiration4: SpaceX, September 2021

20240518 - Raptor shake-up: SpaceX, 2021

20240518 - Optimus is born: Tesla, August 2021

20240518 - Neuralink: 2017-2020

Musk paused silently for almost two minutes, while Zilis and her colleagues watched. Then he delivered his verdict: he hated it. p402

This verdict must come from the first principle.

20240518 - Vision only: Tesla, January 2021

Visionary or not, this one is the most critical case.

20240527 - Money: 2021-2022

20240527 - Father of the year: 2021

20240527 - Politics: 2020-2022

20240527 - Ukraine: 2022

20240527 - Bill Gates: 2022

20240527 - Active investor: Twitter, January-April 2022

20240527 - "I made an offer": Twitter, April 2022

20240527 - Hot and cold: Twitter, April-June 2022

20240527 - Fathers day: June 2022

20240527 - Starbase shake-up: SpaceX, 2022

20240527 - Optiumus Prime: Tesla, 2021-2022

20240527 - Uncertainty: Twitter, July-September 2022

When most clients are given three or four options, they will ask which one the banker recommends. Musk, instead, asked detailed questions about each option but did not solicit a recommendation. He liked to make his own decision. p490

20240527 - Optimus unveiled: Tesla, September, 2022

20240527 - Robotaxi: Tesla, 2022

20240601 - "Let that sink in": Twitter, October 26-27, 2022

20240601 - The takeover: Twitter, Thursday, October 27, 2022

20240601 - The three musketeers: Twitter, October 26-30, 2022

20240601 - Content moderation: Twitter, October 27-30, 2022

20240606 - Halloween: Twitter, October 2022

20240606 - Blue checks: Twitter, November 2-10, 2022

20240606 - All in: Twitter, November 10-18, 2022

20240606 - Hardcore: Twitter, November 18-30, 2022

20240606 - Miracles: Neuralink, November 2022

20240606 - The Twitter files: Twitter, December 2022

20240613 - Rabbit holes: Twitter, December 2022

20240613 - Christmas capers: December 2022

20240613 - AI for cars: Tesla, 2022-2023

20240613 - AI for humans: X.AI, 2023

20240613 - The starship launch: SpaceX, April 2023

I need to say "No" to sounds brilliant idea/impulse, such as checking emails

Each time lot should be 30 minutes, and don't do anything else in the time lot.