1. The book is a living biography that focuses on the life of Elon Musk from his childhood up to his ascension in the business world.
2. Musk didn't just jump in with his first idea, he spent months studying the aerospace industry and the physics behind it before presenting his conclusions. This is how he figured out that rockets could be made cheaper than the Russians were offering and this is how Musk would get people to think about exploring space again. Similarly, with our last assignment, we had to expand our social capital and I think this goes hand in hand with what Musk did. By learning more about the industry, Musk was able to broaden his original idea.
3. If I had to design an exercise for the class based on what I've read it would be to build a model of our product. Sometimes you don't realize how impractical something is until you try to do a sample of the actual product. Or, you'll see your creation and see the areas that need the most work. It wouldn't have to be something big, but if your idea included an app, for this exercise you could look into what would go into creating a new app. If your idea included food or something physical, you could look into making a tangible item.
4. I knew before reading the book that Musk was a brilliant man and a successful businessman, however I did not expect the part of the book where it said that Musk ran out of money at the end of 2008, or that he depended on friends for a while to make payroll from week to week while he negotiated with investors. His tenacity is also surprising. Not a lot of people would've been able to resurface after a setback like that.
Katia,
ReplyDeletereading the part that suprised you after reading your post i would say that you wouldnt expect someone to who has succesful in the business world just to come to a part to find out they have ran out of money later on.but the best part is he never gave up on what he believed in and i think by reading this book you can learn something from it on a more personal level.