Elon Musk i l'obsessió per l'èxit: treballar 100 hores funciona?

I think one aspect of whatever condition

I had, um, was I was just absolutely

obsessed with truth.

I was just obsessed with truth.

Um

And and so the obsession with truth is

why I studied physics,

uh, because physics attempts to

understand the

the truth of the truth of the universe.

>> So, yes, I think I think it's possible

for ordinary people

to choose to be

extraordinary.

>> When you had that third failure in a

row,

>> Mhm.

>> did you think I need to pack this in?

>> Never.

>> Why not?

>> I don't ever give up.

I mean, I'd have to be

dead or completely incapacitated.

>> 22 hours a day? Like what How many hours

>> working Yeah, 7 days a week. Sleeping at

the factory.

>> [music]

>> Uh, I worked every day from the I worked

from the I worked from the paint shop,

general assembly, body shop.

>> Did you ever worry about yourself

imploding? Like it's just too much?

>> Absolutely.

No one should

put this many hours into work.

This is not good.

People should not work this hard. I'm

not

They should not do this. This is too

>> [music]

>> very painful.

>> Painful on what terms?

>> Uh, it's because my it's my brain and my

heart.

It hurts.

This is not recommended [music] for

anyone. I just did it because if I

didn't do it, then Tesla

good chance Tesla would die.

>> I think certainly, uh, being focused on

[music] something that you're confident

will have high value to someone else,

um, and just being really rigorous in

making that assessment, um, because

people are tend tend to

a natural human tendency is wishful

thinking.

Um, so a challenge for entrepreneurs is

to say, "Well, what's the difference

between really believing in your ideals

and sticking sticking to them

versus pursuing some unrealistic dream

that doesn't actually have merit." And

it's it's that is a that is a really

difficult thing to to tell you can you

tell the difference between those two

things? [music]

So you need to be sort of very rigorous

in in your self self-analysis. Um I

think certainly extremely [music]

tenacious

and

um and then just work like hell. I mean

you just have to [music] put in

you know, 80-hour 80 to 100-hour

weeks every week.

>> Yes.

>> And then a lot of work. That that that

all those things improve the odds of

success.

>> Okay.

>> Um [music]

I mean if if if if if if other people

are putting in 40-hour work weeks and

you're putting in 100-hour work weeks,

then even if

uh you're doing the same [music] thing,

you know that in in 1 year you will

achieve what they achieve you you will

achieve

in 4 months what it takes them a year to

achieve.

>> Okay. I like your work ethic.

>> I don't think you'd necessarily want to

be me.

It's very hard to turn it off all the

time.

It doesn't stop.

When I was young, I I didn't really know

what I was going to do when when I got

older. I think when I was I don't know

if I was six or something, I thought I

was insane

because it was clear that other people

did not

would their mind [music] wasn't

exploding with ideas. It was just

strange.

It was like [music]

hm

I'm strange. Eventually I thought that

the idea of inventing things [music]

would be really cool. The reason I

thought that was because I read a quote

from Arthur C. Clarke which [music] said

that sufficiently advanced technology is

indistinguishable from magic.

And and that's really true.

>> [music]

>> If you go back say 300 years, the things

that we take for granted today [music]

would be you you'd be burned at the

stake for.

You know, being able to fly,

that's crazy.

Being able to see over long distances,

being able [music] to communicate, this

is stuff that that really would be

considered magic in in times past. If I

can do some of those things, [music]

basically if I can advance technology

that's like magic and that would be

really cool.

>> Were you a little naive when you thought

I can easily build build an electric car

and and a rocket?

>> I didn't think it would be easy. Um

I I guess I thought they would probably

fail.

Um but you know, like creating a company

is almost like having a child. So, it's

sort of like how do you say your child

should not have food?

>> [music]

>> So, once you have the company you have

to to feed it and and nurse it and

>> [music]

>> take care of it of it even if it it

ruins you.

>> Yeah.

>> [music]

>> But uh so what some there was some tough

times in uh

>> [music]

>> end of 2008.

How did you get through that period of

crisis?

>> Yeah.

>> [music]

>> 2000 and

>> Can we just break for a second?

>> Sure. Sure. Of course.

>> [music]

>> You want to wait a little while?

And I'm sure if it was worth it. [music]

>> Sure hope so.

>> Let me

>> Sure hope it was worth it.

>> One of the most difficult choices I have

ever faced

in life

>> [music]

>> was in 2008. I think I had maybe $30

left or $30 left in 2008. I had two

choices.

I could

>> [music]

>> put it all into one company

and then the other company would

definitely die

>> [music]

>> or split it between the two companies.

And what if I split it between the two

companies then both might die.

And [music] you would you put your

blood, sweat, and tears into creating

something

and building something. It's [music]

like a child.

And so, it's like which one

am I going to let one starve to death?

I couldn't bring myself to do [music]

it. So, I put I I

split the money between the two.

Fortunately, thank goodness, they both

came through.

You know, with Tesla we're like trying

to make things that people love. How

many How many things can you buy that

you really love that

really [music] give you joy?

So rare. So rare. I wish there were more

things.

That's what we're trying to do. [music]

Just make things that somebody loves.

Yes, doing something useful

for other people that I like doing.

>> Generally,

starting a business,

>> [music]

>> I'd say number one is have a high pain

threshold.

That's

um

There's a friend of mine who's got a

good saying, [music] which is that

starting a company is like eating glass

and staring into the abyss. That's

generally what happens. Because when you

start a company, there's lots of

optimism and things [music] are things

are great. And then so happiness at

first is high. Then you encounter all

sorts of issues and happiness will

steadily decline.

>> [laughter]

>> And then you'll go through a whole world

of hurt.

That's And then eventually, you'll If

you succeed, [music] and in most cases

you will not succeed. And And Tesla

almost didn't succeed. They came very

close to failure. Then if if [music] you

succeed, then after a long time, you

will finally get back to happiness.

>> [laughter]

>> And I want to know, what is the one

thing that has surprised you [music]

about your life?

>> Well, I certainly I'm surprised by the

whole thing, honestly. I certainly

didn't expect to be to be uh for any of

these things to [music] happen,

honestly. Um

In fact, the only reason I started a

company back in '95, an internet

company, was because I couldn't get it

There were only a few internet companies

and I couldn't get a job at any of them.

So

um

I tried to get a job at at Netscape um

and uh sent my resume and I tried to

hang out in the lobby, but I was too shy

to talk to anyone.

And uh and then I was like, "Okay, well,

I guess I'll have to start a company cuz

I can't get a job anywhere."

>> [music]

>> Uh

>> Really really liking what you do. What

whatever area that you get into, um

given that, you know, even if you're if

you're

the best of the best, [music] there's

always a chance of failure. So, I think

it's important that you really like

whatever you're doing. Uh if if you

don't like it, life is too short. If you

[music] like what you're doing, you

think about it even when you're not

working. It It's It's something that

your mind [music] is drawn to.

Um and and if you don't like it, you you

just really can't make [music] it work,

I think.

>> What you want to do, and particularly if

you're starting a company, you need to

work super hard.

So, what what does super hard mean? When

my brother and I were starting our first

company, I didn't have any money. In

fact, I had negative money. Um

I had huge student [music] debts. Or in

fact, I couldn't afford a place to stay

and an office. So, in instead of getting

an apartment, we [music] just rented a

small office and we slept on the couch.

Um

and we we showered at the the YMCA. And

And there there was an there was an ISP

on the floor below us, just like a

little tiny ISP. And we drilled a hole

through the floor and connected a null

modem cable. That That gave us our

internet connectivity for like 100 bucks

a month. And we're so hard up, we had

just one computer. So, the the website

was up during the day and I was coding

at night.

7 days a week, all the time. And I

briefly had a girlfriend in that period,

and in order to

be with me, she had to sleep in the

office. So,

work hard like I mean, every waking

hour. That's the the thing I would say,

particularly if you're starting a

company.

>> It's very important [music] to to

actively seek out and listen very

carefully to negative feedback. And this

is something that [music] people tend to

avoid because it's it's painful. When um

when friends get a product, I say,

"Look, I

Don't tell me what you [music] like.

Tell me what you don't like." Otherwise,

your friend is not going to tell you

what he doesn't like.

>> Right.

>> He's He's going to say, "Oh, I love this

and that." And And And then And leave

out the "This is the stuff I don't like"

list. And sometimes, even your enemies

give you good negative feedback.

>> So, I actually went to I went to Russia

three times to to look at buying a

refurbished ICBM. I can tell you it was

very weird going there in in 2000 late

2001, 2002,

going to the Russian rocket forces and

saying, "I'd like to buy

two of your biggest rockets." They

thought I was crazy, but but I did have

money, so that was

That was okay.

>> One good friend of mine collected a

whole series [music] of videos of

rockets blowing up

and made me watch those. He just didn't

want me to lose all my money.

>> For SpaceX, [music]

the first three launches failed.

We're just barely able to scrape

together enough parts and and money to

do the the fourth launch. If that fourth

launch had failed, we would have been

dead.

I I tried very [music] hard to to get

the right expertise in for for SpaceX.

I tried hard to to find a great uh

[music] chief engineer for the rocket,

but the good chief engineers wouldn't

join. And the bad ones, well, there was

no no point in hiring them. So, I ended

up [music] being chief engineer of the

rocket. Um so, if I could have found

somebody better, then we [music] would

have maybe had less than three failures.

>> You uh like I mentioned with with

SpaceX, you give a lot of people hope.

And a lot of people look up to you.

Millions of people look up to [music]

you. Uh if we think about young people

in high school, maybe in college,

um what advice would you

>> [music]

>> give to them about

if they want to try to do something big

in this world, they want to really have

a big positive impact, what advice would

you give them about their career, maybe

[music] about life in general?

>> Try to be useful.

Um

you know, do things that are useful to

your fellow human beings, to the world.

It's very hard [music] to be useful.

Um

very hard.

Um you know, are you are you

contributing more than you

consume? You know, like uh

like can can you

try to have a positive net contribution

to society. Um

I think that's the thing to aim for. You

know, not not to try to be sort of a

leader for just for the sake of being a

leader or whatever. Um

A lot of time with people who who

the the the A lot of time with people

the people you want as leaders are are

people who don't want to be leaders.

>> [laughter]

>> So,

um

if you can live a a useful life,

that is a good life.

A life worth

having lived.

Um

you know, and and I like I said, I would

I would I would encourage people to

uh use the mental tools of physics and

apply them broadly in life.

They are the best tools.

>> When you think about education and

self-education, [music]

what do you recommend? There's So,

there's the university, there's

uh self-study,

there is uh hands-on sort of finding a

company or a place or set of people that

[music] do the thing you're passionate

about and joining them as early as

possible.

Um

there's uh taking a road trip across

Europe for a few years and writing some

poetry. Which uh which which trajectory

do you suggest?

>> [snorts]

>> In terms of learning about how you can

[music] become useful, as you mentioned,

how you can have the most positive

impact.

>> But, I I encourage people to read a lot

of books.

Just read like anything

Basically, try to ingest as much

information as you can.

Uh and try to also just develop a a good

general knowledge. Um

so, you so you at least have like

a rough lay of the land of the the

knowledge landscape.

Um like try to learn a little bit about

a lot of things.

Um cuz you might not know what you're

really interested in. How would you know

what you're really interested in if you

at least aren't like doing a a a a a a

peripheral explo- exploration of broadly

of

of

the knowledge landscape.

Um

and you talk to people [music] from

different walks of life and different uh

industries and professions and skills

and occu- occupations. Like, just try,

you know,

learn as much as possible.

Man's search for meaning.

>> [laughter]

>> Isn't the whole thing a search for

meaning?

Is

>> Yeah, what's the meaning of life and

all, you know.

But just generally, like I said, I would

I would encourage people to read broadly

um in many different subject [music]

areas. Um

and and and then try to find something

where there's an overlap of your talents

and and what you're interested in. So,

people may may maybe good at something,

but or they may have skill at a

particular thing, but they don't like

doing it.

>> Mhm.

>> Um

so, you want to try to [music] find a a

thing where you have your

that's a good a good uh combination of

of your of the things that you're

inherently good at, but you also like

doing.

Um

and um

>> And reading is a super fast shortcut to

to figure out which where are you you

both [music] good at it, you like doing

it, and it will actually have positive

impact.

>> [music]

>> Well, you got to learn about things

somehow. So, re- reading

a a broad range is just really

re- read it, you know. One important was

that kid I I I read through the

encyclopedia.

Uh so,

that was pretty helpful. Um

and uh

There also things I didn't even know

existed. Well, a lot, so obviously. And

>> That's like as broad as it gets.

>> Encyclopedias were digestible, [music] I

think, you know, uh you know, whatever,

40 years ago.

Um

so,

um

you know, maybe read through the the

condensed version of the Encyclopedia

Britannica. I'd recommend that.

Um you can always like skip subjects

where you you read a few paragraphs

[music] and

know you're not interested, just jump to

the next one.

Uh so, read the encyclopedia or scan

skim through it.

Um

and um

But I I you I put a lot of stock in

certainly have a lot of respect for

someone who puts in an honest day's work

uh to do useful things.

And and just generally to have like a

not a zero-sum mindset um

or or a like have have more of a

grow the pie mindset [music]

like the

>> [sighs]

>> if you if you sort of say like when when

I we see people like have some including

some very smart people

kind of uh taking an attitude of like

like like like doing things that seem

like morally questionable

it's often because [music] they have at

at a base sort of axiomatic level a

zero-sum mindset.

Um and [music] and they without

realizing it they don't realize they

have a

zero-sum mindset or or at least they

they don't realize it consciously.

[music]

Um and so if if you have a zero-sum

mindset then the only way to get ahead

is by taking things from others.

Uh if if it's like if they've if if the

if the pie is fixed then the only way to

have more pie is to take someone else's

pie.

But but this is false like obviously the

pie has grown dramatically over time

like the economic pie.

Um so

the real in reality you can have the

so overused analogy you can have a a lot

of you can have there's a lot of pie.

>> [laughter]

>> Yeah.

>> pie is not fixed um

uh so you you you really want to make

sure you don't you don't operating

um

without realizing it from a zero-sum

mindset where

where the only way to get ahead is to

take things from others then that's

going to result in you take try to take

things from others which is not not good

it's much better to work on

uh at

adding to the economic pie may you know,

so

uh you know, cre- creating

like I said cre- creating more than you

consume uh doing more than you

yeah, um

so that that's a big deal. Um I think

there's like a you know, a fair number

of people in

in finance that

uh do have a bit of a zero-sum mindset.

>> I mean, it's all walks of life. I've

seen that. [music] And one of the one of

the reasons

uh Rogan inspires me is he celebrates

others a lot. There's not not creating a

constant competition, like there's

[music] a scarcity of resources. What

happens when you celebrate others, and

you promote others,

the ideas of others, it it uh it

actually grows that pie. I mean, it

[music] every like the uh the resource

the resources become less scarce.

>> Mhm.

>> And that that applies in a lot of kinds

of domains. It applies in academia,

where a lot of people are very

>> [music]

>> uh see some funding for academic

research as zero-sum. It It is not. If

you celebrate each other, if you make If

you get everybody to be excited about

AI, about physics, about mathematics, I

think it there'll be more and more

funding, and I think everybody wins.

Yeah, that applies, I think, broadly.

Uh

>> Yeah. Yeah.

>> You know, there are American heroes who

don't like this idea.

Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan have both

testified against commercial spaceflight

in the way that you're developing it,

>> [music]

>> and I wonder what you think of that.

>> I was very sad to see that because those

guys [music] are

Yeah.

You know, those guys are heroes of mine,

so it's really tough.

You know, I I wish they would [music]

come and visit and and see the hardware

that we're doing here.

And then I think that would change their

mind.

>> They inspired you to do this, didn't

they?

>> Yes.

>> And to see them [music] casting stones

in your direction.

>> It's difficult.

>> Did you expect them to cheer you on?

>> Certainly hoping they would.

>> [music]

>> What are you trying to prove to them?

>> What I'm trying to do is to is to make a

significant difference [music]

in

in spaceflight and and and help make

space flight accessible [music]

to to almost anyone.

One of the most difficult choices I have

ever [music] faced

uh in life was

was in 2008.

Um

and um

I I think I had uh

like a

maybe 30 million dollars left [music]

or 30 or 40 million dollars left in

2008. And I had two choices.

I could

put it all into one company

and then the other company would

definitely die.

Um or split [music] it

between the two companies.

And but if I split it between two

companies, then both might die.

Um

and you know, when you [music] put your

blood, sweat, and tears into creating

something,

building something, it's like a child.

And so it's [music] like which one

am I going to let one starve to death?

I couldn't bring myself to do it. So I

put I I split the money between [music]

the two.

Fortunately, thank goodness, uh they

both made it.