Assignment 27A
1) You read about an entrepreneur:
· What surprised you the most?
· What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
· What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
· Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so,
what did they do about it?
I read about Elon Musk in his biography Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, Ashlee Vance. The most
surprising thing for me was how Elon Musk isn’t as macho as I suspected him to
be before reading this. What I mean by
that is that Musk isn’t the stereotypical alpha-male, but rather he still is
alpha-male in a nontraditional kind of way.
What I loved and admired most was that Elon Musk loved most are people
of perseverance, even after being told no.
I don’t least admire anything about Elon Musk as I think what he’s doing
with SpaceX is unbelievable. I think
Musk is one of the most important entrepreneurs in the 21st
century. Obviously Musk faced adversity
and failure, such as the failed rocket launches, but he kept pushing. He even created the first reusable rockets
with the Falcon Heavy launch this past February.
2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur
exhibited?
Obviously Musk has so
many competencies that I noticed; whether it be his persistency or his vision
or any other thing about Elon Musk that makes him Elon Musk, it’s really
something any entrepreneur should look up to.
3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing
to you.
Nothing was really
confusing about the reading. I loved
this book and recommend it to any up-and-coming entrepreneur.
4) If you were able to ask two questions to the
entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?
Shucks, I have so many
questions for Elon Musk. First, I’d ask
how he got over people laughing at his idea initially about getting humans to
the moon and how to battle your own thoughts of having an imposter’s mentality.
Second one I would probably try to be funnier,
but I’d ask him what kind of superpower he would want to have if he could only
have one superpower. Or what superhero
he would want to be, but same difference.
5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of
hard work? Do you share that opinion?
This question is
ridiculous! Obviously Elon Musk believes
hard work is important. I think what
makes it different though is that Musk probably believes in work hard, play
harder mentality. I subscribe to this
mentality too, so yes, I share the opinion.
Jeremiah, your picture...on point. Thank you for the awesome feedback on my posts. I would like to see you expand on the topic of an alpha-male, your expectations and then how Musk differed. That mentality you mentioned at the end, is something I am so aligned with. I will take that with me as I work. I work incredibly hard but I do catch myself mentally drifting. Great reflection.
ReplyDeleteJeremiah, I think you picked an excellent book for this assignment. I've always been a huge fan of Elon Musk and his work, so it was really interesting to read about your takeaways from the book. I completed agree that one would be very hard pressed to find any negative qualities about Elon Musk. Also, I'm happy you realize his significance as one of the most important entrepreneurs of our time because I truly think his work with SpaceX will advance humanity's space exploration capabilities further than ever thought possible.
ReplyDeleteHey Jeremiah! This book sounds quite complex and intriguing. Some characteristics I picked up from your report is the perseverance and unquestionable innovation Musk displayed. These are wonderful characteristics all entrepreneurs should showcase. It is quite refreshing, yet ironic to know some people dismissed his ideal of getting humans to the moon. This experience is a lesson for all of to believe in our ideas and vision even when others do not. Musk followed his heart and became a legend in astronomy history.
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