Reading Reflection #1

For this assignment I read Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance. The thing that surprised me the most about Musk is how the success we see in him today (Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity) is accredited to his past achievements such as PayPal and Zip2 which collectively sold for more than $1.5B. The thing I admire most about Elon Musk is how SpaceX and Tesla are both companies that are attempting to push the limits of mankind through technological innovation. Elon faced adversity when he was 17, he was requested to serve in the South African, he fled to Canada to avoid being apart of the regime. The biggest competency I see in Elon is his ability to think big and fight through adversity. The reading was not confusing. Two questions I would ask Elon include 1) How have you managed to become one of the most forward thinking people in the world? and 2) Is your work done more for self-fulfillment or for the advancement of mankind?. I would ask these questions to gauge a better understanding of how the mind of one of the most successful people in the world perceives the world. I think Elon's opinion of hard work is that there is always more work, better work to be done. No matter the success or failure there is always more that can be done to advance our society forward. I do share this opinion because I believe no matter the goals we set, every goal has the opportunity to change the course of our society.