4 ms·

Reminds me of one of the most inspirational interviews by him after three failed Falcon 1 launches: http://www.wired.com/2008/08/musk-qa/ http://www.wired.com/2

Reminds me of one of the most inspirational interviews by him after three failed Falcon 1 launches: http://www.wired.com/2008/08/musk-qa/ http://www.wired.com/2008/08/musk-qa/ > Musk: Optimism, pessimism, fuck that; we're going to make it happen. As God is my bloody witness, I'm hell-bent on making it work.

vvanders 11y ago
Wasn't that at a point where Tesla was under a huge capital crunch as well? Can't imagine what pressure he was under.
- jacobsheehy 11y ago
  Yes, I think 2008 was a very hard year for Elon. The issue with Tesla was that something like 200 Roadsters were manufactured incorrectly and all had to be fixed at immense cost and time delay. He was also going through a divorce at the time. And all SpaceX launches had exploded off the Pacific island that they were forced to use since their competitors successfully lobbied for it to be illegal for SpaceX to launch from the USA. Rough year.
  - T-A 11y ago
    http://upstart.bizjournals.com/entrepreneurs/hot-shots/2013/08/09/elon-musk-talks-about-tesla-spacex.html?page=all http://upstart.bizjournals.com/entrepreneurs/hot-shots/2013/...
  - iamcreasy 11y ago
    > their competitors successfully lobbied for it to be illegal for SpaceX to launch from the USA Do you remember how the managed to do that?
    - kindredlight 11y ago
      ULA lobbied to ban them from a launch site (at Vandenberg) that was nearby their own, which had a very expensive rocket and very, very expensive payload on it, claiming that a SpaceX rocket launch would be too dangerous. Forced them to launch from Kwajalein Atoll, which made things much harder. Probably contributed to at least one failure, thanks to the corrosive, salty atmosphere. Edit: Not unfair to assume that it was motivated by anti-competitive interests before any real concern about possible effects on their pad.
      - Wingman4l7 11y ago
        What was the payload that was so expensive?
        kindredlight 11y ago
        A large NRO spy sat of some sort.
  - james-watson 11y ago
    His wife also decided it was a convenient time to divorce him in 2008. His current wife also recently decided to announce a divorce. At least he is on a big winning streak with his businesses this time.
    - bluthru 11y ago
      Oh goodness. Last I saw they were back together after being divorced. What a bumpy road.
    - static_noise 11y ago
      Maybe they'll make it the third time he marries the same woman. He obviously is hellbent on making it work.
    - erikpukinskis 11y ago
      Where did you see Talulah announce the divorce? All I've seen was comments from Elon that they split amicably.
blhack 11y ago
Oh my god that wired reporter was just raking him over the coals there.
ChuckMcM 11y ago
Which is something which differentiates Elon from a lot of people, the ability to execute (and by that I mean get the job done), while under insane amounts of stress, that is a very rare quality.

vvanders 11y ago

Wasn't that at a point where Tesla was under a huge capital crunch as well? Can't imagine what pressure he was under.

jacobsheehy 11y ago
Yes, I think 2008 was a very hard year for Elon. The issue with Tesla was that something like 200 Roadsters were manufactured incorrectly and all had to be fixed at immense cost and time delay. He was also going through a divorce at the time. And all SpaceX launches had exploded off the Pacific island that they were forced to use since their competitors successfully lobbied for it to be illegal for SpaceX to launch from the USA. Rough year.
- T-A 11y ago
  http://upstart.bizjournals.com/entrepreneurs/hot-shots/2013/08/09/elon-musk-talks-about-tesla-spacex.html?page=all http://upstart.bizjournals.com/entrepreneurs/hot-shots/2013/...
- iamcreasy 11y ago
  > their competitors successfully lobbied for it to be illegal for SpaceX to launch from the USA Do you remember how the managed to do that?
  - kindredlight 11y ago
    ULA lobbied to ban them from a launch site (at Vandenberg) that was nearby their own, which had a very expensive rocket and very, very expensive payload on it, claiming that a SpaceX rocket launch would be too dangerous. Forced them to launch from Kwajalein Atoll, which made things much harder. Probably contributed to at least one failure, thanks to the corrosive, salty atmosphere. Edit: Not unfair to assume that it was motivated by anti-competitive interests before any real concern about possible effects on their pad.
    - Wingman4l7 11y ago
      What was the payload that was so expensive?
      - kindredlight 11y ago
        A large NRO spy sat of some sort.
- james-watson 11y ago
  His wife also decided it was a convenient time to divorce him in 2008. His current wife also recently decided to announce a divorce. At least he is on a big winning streak with his businesses this time.
  - bluthru 11y ago
    Oh goodness. Last I saw they were back together after being divorced. What a bumpy road.
  - static_noise 11y ago
    Maybe they'll make it the third time he marries the same woman. He obviously is hellbent on making it work.
  - erikpukinskis 11y ago
    Where did you see Talulah announce the divorce? All I've seen was comments from Elon that they split amicably.

blhack 11y ago

Oh my god that wired reporter was just raking him over the coals there.

ChuckMcM 11y ago

Which is something which differentiates Elon from a lot of people, the ability to execute (and by that I mean get the job done), while under insane amounts of stress, that is a very rare quality.