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In what way is he a brilliant engineer? He’s not designing the cars and the rockets. He helped make PayPal over 20 years ago.

fooker 8y ago
You have to know what to engineer, which is something most intelligent people are really bad at. This is why people like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk succeed.
joering2 8y ago
And correct me if Im wrong but isnt Paypal number two right after Comcast the most hated technology related company in the world? I mean the internet is full of horrible stories of Paypal stealing peoples money and freezing life founds bankrupting many small businesses.
apapli 8y ago
I’m pretty sure he picked up rocketry when bootstrapping spacex, and he certainly knows a lot about EVs. His ability to decompose highly technical objects (rockets, cars) and re-consider the economics supporting them to make them viable is impressive. I may have overstated him being a “brilliant” engineer, but “very good” would seem to be an understatement. Engineering is as much about designing things for resiliency as it is about designing things to be economically viable.
rst 8y ago
Musk doesn't solve the design problems, but (a la Jobs), he does tell the "real engineers" what problems to solve. Here's an interview with Tom Mueller, the SpaceX lead propulsion engineer since inception, about (among other things) working with Elon. Note particularly the discussion of "face shutoff", which is an approach to sequencing engine startup which Musk insisted on over Mueller's initial objections, because Mueller thought it would be too hard to make it work in an engine the size of the Merlin. They ultimately did, after blowing up a lot of test hardware. The result was a simpler, lighter, more reliable engine -- which they wouldn't have had if Musk hadn't insisted they try, over Mueller's objections. https://zlsadesign.com/post/tom-mueller-interview-2017-05-02-transcription/ https://zlsadesign.com/post/tom-mueller-interview-2017-05-02...

fooker 8y ago

You have to know what to engineer, which is something most intelligent people are really bad at. This is why people like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk succeed.

joering2 8y ago

And correct me if Im wrong but isnt Paypal number two right after Comcast the most hated technology related company in the world? I mean the internet is full of horrible stories of Paypal stealing peoples money and freezing life founds bankrupting many small businesses.

apapli 8y ago

I’m pretty sure he picked up rocketry when bootstrapping spacex, and he certainly knows a lot about EVs. His ability to decompose highly technical objects (rockets, cars) and re-consider the economics supporting them to make them viable is impressive. I may have overstated him being a “brilliant” engineer, but “very good” would seem to be an understatement. Engineering is as much about designing things for resiliency as it is about designing things to be economically viable.

rst 8y ago

Musk doesn't solve the design problems, but (a la Jobs), he does tell the "real engineers" what problems to solve. Here's an interview with Tom Mueller, the SpaceX lead propulsion engineer since inception, about (among other things) working with Elon. Note particularly the discussion of "face shutoff", which is an approach to sequencing engine startup which Musk insisted on over Mueller's initial objections, because Mueller thought it would be too hard to make it work in an engine the size of the Merlin. They ultimately did, after blowing up a lot of test hardware. The result was a simpler, lighter, more reliable engine -- which they wouldn't have had if Musk hadn't insisted they try, over Mueller's objections. https://zlsadesign.com/post/tom-mueller-interview-2017-05-02-transcription/ https://zlsadesign.com/post/tom-mueller-interview-2017-05-02...