5 ms·

Elon Musk entrepreneurship lecture.

176 points by Nevaeh 14y ago

nl 14y ago
It maybe worth noting this lecture is from 2003. It took me a while to work out why it wasn't showing up in my Stanford eCorner iTunes subscription.
jstanley 14y ago
I think "lecture" is stretching it a bit. This video is 1 minute 12 seconds long.
- jkuria 14y ago
  You need to download the individual clips and load them sequentially into a media player to get the entire lecture.
- Nevaeh 14y ago
  There are 23 videos, some more geared towards entrepreneurship like "Qualities of an Entrepreneur", "When is the right time to sell", "History of Zip2", "Viral Marketing", etc.
- _gbc 14y ago
  Use this link to watch them all: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/playerPopup.html?groupId=11 http://ecorner.stanford.edu/playerPopup.html?groupId=11
polyfractal 14y ago
Unrelated to this particular lecture, but the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Seminar is a really excellent source of interesting interviews. I always get excited when I see a new podcast sitting on my phone, waiting to be listened to. The whole series is really high quality...definitely recommend.
- Nevaeh 14y ago
  Assuming that you have seen a decent amount of interviews, how does Elon Musk's lecture compare to them? I thought that Elon's advice was simple but powerful, when you consider the list of his accomplishments. He gives the same sort of advice on other interviews like these: Getting things done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOPgM7Sc2VQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOPgM7Sc2VQ Work hard: http://vator.tv/news/2010-12-23-elon-musk-work-twice-as-hard-as-others http://vator.tv/news/2010-12-23-elon-musk-work-twice-as-hard... Critical Thinking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nMQ0-1jqFs&feature=related#t=5m55s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nMQ0-1jqFs&feature=relat...
  - polyfractal 14y ago
    I honestly don't remember this particular interview. I listen to them as they come out each semester, so I probably listened to this interview some time last year. There are only a handful of interviews from Stanford's ETS that I've skipped or stopped halfway, so I'd take a guess and say it was pretty good :)
nabilt 14y ago
Interesting to watch him talk about SpaceX only days after their successful mission. In this clip (http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=382 http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=382) he says based on historical data it is unlikely the mission will stay within the 15 billion dollar development cost and 2012 timeline. Not sure about the budget, but they made their deadline. Makes their recent success even more impressive.
- stevenbrianhall 14y ago
  I'm trying to find a better source, but this Boston Herald article claims they've put in a little over $1 billion. http://bostonherald.com/news/national/general/view/20120522private_supply_ship_rockets_toward_space_station http://bostonherald.com/news/national/general/view/20120522p...
- Nevaeh 14y ago
  Elon once said: "I always knew that there was a chance of failure in all my endeavors. But I felt that they were important enough that I had to try, even if I thought the probability of success was less than 50%." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjuvIlskUf4#t=7m20s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjuvIlskUf4#t=7m20s Just look at Elon's excitement at the 9:36 mark of this video as well as all of SpaceX employee's enthusiasm. This was truly a huge success despite the challenging odds. It's an amusing contrast of how Elon was like "Yeah that's pretty cool I guess." when director Jon Favreau based Iron Man on him and donated an Iron Man statue to SpaceX headquarters signed by the whole cast. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CECAda_XCDU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CECAda_XCDU
  - reneherse 14y ago
    Thanks for that first link! The first few minutes of the video after the cue are nearly as inspiring as the site of the launch and docking itself. THAT is one radiant group of human beings!
    - Nevaeh 14y ago
      You're most welcome. It's such a refreshing sight as just 2 months ago, Elon was visibly quite disappointed in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJnW7vtqaf4&feature=related#t=11m40s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJnW7vtqaf4&feature=relat... I hope Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan will show their support for Elon now that the mission was a success, partly due to collaboration with NASA. This is also NASA's victory, really, since they can save millions in the future by contracting with an American company instead of relying on the Russians.
bearwithclaws 14y ago
In 150 words (the transcript): "I think successful entrepreneurs probably come in all sizes, shapes and flavors. I'm not sure there's any one particular thing. For me, some of the things I've described already I think are very important. I think really an obsessive nature with respect to the quality of the product is very important and so being an obsessive compulsive is a good thing in this context. Really liking what you do, whatever area that you get into, even if you're the best of the best, there's always a chance of failure so I think it's important that you really like whatever you're doing. If you don't like it, life is too short. I'd say also, if you like what you're doing, you think about it even when you're not working. It's something that your mind is drawn to and if you don't like it, you just really can't make it work I think."
- mceachen 14y ago
  I was expecting a laundry list of absolutes. The deference voiced by all his "I think"s shows remarkable humility from this guy.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - Eliezer 14y ago
    Not criticism of Musk, just a general observation: "I think" humility is super cheap, it takes 0.3 seconds or 8 keypresses to add it like table salt. Stating concrete exceptions to your generalizations is a much stronger indicator of non-absoluteness. I've often or even mostly seen "I think" as a defense against objections; "Oh, that's just what I think." Meanwhile the real message is the same.
    - badclient 14y ago
      Could not disagree more. The inclusion of "I think" (a) makes it clear that this is one person's view(which itself may change) and not some world order (b) gives the audience permission at some level to form their own view.
softbuilder 14y ago
I'm enjoying the talk, but if you rely on the captioning, know that it is wrong in many places.
benackles 14y ago
Elon Musk is the next Steve Jobs. What Jobs did for computing, Musk is doing for Space exploration. In this video he displays many of the same signs of a "reality distortion field". He describes quite candidly what the general public thinks is crazy and unachievable (especially in 2002). In some ways I think his way of thinking is much more contrarian than Jobs. This year seems to be a tipping point for how we (the average person) see the future of space. From all who care to dream, Thank you Elon Musk!
- philwelch 14y ago
  There's no "next Steve Jobs". I think Elon Musk is just Elon Musk, and that's fine.
  - jmathai 14y ago
    Sure there is. Steve Jobs was just an exceptional entrepreneur and there'll be many who follow. If you look at the past we see tons of people who obsessed over their work. Some of them achieved great success while others did not. If you're talking about Steve Jobs, the person and not the accomplishments, then I agree. But there's no "next Jaisen Mathai" either then.
  - jamesflorentino 14y ago
    I think he meant that in terms of changing how the world sees and uses something. Jobs wanted computers to be accessible for families and the general public and he was quite successful (iPhone alone is a huge success). Elon is trying to do the same but in the field of clean energy (tesla motors, solar city) and space travel. But on another note, Elon musk is a whole different level. Because he knows the design and engineering aspect of his field and knows how to market it while still have the genuine intention of pushing humanity forward. I think Elon Musk is a great role model for kids and future generation. As the old Internet saying goes "I think Elon is a pretty cool guy. He does rocket science and doesn't afraid of anything."
  - benackles 14y ago
    It was a metaphor.

176 points by Nevaeh 14y ago

nl 14y ago

It maybe worth noting this lecture is from 2003. It took me a while to work out why it wasn't showing up in my Stanford eCorner iTunes subscription.

jstanley 14y ago

I think "lecture" is stretching it a bit. This video is 1 minute 12 seconds long.

jkuria 14y ago
You need to download the individual clips and load them sequentially into a media player to get the entire lecture.
Nevaeh 14y ago
There are 23 videos, some more geared towards entrepreneurship like "Qualities of an Entrepreneur", "When is the right time to sell", "History of Zip2", "Viral Marketing", etc.
_gbc 14y ago
Use this link to watch them all: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/playerPopup.html?groupId=11 http://ecorner.stanford.edu/playerPopup.html?groupId=11

polyfractal 14y ago

Unrelated to this particular lecture, but the Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Seminar is a really excellent source of interesting interviews. I always get excited when I see a new podcast sitting on my phone, waiting to be listened to. The whole series is really high quality...definitely recommend.

Nevaeh 14y ago
Assuming that you have seen a decent amount of interviews, how does Elon Musk's lecture compare to them? I thought that Elon's advice was simple but powerful, when you consider the list of his accomplishments. He gives the same sort of advice on other interviews like these: Getting things done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOPgM7Sc2VQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOPgM7Sc2VQ Work hard: http://vator.tv/news/2010-12-23-elon-musk-work-twice-as-hard-as-others http://vator.tv/news/2010-12-23-elon-musk-work-twice-as-hard... Critical Thinking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nMQ0-1jqFs&feature=related#t=5m55s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nMQ0-1jqFs&feature=relat...
- polyfractal 14y ago
  I honestly don't remember this particular interview. I listen to them as they come out each semester, so I probably listened to this interview some time last year. There are only a handful of interviews from Stanford's ETS that I've skipped or stopped halfway, so I'd take a guess and say it was pretty good :)

nabilt 14y ago

Interesting to watch him talk about SpaceX only days after their successful mission. In this clip (http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=382 http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=382) he says based on historical data it is unlikely the mission will stay within the 15 billion dollar development cost and 2012 timeline. Not sure about the budget, but they made their deadline. Makes their recent success even more impressive.

stevenbrianhall 14y ago
I'm trying to find a better source, but this Boston Herald article claims they've put in a little over $1 billion. http://bostonherald.com/news/national/general/view/20120522private_supply_ship_rockets_toward_space_station http://bostonherald.com/news/national/general/view/20120522p...
Nevaeh 14y ago
Elon once said: "I always knew that there was a chance of failure in all my endeavors. But I felt that they were important enough that I had to try, even if I thought the probability of success was less than 50%." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjuvIlskUf4#t=7m20s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjuvIlskUf4#t=7m20s Just look at Elon's excitement at the 9:36 mark of this video as well as all of SpaceX employee's enthusiasm. This was truly a huge success despite the challenging odds. It's an amusing contrast of how Elon was like "Yeah that's pretty cool I guess." when director Jon Favreau based Iron Man on him and donated an Iron Man statue to SpaceX headquarters signed by the whole cast. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CECAda_XCDU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CECAda_XCDU
- reneherse 14y ago
  Thanks for that first link! The first few minutes of the video after the cue are nearly as inspiring as the site of the launch and docking itself. THAT is one radiant group of human beings!
  - Nevaeh 14y ago
    You're most welcome. It's such a refreshing sight as just 2 months ago, Elon was visibly quite disappointed in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJnW7vtqaf4&feature=related#t=11m40s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJnW7vtqaf4&feature=relat... I hope Apollo astronauts Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan will show their support for Elon now that the mission was a success, partly due to collaboration with NASA. This is also NASA's victory, really, since they can save millions in the future by contracting with an American company instead of relying on the Russians.

bearwithclaws 14y ago

In 150 words (the transcript): "I think successful entrepreneurs probably come in all sizes, shapes and flavors. I'm not sure there's any one particular thing. For me, some of the things I've described already I think are very important. I think really an obsessive nature with respect to the quality of the product is very important and so being an obsessive compulsive is a good thing in this context. Really liking what you do, whatever area that you get into, even if you're the best of the best, there's always a chance of failure so I think it's important that you really like whatever you're doing. If you don't like it, life is too short. I'd say also, if you like what you're doing, you think about it even when you're not working. It's something that your mind is drawn to and if you don't like it, you just really can't make it work I think."

mceachen 14y ago
I was expecting a laundry list of absolutes. The deference voiced by all his "I think"s shows remarkable humility from this guy.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- Eliezer 14y ago
  Not criticism of Musk, just a general observation: "I think" humility is super cheap, it takes 0.3 seconds or 8 keypresses to add it like table salt. Stating concrete exceptions to your generalizations is a much stronger indicator of non-absoluteness. I've often or even mostly seen "I think" as a defense against objections; "Oh, that's just what I think." Meanwhile the real message is the same.
  - badclient 14y ago
    Could not disagree more. The inclusion of "I think" (a) makes it clear that this is one person's view(which itself may change) and not some world order (b) gives the audience permission at some level to form their own view.

softbuilder 14y ago

I'm enjoying the talk, but if you rely on the captioning, know that it is wrong in many places.

benackles 14y ago

Elon Musk is the next Steve Jobs. What Jobs did for computing, Musk is doing for Space exploration. In this video he displays many of the same signs of a "reality distortion field". He describes quite candidly what the general public thinks is crazy and unachievable (especially in 2002). In some ways I think his way of thinking is much more contrarian than Jobs. This year seems to be a tipping point for how we (the average person) see the future of space. From all who care to dream, Thank you Elon Musk!

philwelch 14y ago
There's no "next Steve Jobs". I think Elon Musk is just Elon Musk, and that's fine.
- jmathai 14y ago
  Sure there is. Steve Jobs was just an exceptional entrepreneur and there'll be many who follow. If you look at the past we see tons of people who obsessed over their work. Some of them achieved great success while others did not. If you're talking about Steve Jobs, the person and not the accomplishments, then I agree. But there's no "next Jaisen Mathai" either then.
- jamesflorentino 14y ago
  I think he meant that in terms of changing how the world sees and uses something. Jobs wanted computers to be accessible for families and the general public and he was quite successful (iPhone alone is a huge success). Elon is trying to do the same but in the field of clean energy (tesla motors, solar city) and space travel. But on another note, Elon musk is a whole different level. Because he knows the design and engineering aspect of his field and knows how to market it while still have the genuine intention of pushing humanity forward. I think Elon Musk is a great role model for kids and future generation. As the old Internet saying goes "I think Elon is a pretty cool guy. He does rocket science and doesn't afraid of anything."
- benackles 14y ago
  It was a metaphor.