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Ask HN: What actually is the reason Elon Musk has such a diverse career?

6 points by hotshot 12y ago

How to actually build one too

josephschmoe 12y ago
As a physicist working as a software engineer at a hardware company, I can give a bit of an explanation for this: 1. Doesn't matter if you're in the business of widgets or SaaS or whatever. Business is business. 2. There are really only two engineering disciplines you need a strong intuitive understanding of: systems and physics. It is completely possible to be very skillful at all three of these. However, even for Elon Musk, it would still likely take months of training to keep up working in a new engineering discipline including all of the idiosyncrasies and tools. There are plenty of people who are highly knowledgeable in 5+ subjects, but virtually none who are capable of working as a diverse, skilled experts in more than 3. If you want to be an expert in multiple fields, find underlying 'core' disciplines and become an expert on those.
- hotshot 12y ago
  that was golden! Thank you very much
- hemantv 12y ago
  What are some of the underlying core disciplines? To start one is problem solving, you need to be really good at solving problems. Another I can think of is finding the right problems to solve.
lucb1e 12y ago
If I knew how to become a billionaire while starting a lot of innovative companies and having a lot of success, I'd do it instead of hanging around to tell you. That's not being selfish, that's how I imagine it would be (since I don't actually know that secret and doubt there is one). Besides, only so many people can be successful in a society before a certain status is not considered successful anymore.
- hotshot 12y ago
  I didn't ask about how to be a billionaire or on how to start innovative companies, I am asking to to actually use different careers altogether to make it more useful. Elon Musk has in-depth knowledge in physics, economics, computers, coding and obviously business, a few were a degree course too
qwerta 12y ago
He is an engineer, and that includes many things.
dqmdm2 12y ago
He wants to. Freedom of choice...
csmdev 12y ago
Once you understand how the things around us work, jumping in a new field becomes easy. Everything is connected. Most people can't do it. Recipes are required. Do that to obtain X result. And most people apply known principles and methods in order to obtain what they want. But if you understand how it all fits together, you create your own recipes. This is what we call innovation. Some people manage to do it through brute force. Some people are simply born different. And it all boils down to what you want from life. There is no easy answer. Some people are simply driven and also have the mental capacity to understand.
rajacombinator 12y ago
Effective use of really expensive PR people.
nicholas73 12y ago
The actual reason is because he has investors willing to place their faith in him, as he had made them money in repeat successful exits. He had sold Zip2 and PayPal before starting Tesla and SpaceX. While I don't doubt that he has a first rate mind, all that is required for his "diverse" companies is to know how to hire the right people and understand what they are saying.

6 points by hotshot 12y ago

How to actually build one too

As a physicist working as a software engineer at a hardware company, I can give a bit of an explanation for this: 1. Doesn't matter if you're in the business of widgets or SaaS or whatever. Business is business. 2. There are really only two engineering disciplines you need a strong intuitive understanding of: systems and physics. It is completely possible to be very skillful at all three of these. However, even for Elon Musk, it would still likely take months of training to keep up working in a new engineering discipline including all of the idiosyncrasies and tools. There are plenty of people who are highly knowledgeable in 5+ subjects, but virtually none who are capable of working as a diverse, skilled experts in more than 3. If you want to be an expert in multiple fields, find underlying 'core' disciplines and become an expert on those.

hotshot 12y ago
that was golden! Thank you very much
hemantv 12y ago
What are some of the underlying core disciplines? To start one is problem solving, you need to be really good at solving problems. Another I can think of is finding the right problems to solve.

lucb1e 12y ago

If I knew how to become a billionaire while starting a lot of innovative companies and having a lot of success, I'd do it instead of hanging around to tell you. That's not being selfish, that's how I imagine it would be (since I don't actually know that secret and doubt there is one). Besides, only so many people can be successful in a society before a certain status is not considered successful anymore.

hotshot 12y ago
I didn't ask about how to be a billionaire or on how to start innovative companies, I am asking to to actually use different careers altogether to make it more useful. Elon Musk has in-depth knowledge in physics, economics, computers, coding and obviously business, a few were a degree course too

qwerta 12y ago

He is an engineer, and that includes many things.

dqmdm2 12y ago

He wants to. Freedom of choice...

csmdev 12y ago

Once you understand how the things around us work, jumping in a new field becomes easy. Everything is connected. Most people can't do it. Recipes are required. Do that to obtain X result. And most people apply known principles and methods in order to obtain what they want. But if you understand how it all fits together, you create your own recipes. This is what we call innovation. Some people manage to do it through brute force. Some people are simply born different. And it all boils down to what you want from life. There is no easy answer. Some people are simply driven and also have the mental capacity to understand.

rajacombinator 12y ago

Effective use of really expensive PR people.

nicholas73 12y ago

The actual reason is because he has investors willing to place their faith in him, as he had made them money in repeat successful exits. He had sold Zip2 and PayPal before starting Tesla and SpaceX. While I don't doubt that he has a first rate mind, all that is required for his "diverse" companies is to know how to hire the right people and understand what they are saying.