13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

1) You read about an entrepreneur: Elon Musk

• What surprised you the most?
• What surprised me the most about Elon Musk was that he has been able to create such successful organizations given the hardships he faced growing up and while trying to create his company. Both Space X and Tesla were originally considered money pits and from a logical standpoint, since Musk didn't have the finances it would have made the most sense for him to save himself from becoming broke, but he wanted to keep going with his concepts. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• What I admired the most was that Elon Musk, when faced with the 2008 recession, chose to keep working on a solution to save both Space X and Tesla instead of choosing one. He easily could've picked one and wouldn't have had to worry about as much in terms of financial hardships, but instead, he fought relentlessly to find a solution so his entrepreneurial goals could live on.
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• I least admired Elon Musks' attitudes toward the publicity of his companies. He is so focused on keeping the companies in a positive light that he is willing to walk all over people, including his employees, and make sure his image stays positive. He prioritizes his companies over personal lives, and yes from a professional standpoint personal life should not be mixed with work for the most part, but to tell an employee that the company is more important than their child being born is just flat out wrong. Each individual in every company is valuable to the success, and he is not showing the employees that they are valued, rather he is being selfish and saying he matters the most.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• Musk definitely encountered adversity when it came down to the 2008 recession and having to pick between saving Space X and Tesla. He worked so hard to build those companies to the point that they were practically his children and he couldn't just give up on them. Instead of just picking, he worked until the last day possible to find financing for Tesla and create a contract with the government for Space X.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 

• Competencies that Elon Musk exhibited were determination, passion, imagination, and risk-taking.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

• One part of the reading that was confusing to me was why Elon Musk chose to leave PayPal. He had later changed his mind and wanted it back yet at the same time he only wanted to focus his time and energy on Space X and Tesla, which in a way makes sense but at the same time one would think he would want to keep a profitable asset as well.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

If I could ask Elon Musk two questions I would ask:

where do you want to see Tesla and Space X in 15 years and how do you want to see them change from where they are already at?

With all the talk about getting humans onto Mars, what initial plans do you have for once they are there since it will be completely bare land?

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

I think Elon Musk has a different opinion of hard work than most people. For him, I think he considers hard work to be when there is a large, noticeable change and he does not consider day to day work, no matter how much dedication in play, to be hard work. Since he has been known to deliver anything he has said he would, he expects hard work to show positive results and no failures. I personally do not share that opinion as I believe hard work can be valued whether or not success is evident as failures leave opportunities for improvements.