27A - Reading Reflection No. 3

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most?
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

 I decided to read Elon Musk's biography by Ashlee Vance. Before reading this, I didn't know much about Elon besides him owning Tesla, wanting to send people to space, and has basically been labeled as a weirdo. After reading this, all of these statements seem to stand. What surprised me is all of the troubles Musk went through. Getting forced out of business settlements, bullying as a child, bad parenting, getting malaria, having his first born die, poverty - I always assumed he had a good upbringing. There's a couple default things to admire about Musk. He's intelligent, innovative, and determined. From an early age, he was thinking about how to prolong human existence, so I'd say he's definitely an individual. I admire his business ethic and his confidence to succeed despite the obstacles he went through. I least admired his attitude. I don't think he remained with his feet on the ground throughout the process of becoming successful. He did encounter failure, mainly in his younger years - and was able to make up for it every time. At one point he only had enough money for either Tesla or Space X to remain running but he was able to end up funding both with just a day to go before he'd be short on payroll. 

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

He exhibited the ability of leadership, intelligence, and being an overachiever. It's obvious that his work means a lot to him, and he lets it take up a majority of his headspace and life itself. He didn't even allow himself to mourn his child's death because he was too caught up in money and business. 

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

I guess what I find most confusing is how emotionally unavailable he is. He doesn't touch much on what happened with his father during his childhood, only stating that his dad knew how to make life miserable. I find it ironic for him to say that when he's quite frankly made a lot of other people miserable. 

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

1.) When did you realize you wanted to prolong human existence/send people to space? What is it about space that attracts you? - I think his thought process is very unique and to be so young and be thinking that advanced, I'm curious to where this originated or if it was inspired by something. 

2.) Do you think people will ever live on Mars? - I think I know Musk's answer but I want his reasoning. 

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

I think his opinion is that it should consume you. You don't give up. You work hard. And you work smart. I believe intelligence is very important to him and if you lack the logic of something, you have nothing at all.