Success Story: Learning from Elon Musk

Two things I have learned from this video:

1.) Anticipate Failure

In the video, Elon explained that when he started Tesla, he thought the business might not be successful. His reason was that he had started company to explore sustainable transportation which the objectives far outweigh the importance of business - for humanity.

Though may sound a bit unacceptable from a Silicon Valley's perspective, my thought is that Elon had got it all figured out - he will still be able to sell the technologies and patents developed for Tesla even if the business couldn't take off well.

2.) Have Friends Around You

It is quite encouraging to see successful people in Silicon Valley to have friends supporting their ambitions. This is not the first time I have heard of similar endemic, for instance, when Marissa Mayer took over Yahoo, she received tremendous supports from friends in the Valley.

This phenomenon is very unfamiliar in Malaysia and APAC - when you are pursuing something great, chances are you will be left with no friends and no investors.

Hence, the strategy is try not to play the monopoly game in a sense that people feel threatened by your endeavour - if you are able to outsource technology from partners, consider the options.

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