

Kevin Rose Interviews Elon Musk - olivercameron
http://allthingsd.com/20120907/kevin-rose-interviews-elon-musk/

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jhuckestein
I can't think of a better role model for engineers than Elon Musk. Some good
stuff from this video:

1) Doesn't want to speculate on Hyperloop before he's sure it can exist

2) Freely admits he was too shy to talk to anyone in the Netscape lobby when
he went there fresh out of college looking for a job

3) Doesn't read a lot of general business books. Instead reads
auto-/biographies of scientists and entrepreneurs.

Plus, he likes Burning Man (I love it but it's not for everyone) and casually
mentions he had the idea for a "super-sonic vertical takeoff and landing
plane" there. In comparison, I just got back from BM and my only work-related
idea was that I should really put some more effort into my work.

So far I haven't heard any stories about him being an ass either, which is
very reassuring for those of us who don't want to be like Steve Jobs. Even in
this interview he seems reluctant to reveal too much information about people
he didn't like working with.

I just wish people like him were more attracted to politics. I wonder if it's
because nobody would elect people like Elon Musk or because those people avoid
politics.

~~~
relix
In the book "The Paypal Wars", an account of the almost complete history of
Paypal through the eyes of one of its employees, Elon Musk is painted as a
stubborn, semi-ass. According to the book, when he was assigned as CEO after
the merger, he wanted among other things, to replace the Paypal brand with the
X.com brand. The whole company saw this as a bad idea because a lot of people
knew and trusted friendly Paypal but not weird, porn-sounding X.com, but Elon
apparently didn't care and just wanted "his" brand X.com to be the main look
of the company, even after a lot of discussions and metrics showing this could
end the company.

He ended up being replaced as CEO after a vote because of this whole debacle.

It's the only description of Musk that I've read in which he is painted in a
negative way. Keep in mind the author might be biased against Elon because
Elon was CEO of X.com which was "the enemy" of Paypal.

~~~
ntoshev
Here's what Elon Musk has said about the book:

 _The only negativity in recent years was due to a book called The PayPal
Wars, written by a sycophantic jackass called Eric Jackson. This guy was one
notch above an intern at PayPal in the first few years of the company, but
gives the impression he was a key player and privy to all the high level
discussions. Eric couldn't find a real publisher, so Peter funded Eric to
self-publish the book. Since Eric worships Peter, the outcome was obvious -
Peter sounds like Mel Gibson in Braveheart and my role is somewhere between
negligible and a bad seed. However, to his credit, Peter didn't realize the
book would be as bad as it was and apologized to me personally at a Room 9
board meeting at David Sacks's home in LA._

[http://m.gawker.com/230076/an-alternate-history-according-
to...](http://m.gawker.com/230076/an-alternate-history-according-to-elon-musk)

~~~
relix
Thanks for this contra-point! Interesting to see Elon reply to this
description. Personally I have more reason to believe EM than Eric, but still,
as always the truth probably lies somewhere in between.

~~~
Flenser
_as always the truth probably lies somewhere in between_

"The Truth Lies Somewhere in the Middle": Does It?
<http://politics.ryanrenn.com/truth_in_middle.htm>

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keeptrying
Ugh the same freaking questions for Elon.

Jeez can't someone ask him something new and different.

One I want to know is why he created Zip2 when he has always wanted to make an
impact on the world? What was his thought process at the time? Did he think
he'd make some quick money and move on or did he really think zip2 would
change the world?

~~~
zacharycohn
IANEM (I Am Not Elon Musk), but in a world where most news and media
organizations were NOT online... getting them online could be world changing.
Can you imagine if the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal,
etc were still only delivered to your doorstep once a day?

That is pretty world changing.

~~~
keeptrying
Hmm that's true. I never thought of it like that. I wish someone would ask him
about how he gauged the opportunity for his earlier ventures.

And his core operational and strategic steps in starting a startup.

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corkill
Kind of puts in perspective what we are all working on/aiming for. Think a web
app is hard, try building a car company or going to space. The dude is Tony
Stark.

~~~
pilgrim689
Not sure if you're aware, but the Tony Stark character from the IronMan movie
was actually based off of Elon Musk!

Edit: source: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk#Interests>

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ojiikun
Most of the interview is old info that won't surprise anyone following Elon's
career. The info on "Hyperloop" starts at around 18m20s into the video and is
_very_ brief.

~~~
Lerc
Tube with Hydrophobic inner surface. Liquid filled. Accelerated by solar
energy, Storage solution is simply kinetic.

Liquid accelerates until the solar input meets equilibrium with the (extremely
low) energy loss through friction with the surface.

Ride the flow dude!

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nikunjk
"Actively seek out and listen very carefully to negative feedback" Great line
from a great guy

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BryanB55
Cool interview, I wish they would have gone more in depth. A Mixergy interview
with Elon would be great.

I've always been most fascinated with people who start car companies. It's
always been something that I would love to do as an entrepreneur and auto
enthusiast but creating a car company has it's obvious barriers to entry.

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giles
@ 15:30 Where Kevin asks Elon why other auto manufacturers make crap car
designs.

I've always wondered about this and it's interesting that Elon states that
most body styles cost (relatively) the same. Anyone have a further explanation
for this?

~~~
enra
There was a TED talk[1] product design, or designing for manufacturing and
distribution. I think the points were that:

1) These concept designs don't work that well in real conditions, are hard to
manufacture or don't have a support network

2) People actually expect and want "regular" looking cars. The speaker made a
example of hospital equipment which has to look fancy and complicated, because
otherwise people won't trust it (and therefore, buy it).

I guess Tesla can work around the first point since, they're a new maker and
don't have any previous investments, which allows them to try new ways of
doing things.

They're pretty good at the second point as well, since don't make or sell
"regular cars" anyway. Tesla Roadster is not an average car, it's a high-end
sports car for techfreaks and I think the prospects for the sedan is also
pretty much in early adopter audience.

[1]
[http://www.ted.com/talks/timothy_prestero_design_for_people_...](http://www.ted.com/talks/timothy_prestero_design_for_people_not_awards.html)

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patrickk
The advice about having a mindset of looking at the world via first principals
rather than through assumptions and analogies was a great insight.

Musk then elaborated nicely, saying that people use the assumption that
batteries have always been expensive so they always will be expensive. A
better way to look at the problem is to check the London spot price for the
individual battery components; cobalt, aluminium etc and deriving a price from
that.

Are there books or resources where I can train this 'mental muscle' of looking
at the world through first principals?

I should mention that don't have a physics or engineering background myself.

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drawkbox
Such an inspiration to product engineers. He's very unique to be in so many
new industries and execute so well, all focused on the product. With that, to
be so level headed and ship focused without the hype. Elon's products are his
marketing, first principle design is hard to beat. He was inspired by the US
to come here and we need more like him to complete the cycle. Tesla as the
company name is very fitting to the individual that started it.

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joshontheweb
I saw him say on twitter that hyperloop is not a vac-tube as most have
speculated <https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/224406502188916739>. In this
interview he says it could go as fast as the concord jet but on the ground and
wouldn't need tracks.

Any ideas what he may be describing?

~~~
dave1619
Here's some speculation, [http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/08/nextbigfuture-
reader-tony-r...](http://nextbigfuture.com/2012/08/nextbigfuture-reader-tony-
rusi-thinks.html)

~~~
joshontheweb
:/ mostly vac-tube speculation. I'm hoping someone has some other ideas.

~~~
omegant
He says the hyperloop is kind of electrical, ground level, supersonic concord
plane.

So maybe it is a kind of bullet train riding on the shockwave. But he must
confine this shockwave somehow(if he want´s supersonic at ground level with
out neighbors burning it down) , maybe with a tube?. Maybe this tube could
provide the support for the solar panels, stabilize the flight of the
"train"(using the shockwave to steer it?) and storage the energy as a kind of
capacitor... This way you don´t need an actual very expensive sealed tube with
vacuum in it , just some metal plates with enough form to deflect(and mute)
the waves once the "plane" passes...(and serve as capacitors too).

I am guessing all this with just one sentence so it must be way off :).

Thanks to spaceX and Tesla he has more knowledge now of electrical engines,
electricity storage and transport, high energy aerodynamics, etc... it must be
something that combines all that somehow..

~~~
buro9
That's roughly where my mind was going too.

You'd still need a safe way to stop the vehicle in the event of an earthquake
and rupturing of the path down which the vehicle flies.

~~~
omegant
If the hyperloop has some flight capabilities it could lift off from the
tube(at supersonic speeds it would be easy), then deploy parachutes at a safe
altitude, or ignite some rockets (like the scape system of the dragon
capsule), or use some kind of electromagnetic braking (maybe the most
probable). I am really looking forward for the day he makes it public!.

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krsunny
Kevin has come a long way in terms of interviewing since his interview with
Trent Reznor. Nice job Kevin.

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joshmattvander
This is unfortunately the same as every other interview. He has regurgitated
all of this information a million times... I would love to see an interview
that goes a little deeper.

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Nrndr
What were the biographies he mentioned?

~~~
RenierZA
Franklin Autobiography: [http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Benjamin-
Franklin-Illust...](http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Benjamin-Franklin-
Illustrated-ebook/dp/B00408AZOE)

Franklin Biography by Isaacson <http://www.amazon.com/Benjamin-Franklin-
ebook/dp/B000FBJG4U>

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hastur
Why does the link lead to AllThingsD ?!?!?!?!?

either point to the YouTube video itself
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-s_3b5fRd8>

or to the show page at <http://foundation.kr>

Don't give News Corp the traffic it doesn't deserve.

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jamescrowe
Hyperloop solar-powered high-speed land travel project will help in expanding
boundaries of Silicon Valley. I know it will take long time but will be a
great thing for now-in-highschool kids.

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aklofas
Damn it, I thought of Charlie Rose. Who is this Kevin blow-hard?

~~~
simantel
As has been pointed out, he founded Digg.

Here's a Charlie Rose interview:
<http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10550>

