Hire Carefully, Fire Fast.
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Musk is known to be meticulous about building his staff:
“I think you definitely don’t want to grow too fast. Make sure that every person
you hire you really need to hire that person.”
Elon has called hiring people his “biggest single challenge”:
“I have an exceptionally high standard for people that get hired, and especially for
SpaceX. We really aspire to hire quite literally the best people in the world at their
job. Finding such people is so hard… When we find them, we are generally able
to attract them to the company… But the number one issue for me is finding
superlatively talented people. I think we’ve been fortunate to find some very, very
talented people at SpaceX, but that is always the governor on growth.”
Elon Musk
He’s quick and unsentimental when it’s time to correct a hiring mistake:
“he learned [at PayPal] is to fire people faster. That sounds awful, but I think if
somebody is not working out, it’s best to part ways sooner rather than later.
Be Your Own Happiest Customer.
Musk loves the Tesla Model 6 so much, he’s going to drive in it across the USA
next year with his five young sons. On September 5th, 2013, Musk announced
via his Twitter: “Just finalized the LA to NY family road trip route in Model S. 6
day, 3200 mile journey with only 9 hrs spent charging.”
This is more than just a great PR campaign to highlight all of Tesla’s new charging
stations across the country. By putting himself behind the wheel of his company’s
product for weeks on end, Musk will gain first-hand insight into how to improve
Tesla’s premiere electric car.
In the case of SpaceX, Musk gets extra motivation for the company to succeed
from his desire to one day be a SpaceX customer. The sooner the better: “I don’t
want to be doddering around up there, needing a quadruple bypass,” he says. His
plan is to be a on a rocket to Mars by 2030, when he’ll be 61 years old.
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