The first time I took a week off, the Orbital Sciences rocket exploded and Richard Branson’s rocket exploded, in that same week, the second time I took a week off, my rocket exploded. The lesson here is don’t take a week off.

Elon Musk

Categorized in : U.S.

If you think back to the beginning of cell phones, laptops or really any new technology, it's always expensive.

phones technology thinking

I think there are too many smart people pursuing internet stuff, finance, and law. That is part of the reason why we haven't seen as much innovation.

smart law thinking

With artificial intelligence, we are summoning the demon. In all those stories where there's the guy with the pentagram and the holy water, it's like, yeah, he's sure he can control the demon. Didn't work out.

work-out guy water

As you heat the planet up, it's just like boiling a pot. by Elon Musk

As you heat the planet up, it's just like boiling a pot.

heat planets pot

The idea of lying on a beach as my main thing just sounds like the worst. It sounds horrible to me. I would go bonkers. I would have to be on serious drugs. I'd be super-duper bored. I like high intensity.

motivational inspirational beach

I think Tesla will most likely develop its own autopilot system for the car, as I think it should be camera-based, not Lidar-based. However, it is also possible that we do something jointly with Google.

google car thinking

In the case of Apple, they did originally do production internally, but then along came unbelievably good outsourced manufacturing from companies like Foxconn. We don't have that in the rocket business. There's no Foxconn in the rocket business.

rockets apples cases

It is definitely true that the fundamental enabling technology for electric cars is lithium-ion as a cell chemistry technology. In the absence of that, I don't think it's possible to make an electric car that is competitive with a gasoline car.

technology cells thinking

Obviously Tesla is about helping solve the consumption of energy in a sustainable manner but you need the production of energy in a sustainable manner.

tesla energy needs

SpaceX has the potential of saving the U.S. government $1 billion a year. We are opposed to creating an entrenched monopoly with no realistic means for anyone to compete.

government mean years

The lessons of history would suggest that civilisations move in cycles. You can track that back quite far - the Babylonians, the Sumerians, followed by the Egyptians, the Romans, China. We're obviously in a very upward cycle right now and hopefully that remains the case. But it may not.

track lessons moving

I think most of the important stuff on the Internet has been built. There will be continued innovation, for sure, but the great problems of the Internet have essentially been solved.

innovation important thinking

There's a real opportunity to have a vertical takeoff and landing... by Elon Musk

There's a real opportunity to have a vertical takeoff and landing electric supersonic jet.

airplane real opportunity

There are really two things that have to occur in order for a new technology to be affordable to the mass market. One is you need economies of scale. The other is you need to iterate on the design. You need to go through a few versions.

technology two order

Trying to read our DNA is like trying to understand software code - with only 90% of the code riddled with errors. It's very difficult in that case to understand and predict what that software code is going to do.

errors dna trying

You could warm Mars up, over time, with greenhouse gases. by Elon Musk

You could warm Mars up, over time, with greenhouse gases.

greenhouse-gases greenhouses mars

As a child I would just question things. by Elon Musk

As a child I would just question things.

inspirational children

The United States is definitely ahead in culture of innovation. If someone wants to accomplish great things, there is no better place than the U.S.

innovation united-states culture

There are some important differences between me and Tony Stark, like I have five kids, so I spend more time going to Disneyland than parties.

party inspirational kids

What I'm trying to do is, is to make a significant difference in space flight. And help make space flight accessible to almost anyone.

space-flight differences trying