Book Review - Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
The Book in Three Sentences (or so)
- A captivating narrative of Elon Musk's life story so far, including his childhood, formative years, rise to celebrity status, ventures into electric vehicles, space, robotics, artificial intelligence, Twitter controversies, and more.
- An exploration of him being on the autism spectrum and its impact on those around him.
- An examination of Musk's unique approach, delving into his impulsive tendencies, darker moments, and risk-taking ventures that continue to shape our world.
Impressions
I enjoy both autobiographies and biographies.
I rank this book highly, alongside 'Buffet' by Roger Lowenstein (Berkshire), 'Steve Jobs' by Walter Isaacson (Apple), 'Shoe Dog' by Phil Knight (Nike), and 'Ride of a Lifetime' by Bob Iger (Disney).
Who Should Read It?
This book is a must-read for those interested in exploring the mind of one of the most innovative and daring risk-takers of this century. It offers insights into problem-solving methods, first principle thinking, and provides a glimpse into the author's tumultuous life.
His perspective on AI, including his banter with Sergey Bin, establishing Open AI with Sam Altman, and then leaving, is captivating. The notion of merging electric vehicle video feeds with Twitter trends to allow Optimus to learn is mind-boggling. His concerns about unrestricted AI progress are equally intriguing. It's absolutely fascinating.
Despite its length of over 600 pages, it's a compelling read. Regardless of your stance on the subject, the story is definitely worth your time.
What did I take away from the book?
- It emphasized the importance of questioning what are established as 'rules and regulations'.
- Some pursuits are worth the difficulty, while others are not, regardless of their popularity.
- Even for a multi-billionaire, respect for others is crucial, as evidenced by the short tenure of those who work with Elon.
- Measuring progress is vital, particularly with appropriate parameters, such as the frequency of driver intervention in an autonomous car.
- His algorithm (noted verbatim below)
My Top Quotes
- Bill Gates: “You can feel whatever you want about Elon’s behavior….but there is no one in our time who has done more to push the bounds of science and innovation than he has.”
- Elon: People are mistaken when they think that technology just automatically improves,” - “It only improves if a lot of people work very hard to make it better.”
- Elon: “Delete any part or process you can. You may have to add them back later. In fact, if you do not end up adding back at least 10% of them, then you didn’t delete enough
- Elon: This is how civilizations decline. They quit taking risks.
If there was only one item to take away
His algorithm - quoted verbatim from the book:
- Question every requirement. Each should come with the name of the person who made it. You should never accept that a requirement came from a department, such as from “the legal department” or “the safety department”. You need to know the name of the real person who made that requirement. Then you should question it, no matter how smart that person is. Requirements from smart people are the most dangerous, because people are less likely to question them. Always do so, even if the requirement came from me. Then make the requirements less dumb.
- Delete any part or process you can. You may have to add them back later. In fact, if you do not end up adding back at least 10% of them, then you didn’t delete enough.
- Simplify and optimize. This should come after step two. A common mistake is to simplify and optimize a part or a process that should not exist.
- Accelerate cycle time. Every process can be speeded up. But only do this after you have followed the first three steps. In the Tesla factory, I mistakenly spent a lot of time accelerating processes that I later realized should have been deleted.
- Automate. That comes last. The big mistake in Nevada and at Fremont was that I began by trying to automate every step. We should have waited until all the requirements had been questioned, parts and processes deleted, and the bugs were shaken out
(Review Format - Ali Abdaal via Notion)