Review of Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

Ashlee Vance
Rating: 5/5

If you are informed, your investment strategy is to buy real-estate because "it's the best investment." If you're better informed, your investment strategy is to put all your money in ETFs because "nobody can't beat the market in the long-run." But if you're Elon Musk, you invest all of your money into yourself---often to the brink of bankruptcy---and it keeps paying off.

Holy shit is this ever an inspiring book. Musk is doing disruptive innovation in like what, five?, distinct industries right now, and he somehow continues to keep hitting them out of the park. At this point I'm not sure even the biggest cynic can put that down to luck.

While Musk is clearly a bright dude, he doesn't come off as having superhuman intelligence. His comparative advantages seem to be WORKING REALLY HARD and BEING COMPLETELY FEARLESS. The book presents a narrative of Musk as being this guy who doesn't have much trouble raising money, and so he's never afraid to just spend all of it trying to make things happen---critics be damned. My takeaway is that whoever cares most wins, and that if you're capable and smart, investing everything you've got in yourself is probably the best strategy you can ever play.