According to Bloomberg, it’s estimated that Elon Musk is now a Billionaire at least 40 times over.
From successful building Zip2, PayPal, and now SpaceX and Tesla, it’s undeniable that Elon has created some incredible success for himself.
However, the question still remains: How did he do it?
Of course, it’s very hard to replicate someone else’s steps in business. However, you can replicate their principles and mindsets.
With that, this article will cover the 3 key principles behind his success.
Here’s how Elon Musk became a Billionaire:
1. Seek Out Criticism
“The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.” -Norman Vincent Peale
An interview, Musk said, “A well thought out critique of whatever you’re doing is as valuable as gold.”
“You should seek that from everyone you can but particularly your friends. Usually, your friends know what’s wrong, but they don’t want to tell you because they don’t want to hurt you.”
Of course, you’ll know you’re doing something important if someone cares enough to give an unsolicited critique. When something is truly noteworthy, there will be haters.
As Robin Sharma wrote in his book, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, “haters confirm greatness.”
2. Surround Yourself with People Better Than you
“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” -Marissa Meyer
In his book, The Art of Learning, Josh Waitzkin explains a concept he calls, Investing in failure.
While training in Tai Chi, Waitzkin did something that was an absolute stroke of genius:
Rather than training with opponents that were either equally skilled or worse than him, he would train with opponents of far superior skill and consistently get the crap kicked out of him.
Indeed, his goal was to fail. As a result, he was forced to adapt quickly. He was forced to learn quickly and as a result, he soon rose to the level of all those around him.
Interestingly, Elon Musk does the same. He’s not worried about being the smartest person in the room. He doesn’t micromanage and try to control everything. Instead, he’s constantly got a beginner’s mind and is willing to put his ego to the side.
3. Seize the Opportunity Better Than the Rest
“Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.” -Richard Branson
Although Branson’s words are nice, Elon doesn’t operate by that philosophy. When Musk sees an opportunity, he seeks to do it better than anyone else.
When he sought to land a miniature greenhouse on Mars, for example, he received a quoted price of $8 million per rocket from a refurbished intercontinental ballistic missiles shop in Russia.
However, he had enough smarts to know it was possible to make more affordable rockets by going out on his own
With SpaceX, he now creates reusable rocket components at a much lower price, and people buy from him.
Indeed, while everyone else was too entrenched in the current way of doing things, Musk saw a way to do it better.
So, what opportunities in your space is everyone else not seeing?
How can you do something better than the rest?