In 2022 Sri Lanka was suddenly declared as a default nation due to inability to fight through the post pandemic economic conditions and was facing dire economic conditions with long fuel queues due to insufficient dollar reserves and many more issues lead to cyclical power cuts and hyperinflation. People were angry and it lead to protests requesting the then president of the country to resign. Eventually it happened and the country with a new president but with the same parliament is on road to recovery but with many problems at hand. During the fuel crisis one of the leading English literature book sellers marketed 'Elon Musk', Ashlee Vance biography read in a car staying in a fuel queue triggered me negatively to avoid the book during that period. But later I purchased the book from a different seller out of curiosity which is a betrayal of my own conscience. I purchased the book from Sarasavi online bookstore.
Elon is a fast runner to be the first in the number one billionaire list of the world and is also a news maker by doing weird things in public. These aspects lead me to read this biography of a leading business man in the modern world.
I've read the biography of 'Warren Buffet', The Snow Ball and it reflects a complete different business man from the persona of Elon Musk.
Elon is not the Sri Lankan style billionaire and as an introvert his hyperactive and eccentric behaviour is definitely not my style of living and leadership I like. But the curiosity to know what the world he is trying to change as the richest man alive lead me to read the book. Definitely this is a puff piece of a book but it did unlock me to understand the thinking of silicon valley billionaires and how they are jaded by the world around them.
Under the post covid 19 economic conditions in Sri Lanka there are lot to learn from him. First thing is to leave third world and join first world if you can. And always take dangerous and fearless risks in business.
As a person in his thirties who should stop reading and start exercising this book did showed me some of the things to learn about life and risk taking which clearly I missed in my life time. But I can at least read about Musk and learn from him.
'Millennium Falcon' from the 'Star Wars' franchise was the inspiration for branding of 'Falcon 1'.
The Sri Lankan sinhalese television series 'Koombiyo' comes to my mind when reading this biography since his style of management structures in his business organizations and leadership is quite actually the same.
EM is Breaking the status quo by being a transformational leader in all round business decision making and leadership styles.
Concept of reverse engineering is highly emphasised in this biography as a methodology of cost cutting techniques of 'SpaceX' and 'Tesla'.
This biography is about unconventional businesses and how to achieve dreams through networking, modernising and hard work. Though EM and his personal and public life is a bit Paradoxical and weird the man can get things done.
Zip2, PayPal, Tesla, Solar City, SpaceX are Musk's fruits of labour.
By giving primary focus to cost reduction and lean management Musk was able to modernise the space exploration and global car industry.
He is a rich snob and a very inhuman leader with tough traits. But he can get things achievable.
Elon Musk's latest biography was released by Walter Isaacson revealing the weird and eccentric business leader's new facts which created kind of a buzz in the literature industry.
Ashlee Vance's biography contains chunks of paragraphs with science and cost cutting techniques related to car and space exploration industry. But I rather give a summarised and superficial
Analysis of this rising business tycoon than a broader analysis.
Most of the Sri Lankan businessmen are like Warren Buffet mildly, but actually worse. And Elon Musk is quite the strack contrast of the leadership style and public persona of Sri Lanka would love to see. But it is a much needed revelation to the Sri Lankan reader to understand the relevant leadership styles.
EM was able to have a streak of biographies published with alot media backing since 2015 to 2023. That is a lot of publicity for a billionaire and it is changing the way how world perceive leadership and businessmen.
EM is like the peak point of the capitalistic world. He has the best technology and he is transforming the world specially the western world in to a world like in the film 'Elysium' (2013). As a third world dweller that's how I feel.
As a failure in both career wise and academically this biography is a real eye opener to understand how to motivate yourself and understand leadership. Many of the aspects are actually missed in my life time.
Seeing around 5 Tesla cars in Sri Lanka, Colombo shows the impact of EM to the world.
Ashlee Vance biography have different versions of the same book I guess since the title is different but the cover is the same.
EM was awe inspired by 'Apple's' use of Business and technological methodologies and it lead him to use many of the aspects in 'Tesla' business model. He is an ardent follower of Steve Jobs.
Table of contents of the book is as follows.
01. Elon's world
02. Africa
03. Canada
04. Elon's first start up
05. Paypal Mafia Boss
06. Mice in Space
07. All electric
08. Pain, suffering, and survival
09. Liftoff
10. The revenge of the electric car
11. The unified field theory of Elon Musk
Epilogue
Some of the positive aspects of EM's vision in business is as follows,
Some of the positive aspects of EM's vision in business is as follows,
Unified theory - 323 to 324 PG.
"What's more, SolarCity is a key part of what can be thought of as the unified field theory of Musk. Each one of his businesses is interconnected in the short term and the long term. Tesla makes battery packs that SolarCity can then sell to end customers. SolarCity supplies Tesla's charging stations with solar panels, helping Tesla to provide free recharging to its drivers. Newly minted Model S owners regularly opt to begin living the Musk Lifestyle and outfit their homes with solar panels. Tesla and SpaceX help each other as well. They exchange knowledge around materials, manufacturing techniques, and the intricacies of operating factories that build so much stuff from the ground up."
Elon Musk is personified like Iron Man and Howard Hughes. It is quite amazing living in the 21st Century to witness this via media and news.
Mars colonisation and Hyperloop 332 - 336 pg
"And then I think for each flight that departs to Mars you want to sort of launch the spacecraft into the orbit and then have it be in a parking orbit and refuel its tanks with propellant....... I think SpaceX will have developed a booster and spaceship in the 2025 time frame capable of taking large quantities of people and cargo to Mars."
Elon Musk is personified like Iron Man and Howard Hughes. It is quite amazing living in the 21st Century to witness this via media and news.
Mars colonisation and Hyperloop 332 - 336 pg
"And then I think for each flight that departs to Mars you want to sort of launch the spacecraft into the orbit and then have it be in a parking orbit and refuel its tanks with propellant....... I think SpaceX will have developed a booster and spaceship in the 2025 time frame capable of taking large quantities of people and cargo to Mars."
How tech is impacting the ordinary, a perspective from Ashlee Vance referring to many newly published books. 347 - 348 PG.
" In The Great Stagnation, Cowen bemoaned the lack of big technological advances and argued that the American economy has slowed and wages have been depressed as a result"
"In his next book, Average is Over, Cowen predicted an unromantic future in which a great divide had occurred between the Have and the Have Nots. In Cowen's future, huge gains in artificial intelligence will lead to the elimination of many of today's high-employment line of work."
Living in a Socialist Democracy and having partly a free education which is an aspect of socialism to see the new world thrive with such a personality and also as a person who (Myself obviously) respected socialism blindly as a child my curiosity to read and understand the front running billionaire of the capitalistic world did not disappoint. But EM is not a good person.
Living in a Socialist Democracy and having partly a free education which is an aspect of socialism to see the new world thrive with such a personality and also as a person who (Myself obviously) respected socialism blindly as a child my curiosity to read and understand the front running billionaire of the capitalistic world did not disappoint. But EM is not a good person.
There was a updated article of EM with a title 'Muskology' giving information related to Twitter take over and many crisises related to it.
EM biography by Ashlee Vance is like an innovative text since the book has a new structure internally. There are footnotes, end notes and appendixes with alot of info. Of EM. It seems like the book is a living thing since to the last page EM is doing something new to earn profits and innovate any industry.
Learnings for the personal life
Stay occupied.
Work hard. Play hard.
Work hard. Work smart.
Always be ahead in the game. Be the best negotiator.
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