13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

1. Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
1. What surprised you most?
1. Elon musk tried to launch a computer game in the 80’s and it took 167 lines of code. I thought that he was just some rich guy. Turns out, he is incredibly intelligent and has a photographic memory. This helped him memorize books and eventually get into the University of Pennsylvania.
2. What did you admire most?
1. I admire Elon Musk’s ability to be this large and influential businessman but still be himself. He still has his nerdy quarks and openly exhibits them. Beyond the book I follow Musk on twitter and he does not filter himself. He posts some of the weirdest things but it shows that the fame has not got to him.
3. What did you admire least?
1. I think the thing i admire the least about Musk is his social awkwardness which comes from his very intuitive and thinking nature. He is prone to not listen and set his mind and actions on going his way or the highway. This shows that he is confident, but he might be too confident.
4. Did he encounter any adversity or failure? If so what did he do about it?
1. Musk has a string of failures like many successful businessmen. Tesla has always been in the news and found itself failing or about to claim bankruptcy before finally being able to launch a new product like the Roadster. He also failed launching Space X several times before he was actually able to get a rocket in the air. He was able to overcome these adversities by being persistent and finding alternative routes to get to his end goal.
2. What competencies did you notice that he exhibited?
1. He was tenacious and very goal driven, if there was an obstacle in the way he powered through it and did anything to see a goal come to fruition.
3. Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing.
1. I thought the whole country debt transfer topic was confusing. I get the online banking part but just now how he saw the opportunity through the assignment he got from the internship.
4. If you were able to ask two questions to him what would they be and why?
1. Do you still think that the CEO of google is going to create AI that will wipe the human race?
1. I want to ask this because its so outlandish that he would actually think this.
2. Where did you get the drive to even start pursuing your goals?
1. I want to ask this because i struggle to find the drive to attain my goal and would love to learn how our generations billionaire made it.
5. What do you think his opinion of hard work is, and do you share this opinion?
1. Musk’s opinion of hard work is probably that if you ever want to complete anything you’ll have to persist through the difficult times and work towards your goal no matter what stands in the way. I share this opinion but i do not necessarily carry it out.