00:00You know, there are American heroes who don't like this idea.
00:08Neil Armstrong, Gene Cernan have both testified against commercial spaceflight
00:14and the way that you're developing it, and I wonder what you think of that.
00:18I was very sad to see that, because those guys are, yeah,
00:24you know, those guys are heroes of mine, so it's really tough.
00:27You know, I wish they would come and visit, and see the hardware that we're doing here.
00:32And I think that would change their mind.
00:35They inspired you to do this, didn't they?
00:37Yes.
00:40And to see them casting stones in your direction?
00:46It's difficult.
00:48Did you expect them to cheer you on?
00:52Certainly hoping they would.
00:54What are you trying to prove to them?
00:56What I'm trying to do is to make a significant difference in spaceflight
01:02and help make spaceflight accessible to almost anyone.
01:08One of the most difficult choices I've ever faced in life was in 2008.
01:14And I think I had, like, maybe $30 million left, or $30 or $40 million left in 2008.
01:26I had two choices.
01:28I could put it all into one company, and then the other company would definitely die,
01:32or split it between the two companies.
01:37But if I split it between the two companies, then both might die.
01:39And when you put your blood, sweat, and tears into creating something, or building something, it's like a child.
01:49And so it's like, which one am I going to let one starve to death?
01:53I couldn't bring myself to do it, so I split the money between the two.
01:59Fortunately, thank goodness, they both came through.
02:03What was your biggest failure, and how did that change you?
02:06Well, there's a ton of failures along the way, that's for sure.
02:09As I said, for SpaceX, the first three launches failed.
02:15And we were just barely able to scrape together enough parts and money to do the fourth launch.
02:23If that fourth launch had failed, we would have been dead.
02:26So, multiple failures along the way.
02:30I tried very hard to get the right expertise in for SpaceX.
02:35I tried hard to find a great chief engineer for the rocket.
02:38But the good chief engineers wouldn't join.
02:41And the bad ones, well, there was no point in hiring them.
02:44So I ended up being chief engineer of the rocket.
02:46So if I could have found somebody better, then we would have maybe had less than three failures.
02:52That third failure in a row, did you think, I need to pack this in?
02:57Never.
02:58Why not?
02:59I don't ever give up.
03:04So many people tried to talk me out of starting a right company.
03:07It was, it was crazy.
03:08One good friend of mine collected a whole series of videos of rockets blowing up and made me watch those.
03:15He just didn't want me to lose all my money.
03:17We're doing these things that seem unlikely to succeed.
03:20And we've been fortunate.
03:21And at least thus far, they have succeeded.
03:23Now is the time to take risk.
03:26You don't have kids.
03:27As you get older, your obligations increase.
03:30And once you have a family, you start taking risks, not just for yourself, but for your family as well.
03:35It gets much harder to do things that might not work out.
03:39So now is the time to do that before you have those obligations.
03:45So I would encourage you to take risks now.
03:47Do something bold.
03:49You won't regret it.
03:50How did you figure you were going to start a car company and be successful at it?
03:55Well, I didn't really think Tesla would be successful.
03:57I thought we would most likely fail.
03:59But I thought that we at least could address the false perception that people had that an electric car had to be ugly and slow and boring like a gold car.
04:07But you say you didn't expect the company to be successful.
04:10Then why try?
04:11If something's important enough, you should try even if the probable outcome is failure.
04:18How do you think about making a decision when everyone tells you this is a crazy idea?
04:22Where do you get the internal strength to do that?
04:25Well, first of all, I'd say I actually think I feel fear quite strongly.
04:31So it's not as though I just have the absence of fear.
04:34I feel it quite strongly.
04:36But there are times when something is important enough, you believe in it enough, that you do it in spite of fear.
04:45I think about what technology solution is necessary in order to achieve the particular goal.
04:51And then try to make as much progress in that direction as possible.
04:55I think being a multi-planet species and being out there among the stars is important for the long-term survival of humanity.
05:02And that's one reason.
05:06But then the part that I find personally most motivating is that it creates a sense of adventure.
05:13And it makes people excited about the future.
05:16And if you consider two futures, one where we are forever confined to Earth until eventually something terrible happens.
05:25Or another future where we are out there on many planets, maybe even going beyond the solar system.
05:32I think that second version is incredibly exciting and inspiring.
05:37And there need to be reasons to get up in the morning.
05:40You know, life can't just be about solving problems.
05:42Otherwise, what's the point?
05:44There's got to be things that people find inspiring and make life worth living.
05:50When my brother and I were starting our first company, instead of getting an apartment, we just rented a small office and we slept on the couch.
05:58And we showered at the YMCA and we were so hot up, we had one computer, so the website was up during the day and I was coding at night, seven days a week, all the time.
06:13And I briefly had a girlfriend in that period and in order to be with me, she had to sleep in the office.
06:20So, work hard, like, every waking hour, that's the thing I would say, particularly if you're starting a company.
06:33Whatever area that you get into, given that, even if you're the best of the best, there's always a chance of failure.
06:41So, I think it's important that you really like whatever you're doing.
06:44If you don't like it, life is too short.
06:47If you like what you're doing, you think about it even when you're not working.
06:51I mean, it'll just, it's something that your mind is drawn to.
06:55And if you don't like it, you just really can't make it work, I think.
07:11I think it's important, right?
07:12I think it's important in terms of what you're looking at.
07:18And yeah, we think it's important in terms of what you're looking at.
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