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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a winning serial entrepreneur. Although he was controversial, his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter (now X) showed the world how far his billions could go.
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The forward-thinking tycoon launched X.com, which merged with Confinity to become PayPal, but as CEO of electric car maker Tesla, he also wants to one day let people live on other planets. He is best known for launching the rocket company SpaceX. Musk is chairman of solar panel design company SolarCity and co-founder of nonprofit research company OpenAI.
As of March 15, Forbes reported that through a combination of innovative ideas and hard work, Musk has amassed a whopping $187.7 billion net worth. If you want to succeed in business, you’d be wise to follow some of Musk’s strategies. Here’s what he’s learned over the past decade:
Find out how to think more like an entrepreneur.
1. Request feedback
Starting a business is a series of trial and error. At a Google Hangout hosted by Google for Entrepreneurs in August 2013, Musk emphasized the importance of asking for advice.
“Gather feedback from as many people as possible on any idea,” Musk said. “Ask for critical feedback. Ask them what the problem is. To understand what the problem is, you often need to tease out the problem in a subtle way.”
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2. Accept constructive criticism
As Musk said in a 2013 Google Hangout, the constructive criticism others give you is invaluable. Sometimes criticism is hard to hear, but it’s all part of the learning process. If you want to succeed in business, learn not to take feedback personally.
This advice is useful even if you’re not trying to lead a startup. When you get too close to a project, it becomes difficult to spot mistakes, so input from others can be invaluable.
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3. Don’t get your hands dirty
Musk didn’t build Tesla by sitting in a corner office watching his employees work. During a Google Hangout, he explained that as company leaders, co-founders and CEOs must collaborate where necessary to keep the company afloat.
“You’re having to do all sorts of tasks and tasks that you might not want to do, that aren’t inherently interesting to you,” he says. “You have to be ready to work hours and hours, doing whatever it takes. No job is too simple. I think that’s the right attitude as a CEO of a startup.”
A CEO’s job isn’t glamorous and can include everything from answering the phone when a company is just starting out to cleaning the office kitchen. Roll up your sleeves and get ready to get to work.
4. Discuss the differences
While it’s important for new hires to share a vision, team members can sometimes disagree. While this isn’t ideal, it’s not necessarily a reason to break the deal or remove the person from the team.
If an employee starts behaving in ways that don’t align with the company’s culture, Musk recommended talking to them and explaining the problem. In most cases, he says, the other person will change their behavior, but if they don’t, you need to be willing to let go.
5. Hire for culture
When hiring a new employee, you need to make sure they fit in well with your team. During the Google Hangout, Musk emphasized the importance of teamwork and aligning expectations from the beginning.
“I think it’s important that everyone understands exactly what the mission and goals are and understands that overall goal when they join,” Musk said. “As long as that goal is clearly defined and understood and people say ‘yes’, they’re buying into that goal when they join the company. So they’re not just looking at things like pay and things like that. You’re not joining the company for the things, but what do you believe in?’ What the company does is…”
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6. Ask interview questions
Job seekers looking for jobs at Tesla, SpaceX or Mr. Musk’s companies are put through the wringer. Musk believes that he is less likely to be fooled by interview experts and that tough interview questions indicate that a candidate is truly qualified for the job.
At the World Government Summit in Dubai in February 2017, Musk spoke about the interview questions he believes reveal the most about a candidate’s suitability, although they are fairly multifaceted.
“Tell me your life story and the decisions you made along the way and why. Also tell me some of the things you worked on and how you solved them,” Musk said. said. “People who really solve problems know exactly how they solved it, and they know every detail.”
Mr. Musk emphasized the importance of this question, noting that candidates who lie to join a company can only provide a certain amount of detail before their lie is discovered. So if you want to hire the best person for the job, you have to dig deep.
7. Don’t let the naysayers get you down.
When Musk was named to Time 100’s list of the world’s most influential people in 2013, Richard Branson wrote a profile of Musk for the magazine, proving the critics wrong. He praised Musk’s ability to do so.
“Whatever the skeptics said was impossible, Elon took it upon himself to make it reality,” Branson wrote.
Tesla’s CEO continues to create, driven by innovation, even when skeptics believe his ideas won’t take off.
8. Have a vision
For many entrepreneurs, like the late Steve Jobs, the mark of success is the ability to not only inspire, but to have a clear vision.
Whether it’s defending the price of Tesla stock or the need to colonize Mars, Musk is undaunted.
“It is contradictory that Elon is working to improve our planet while at the same time building a spaceship to help us leave Earth,” Branson wrote. “But true vision is binocular vision, and Elon Musk is clearly someone who can see many things at once.”
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9. Eliminate processes
“I don’t believe in the process,” Musk said in a 2012 Wired interview. “In fact, when I interview a potential employee and they say, ‘It’s all about process,’ I think that’s a bad sign.”
It would be shocking for most other CEOs to say that, but with his focus on innovation, it’s probably not all that surprising that he likes to change things up. In fact, hearing his reasoning probably makes you want to throw the process out the window.
“The problem is that in many large companies, process has replaced thinking,” he says. “I encourage you to act like a small cog in a complex machine. Frankly, you can hold back people who aren’t as smart or creative.”
10. Don’t focus on money
Musk, who was already a successful entrepreneur in 2008, explained to PBS at the time that he didn’t co-found Tesla to make money. Instead, he recognized the need for an environment that would change the way cars are powered and founded an electric car company.
“So this is not about my personal accumulation of wealth,” he said. “I think this is a very important problem and we have to solve it. If we don’t solve it, we’re going to have a problem.”
11. Be passionate about what you do
Whether you’re starting a company or taking on a specific job, you won’t succeed if you’re not passionate about it. At the time of the PBS interview, Musk was already wealthy, which perhaps allowed him to become an electric car maker for good reason.
“Even if I got a lot of money tomorrow, my life wouldn’t change,” he said. “Nothing. I bought everything I wanted.”
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12. Start young.
According to Musk, it may take some time for a business to become successful, but it’s better to start building it as soon as possible. When you’re young, you can take risks and focus your energy on growing your business without being burdened with many responsibilities in life. But the longer you live, the more that all changes.
“As you get older, your obligations increase,” Musk said in an interview with Forbes. “So I encourage you to take a risk now and do something bold. You won’t regret it.”
13. Only do it if it’s right for you.
It’s no secret that starting a business is difficult, but not everyone really understands how much effort and patience it takes to get a business off the ground. The truth is, the entrepreneurial life isn’t for everyone, Musk said as part of his business advice.
“I think starting a company is very difficult. It’s pretty painful,” Musk told Draper University students visiting the Tesla factory. “A friend of mine has a good saying about doing a startup: It’s like eating glass and staring into the abyss. You only do it if you’re driven to do it, and If you don’t, don’t do it. So think of it this way: If you need an inspirational quote, don’t do it.”
14. Be realistic
While running your own business may seem appealing, Musk says you need to be careful not to get caught up in a romanticized version of the entrepreneur’s life. Thanks to shows like “Silicon Valley,” which follows a man’s journey to founding a startup, and media profiles of successful entrepreneurs, the tough lives of “working” entrepreneurs are often downplayed. In fact, according to his Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report for 2015-16, half of all businesses don’t exist in their first five years.
“First of all, being an entrepreneur is overly glorified in movies and TV shows, but most of the time, running a company is difficult,” Musk told Draper University students. . “Most of us aren’t ready for it or are more interested in the idea of becoming an entrepreneur than actually putting in the effort to become one.”
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15. Differentiate your brand
The consumer space is already saturated with so many companies that consumers likely already have a brand they can rely on for services. So, to break into that space and get people to step into your emerging business, your business needs to stand out, Musk says.
According to Inc., “If you’re going to go into something where there’s an existing market and against large, entrenched competitors, your product or service needs to be significantly better than theirs.” Yes,” Musk said. Because it puts you in the consumer’s shoes…you’ll always buy the brand you trust unless there’s a big difference. ”
Taylor Bell contributed reporting to this article.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Elon Musk’s 15 Top Tips for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
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