must Musk be a Role Model for Founders?

Mush runs Telsa, home Battery, Solar-panel, & rocket-launch companies now. He has a Master plan for electric-powered trucks, autonomous buses & ride-sharing.

Topics: Slow Down? 2, 3 & 4Much, “Four C’s.” of Entrepreneurship, Challenge Junkie, Distractions, Quotes

1.You Musk, slow down?!?. You’re a great entrepreneur, but as many successful entrepreneur founders or small-business owner will advise you: “Build one business at a time”. Last month, $B Elon Musk, CEO of electric-car maker Tesla, unveiled his Vision of the future, called “Master Plan, Part Deux.” (2) Not content to just concentrate on building a sexy, safe & enviable electric car,

2 Much, 3 Much, 4 Much. Musk already has a lot on his plate:

2 Much: building a massive electric Battery plant in Nevada,

3 Much: buying the solar-panel company SolarCity and, oh by the way, running

4 Much: SpaceX, the rocket-launch company.

5, 6 & 7 Much. Now, in his master plan, Musk has set his sights on developing electric-powered trucks, autonomous buses & a ride-sharing program.

When looking at what motivates entrepreneurs, I’ve identified

8. the “Four C’s.” of Entrepreneurship.

Challenge,
Cash $$$,
Creativity&
Control.

Typically, Challenge beats out all the others (yes, even Ca$h…).Why? Entrepreneurs often get their business ideas by seeing a problem: a need that isn’t being met, an existing product or service done poorly. That’s the challenge they want to solve (and make $$$ too). “Challenge Junkie.” is what Musk – a true entrepreneurial Visionary – is called.

9. But here’s the Irony – and where many entrepreneurs & small-business owners go wrong. Once the challenge has been met, they lose their passion & motivation. They’re not really interested in the day-to-day details of operational “execution”. Shipping? Personnel? Managing a Website? All boring !!!

10. Challenge Junkie. In fact, in running your own business, you may be a “Challenge Junkie” like Elon Musk. You may be looking for the next challenge rather than at executing the Vision you’ve already started.

11. Build one business at a time. That was one of “Kleiner’s Laws” from legendary Venture Capitalist Eugene Kleiner, founder of Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers [#1 VC in USA], who helped create some of America’s greatest companies [Amazon, Google, SnapChat, Twitter, etc].

12. He warned Entrepreneurs about Distractions. Here’s why:

You only have so much Time. Everyone — even Elon Musk — only has 24 hours in a day. No matter how smart you are or how little you sleep, that’s an immutable fact. Even if you’re amazing at delegating with the ability to attract great people, many decisions & deals only you can make. And you still have to answer your key people’s Emails.
You only have so much Attention. To build a truly great company, you need to give it more than 25% or 50% or 75% of your attention — it takes >100%. That’s why Founders and key employees in start-ups often have trouble maintaining family & personal relationships. Even while running a small business, you have to keep your focus. Trying to build too many products, too many services, too many distribution channels can keep you from success.
You only have so much $$$. Tesla may have hundreds of millions of dollars, but even its investors get restless. Small businesses & Start-ups have far more limited funds. If you spread your financial resources too thin, you run out of the funds you need to make your Vision a reality.
Others have only so much Patience. People want to see results. Whether it’s investors, customers, employees or your family. They want to know that their belief in you is not misplaced. After a while, even your staunchest supporters want to know that you can deliver what you promise, can make your Vision a reality.

Musk’s Vision/Challenge may be much more important and pressing than an entrepreneur trying to create the next social media App. He’s driven to create an Eco-system of sustainable energy to combat climate change.
Delivering on Promises. Right now, Tesla has 400,000 reservations for its $35,000 Model 3 electric car, due out next year. Delivering on those, building a hugely successful Tesla may be the most important thing Musk can accomplish to help achieve his Vision of a future built on renewable energy.
- Musk needs to reframe his Challenge – as a challenge junkie. His challenge is to build a great electric car company, not just a great car. You, too, if you’re an entrepreneurial Challenge Junkie, need to reframe your task: It’s not enough to just create a product or service to solve a problem. Challenge yourself to build a great, sustainable company.

Musk have Quotes:

“Risk: When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”
“Change: Some people don’t like Change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.”
“Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.”
“Feedback Loop: I think it’s very important to have a, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.”
“Goals: People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.”
“Humble: If you’re co-founder or CEO, you have to do all kinds of tasks you might not want to do… If you don’t do your chores, the company won’t succeed… No task is too menial.”
“Focus on the Details: I don’t spend my time only talking about high-concept things; I spend my time solving engineering &manufacturing problems.”
“Skin in it: I always invest my own money in the companies that I create. I don’t believe in the whole thing of just using other people’s money. I don’t think that’s right. I’m not going to ask other people to invest in something, if I’m not prepared to do so myself.”
“Talent vs Personality. My biggest mistake is probably weighing too much on someone’s talent and not someone’s personality. I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.”
“Key Factors. Starting & growing a business is as much about the innovation, drive, & determination of the people behind it as the product they sell.”
“Contribution. I’m interested in things that change the world or that affect the future and wondrous, new technology where you see it, and you’re like, ‘Wow, how did that even happen? How is that possible?'”
“Negative Feedback is what I really pay attention to and solicit it. Bill Gate did that and look where it got him.”
“Passion. People should pursue what they’re passionate about. That will make them the happiest & most satisfied.”

Comments: What qualities of Musk would you like to imitate? Why?

from USA Today 02 Aug 16 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz