Hannah Moss 13A- Reading Reflection 1 (ENT3003)

13A- Reading Reflection 1 (ENT3003)

I decided to read Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance. I chose this one because I had some prior knowledge on these subjects and was interested in learning more. 

1. You read about an entrepreneur:

. What surprised you the most?

I was mostly surprised by Elon Musk’s ability to run after an opportunity and never get scared of a challenge. An example of this is when he sold his company to X.com which later became PayPal. He then saw an opportunity for reusable rockets and decided to reinvest his earnings into SpaceX. I thought this was very surprising and impressive. 

. What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?

I admire Musk’s ability to be committed to a project and never stop trying to find a solution to a problem. He had unwavering confidence in his abilities. 

. What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?

This question is hard to answer because after reading I noticed so many qualities I admired and hardly any I did not admire. However, Musk’s need to always find a solution and complete every task perfectly is not always a good thing. As humans we learn and grow from out mistakes, and we cannot do that by being perfect all of the time. 

. Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?

Elon Musk did encounter adversity and failure throughout his lifetime. An example of this is when he first started SpaceX he did not have a lot of money, only enough for four rocket launch attempts. He failed the first three times, and then made sure everything would go right on his fourth attempt. 

2. What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?

I think Elon Musk’s ability to take on a new challenge even though it may be risky is a major competency that has made him successful. An example of this is when he invested his own money into his businesses. His businesses benefitted from this because having his own money on the line would make failure worse, so this was avoided even further. 

3. Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

. I was definitely confused by Musk’s comments on smart people having children (page 199, paragraph 3). He says that there wont be smart people if two smart people aren’t reproducing. While genetics may play some role, I think smartness depends on way more than that. I personally know someone who’s parents are both doctors and he is definitely not the brightest student.

4. If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why?

My first question would be, how do you know when a risk is worth taking?

I would ask this because sometimes in my life I have a hard time deciding whether something is worth the risk or not. I would like to know how Musk knows when taking on a challenge is worth it.

My second question is, do you ever regret the risks you take?

I wonder is Musk really is as confident as he seems while finding solutions to a problem.

5. For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion?

Elon Musk was an extremely hard worker and never gave up on his projects. I think his opinion was to work extremely hard and I agree with that.