The biography of Elon Musk that was written by Walter Isaacson came out a few years ago.
It's 615 pages long.
And so I read the book for the first time when it came out,
and I didn't think I could make a great episode about it.
And I think I've now finally figured out what I really want to talk to you about.
It's going to sound crazy
because Elon is the richest person on the planet and the most famous entrepreneur alive.
But I think that all of the other stuff, the politics, the tweets,
the constant appearance in the news, or there's new controversies all the time,
it just really distracts and takes away from the fact that Elon has a set of timeless and brilliant and insanely valuable principles on how to build companies,
how to invent new technology, and how to make an impact on the world around you.
And so this is what I did.
I have spent at least 60 hours reading and rereading this book.
This book is written in chronological order.
So I would say it's more akin to reading a series of news reports over a few decades.
than the typical way a biography is written.
And so as it turns out, that's going to be a major asset for you and I,
because what you'll see and what I exclusively want to focus on is the enduring set of company building principles Elon has used over three decades and across at least seven companies.
So it may be apocryphal,
but there is a quote from Michelangelo when he was asked like how he created the statue of David.