Page 25 - Entrepreneur-November 2018

MOST DARING
ENTREPRENEURS
Elon
Musk
The
Right
Kind
of
Daring?
Two business professors
square off on today’s
most talked-about founder—
and why entrepreneurs should
(or shouldn’t!) be like Musk.
esla is a well-publicized mess—behind on
production, abandoned by its executives,
and embroiled in an SEC investigation.
Musk, too, often appears to be a mess—
increasingly erratic on Twitter, lurching from
one PR crisis to the next. But in 2018, his
company SpaceX launched and landed a
T giant rocket (and then booked the first
passenger for a trip around the moon), his
hyperloop technology scored a contract with
the city of Chicago, and his battery-making
Gigafactory hit new strides. So is he a model
to follow? Our experts square off.
42 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / November 2018
He’s an
Inspiration!
by Leonard Sherman,
professor of business,
ntrepreneurs are dreamers:
Columbia University
To succeed despite the many
E obstacles ahead, they need
to not only have a unique vision, but
it. This is what makes Musk such a
to also be relentlessly devoted to
model worth following. Yes, he may
at times be self-destructive, egoma-
niacal, and quixotic, but he’s also in
of all time. May we all be so bold.
the pantheon of greatest innovators
Steve Jobs, another flawed
genius, might as well have been writ-
ing about Musk when he scripted the
voiceover to Apple’s iconic “Think Dif-
kicked off: “Here’s to the crazy ones.
ferent” TV spot that aired in 1997. It
The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-
makers.” And its bold conclusion:
“Because the people who are crazy
enough to think they can change the
world are the ones who do.”
No entrepreneur in our lifetime
has exhibited as much soaring
ambition, guts, tenacity, and passion
to change the world as Musk. And
were equally challenging. Thomas
let’s not forget, his predecessors
Edison was expelled by his first-
grade teacher after only three
months for habitually confused,
disruptive behavior. Nikola Tesla was
diagnosed with OCD, mania, and
hallucinogenic schizophrenia. Henry
Ford, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Albert
Einstein were all posthumously
diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. I don’t
mean to romanticize mental illness;
instead, I’m pointing out how people
have succeeded despite it.
Beyond Musk’s undoubtable
genius and grit, it takes a heavy dose
of hubris to devote one’s life to pio-
neer technologies that promote the
Earth’s sustainability, while simultane-
ously creating an intergalactic escape
hatch if we collectively fail to save the
planet. In keeping with the breath-
taking ambition of his quest, Musk
has certainly suffered many personal
and technical setbacks along the
way. But despite it all, entrepreneurs
should remember Steve Jobs’ words. P H O T O G R A P H B Y A R T S T R E I B E R
Bold, daring entrepreneurship is
messy. It’s complex. But the crazy
ones will get shit done.
Leonard Sherman is the
author of If You’re in
a Dogfight, Become a Cat!