Apple vs Tesla - Elon Musk vs Steve Jobs

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I am sure many of you have read the book by Walter Isaacson on Steve Jobs and Ashlee Vance's book on Elon.
I particularly liked Ashlee Vance's book because it portrays some of the difficult situations Elon had to go through in his life.
In 2002, he lost his son who was just a few weeks old. His very difficult relationship with his father, being bullied at school, etc. In 2008, the market was in a super dire situation, he was losing money like crazy and rockets were exploding and he was inches away from losing all his money. On top of that, he was going through a divorce. The book on Steve Job's life by Walter Isaacson is another superb masterpiece. It goes into minute details of his life and psyche.

This comment by Bill Gates about Elon was particularly interesting. There is a lot of discussion on Reddit, Discord on the personalities of Elon and Steve.

 

[Mulezen]

“You wouldn’t walk in a room and confuse them with each other.” But, from afar and ignorant of internet speculation, they seem to have similar management styles, and both run thru/abuse hirelings. I’ve wondered as Musk’s ventures mature how much longer they can be run by him. Perhaps, like Bezos, he’ll go play with his rockets

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

But, from afar and ignorant of internet speculation, they seem to have similar management styles, and both run thru/abuse hirelings.

Yes. The media only shows one side of their story. The number of talented engineers that have been burned out by some of their ideas and projects is quite high.
I believe those two are broken human beings in some way just like the rest of us. They have their dark side and it certainly shows up in their life but they have also created some amazing products that have changed the industry in a lot of ways.
Now, Steve Jobs is dead and I absolutely love his Stanford commencement speech but sometimes I think about how this interaction between Kevin O'Leary might have gone ..

 

[BarryS]

Lust of the flesh

 

[FlatSix911]

I am sure many of you have read the book by Walter Isaacson on Steve Jobs and Ashlee Vance's book on Elon.
I particularly liked Ashlee Vance's book because it portrays some of the difficult situations Elon had to go through in his life.
In 2002, he lost his son who was just a few weeks old. His very difficult relationship with his father, being bullied at school, etc. In 2008, the market was in a super dire situation,
he was losing money like crazy and rockets were exploding and he was inches away from losing all his money. On top of that, he was going through a divorce.
The book on Steve Job's life by Walter Isaacson is another superb masterpiece. It goes into minute details of his life and psyche.

This comment by Bill Gates about Elon was particularly interesting. There is a lot of discussion on Reddit, Discord on the personalities of Elon and Steve.

I agree with Bill's comment that you would never confuse one with another if you were to interact with them... I've been fortunate to meet both.
Having read both books and understanding their backgrounds, I would take Elon over Steve any day of the week... a classic Engineer vs. Marketeer!

 

[FlatSix911]

Yes. The media only shows one side of their story. The number of talented engineers that have been burned out by some of their ideas and projects is quite high.
I believe those two are broken human beings in some way just like the rest of us. They have their dark side and it certainly shows up in their life but they have also created some amazing products that have changed the industry in a lot of ways.
Now, Steve Jobs is dead and I absolutely love his Stanford commencement speech but sometimes I think about how this interaction between Kevin O'Leary might have gone ..

Here's a recent interview with Elon... as an engineer Sandy does a good job covering many technical topics.

Sandy Munro visits Boca Chica Texas to chat with Elon Musk.
Elon and Sandy talk about Tesla production, mega-castings, Model 3 Seats, structural battery packs, MBA’s, short-Sellers, and more.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I agree with Bill's comment that you would never confuse one with another if you were to interact with them... I've been fortunate to meet both.

Thanks for sharing that. Tat must have been an exciting time!
Having met both, perhaps you could share a photo you took at one of those events with us. Here is Elon commenting on Steve Jobs and showing his admiration.

 

[FlatSix911]

Thanks for sharing that. That must have been an exciting time!
Having met both, perhaps you could share a photo you took at one of those events with us.
Here is Elon commenting on Steve Jobs and showing his admiration.

I wish I had taken a photo with Steve or Elon... here's one with Woz!