Elon Musk works more than 100hrs a week. He manages multiple billion-dollar companies and is still growing and expanding.
And you’ll definitely be wondering how he can do that. We are going to decode that today. We’ll uncover those secrets for you.
Elon Musk is already quite busy, doing unreal stuff in each of his companies. People wonder how does Elon Musk run his company? Elon Musk runs 5 totally different companies, with the latest addition being Twitter. Elon Musk uses his skill, insane dedication, and tactics to run his company.
We’ll try to put forth useful insights that can help you also be better at managing. So let’s jump right in.
How Does Elon Musk manage all his companies?
So, how does Elon Musk manage companies? Elon Musk manages companies such as Zip2, PayPal, Solar City, SpaceX, Tesla, Boring Company, OpenAI, Neuralink, and Twitter using his cooperation, extreme work ethic, and great teams.
The vast majority of people fail to even run 1 company properly. Elon Musk is doing what still seems to be impossible. He is managing these companies with totally unpredictable aspirations, and he is still successful. This makes people wonder how Elon Musk manages companies.
His insane work ethics have ensured that he might become a trillionaire someday.
1) Insane Cooperation in Elon Musk’s Companies
Before talking about Elon Musk’s Cooperation, check out this fascinating case of Sharks and Remora Fishes.
Remora Fishes are fishes that travel alongside Big Sharks. They both are different creatures, and biologically they do not have many similarities. Infact Remora Fishes could be food for Sharks.
But they have this unique relation, where the Remora Fish feed on the remains of Shark’s food. The shark shares its food because in return the Remora Fish eats parasite from the shark’s body and keeps it clean and healthy.
Elon Musk manages two companies in a similar manner. His companies include the Remora Fish and Sharks. His companies don’t have much in common, and should technically be fighting against one another demanding time from Elon Musk.
This is a relation where 2 independent species, who logically should be struggling against one another for getting a hold on resources, are mutually cooperative, such that both of them benefit.
Elon uses the same mindset when managing all his companies. He would hopefully do the same with Twitter. Elon Musk after purchase of Twitter for $44 Billion would use it to further solidify his positive feedback loop. This would be another major company to work on in his already busy schedule. It would be interesting to see How Elon Musk uses his cooperation tactics with Twitter.
The same is what Elon Musk does. Elon Musk manages all his companies such that 2 distinct businesses with almost 0 similarities can cooperate and benefit both companies.
2) Secret To Elon Musk Managing Companies – Positive Feedback Loop
Here we need to know that there’s an absurd amount of hard work and time invested by Elon Musk to manage all his companies. It’s by no means an easy task to do.
He is no Alien/Super Human/God, but still, Elon Musk manages all his companies effectively. He runs these companies such that his companies complement one another.
What Elon Musk does magically is create a positive feedback loop. A positive feedback loop is when many nodes are interlinked with one another such that they form a circle. Anything good happening in one of the nodes results in the next node benefitting, leading to the node after that benefitting, and so on. This goes on untill every node recieves the benefit from the previous node. At one point the initial node too gains a benefit, which again restarts the loop.
Elon Musk implements a positive feedback loop to manage all his companies. If one of his companies grows, the growth is indirectly passed on to another company. It keeps going untill all companies benefit and the loop returns back to initial company. The initial company too benefits from the previous company, thus restarting a loop.
The benefit passed onto another company can be in the form of finance, resources, technology, marketing, etc. This way any growth in one of his companies, results in a growth in all of his companies in one way or the other. Truly, he is a master of growing and managing all his companies effectively.
3) Examples of Insane Cooperation in Companies
Here’s an example of Elon Musk helping his companies be in a mutually beneficial situation. Elon Musk’s 2 Biggest Companies Tesla and SpaceX, cooperate on many levels. And Elon Musk manages two companies by integrating both companies to benefit one another.
SpaceX supporting Tesla
Tesla Roadster has the pride to call itself the first production car, to be able to break 0-60 records in under 2 seconds. In fact in 1.9 seconds. What is even more interesting is that these specs were for the base model.
This implies that the cheapest model, wait ‘CHEAP!!!’ Not a cheap, less expensive model, will have these exciting specs. Other models would be far ahead in the race.
Elon Musk in 2018 stated that the new roadster would have 10 small SpaceX rockets attached to it, to boost its speed as a part of its more expensive models. These 10 rockets would further accelerate the Tesla Roadster and make it airborne for a while. This is one of the popular examples of how Elon Musk manages two companies.
Building rockets for a car company would have been really tough, but he leveraged his other company to benefit Tesla.
SpaceX on its manned missions to the ISS uses Tesla Model X to take astronauts from the building to the rocket giving Tesla free publicity.
Tesla Supporting SpaceX
Similarly, Tesla helps SpaceX, as Tesla provides SpaceX with Solar Panels for electricity in their buildings. This would benefit SpaceX and reduce its expenses.
So, as you saw, the answer to how Elon Musk manages two companies is simply by cooperating among both of them such that both of them benefit.
Similarly, he started a company called “OpenAI” to keep a check on AI as the main motive, but he also uses it to make AI algorithms for the Autopilot of Tesla’s Model S, X, and 3. Often we see profit opportunity as a factor for starting a new company, though this is why you should decide on your new venture, and be efficient and profitable in running both.
The above were just a few of dozens of examples.
While it is impossible to accurately learn how Elon Musk manages two companies, if you are interested you can definitely learn to multitask and work like Elon Musk, then do check out How to Improve Your Multitasking Skills Easily
4) How does Elon Musk manage his Time using Problem Solving Attitude
Elon Musk believes in solving all problems/hurdles that come in his life. Elon Musk manages companies through deep integrations and symbiosis between them.
Like he felt it was difficult to commute from Tesla to SpaceX headquarter, day in and day out. So he started a company called Boring Company, and it is not ‘boring’ it here means tunnel boring machines.
It is building tunnels called Hyperloops that would use electric pods to transfer people in their cars at extremely fast speeds. This is possible only because Elon Musk with his brilliant mind, used one company to help grow the other.
The relationship between Boring Company and Tesla is another example of how Elon Musk manages two companies. Such cooperations have helped Elon Musk manage companies effectively.
Elon Musk also invests in tools that help him save time. Elon Musk manages his time very effectively. He tried to sleep only 6 hours a day, and work for the rest of the time. He himself wanted to sleep less than 6 hours. He even tried that but he found his overall productivity to decrease on less sleep.
Some other things that allow Elon Musk manages his time include his private jet, which allows him to travel to different factories, headquarters, and various other places quickly and at will. This helps Elon Musk manage his time effectively. Such lavish yet necessary purchases are made possible by Elon Musk’s insane wealth.
5) How Does Elon Musk Manage His Employees?
Businesses are run by large groups of people, who need to work together for the best results. Elon Musk has different companies, which have their headquarters far away.
Elon Musk has his own private jet allowing him easy travel whenever needed, but still, it’s not possible to be at all places every day.
I analyzed Elon Musk’s ability to build great teams. Do check out our in-depth analysis of Elon Musk’s leadership qualities. But for now, we shall focus on how did Elon Musk manage companies that are so distinct in their goals and work environments.
Gwynne Shotwell
One of the keys to how Elon Musk runs his companies is by having great employees like Gwynne Shotwell.
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell is largely responsible for the day-to-day operations of SpaceX, which reduces a lot of the burden on Elon Musk to focus on the future machines.
It is said that Elon Musk used to personally interview many candidates for recruitment during the initial days of the company so that he could give his company a strong and trustable foundation.
Elon Musk goes to extreme lengths to find great talent that would take companies to the then unimaginable heights.
His ability to find great talent is another secret to how Elon Musk manages companies. His sense of great talent can be seen in Gwynne Shotwell.
Gwynne Shotwell was satisfied with her previous job, when she was asked by SpaceX to “just come in and meet Elon”, a meeting that typically should have lasted not more than 10 minutes, lead to the recruitment of one of the most important employees of SpaceX, “He was compelling—scary, but compelling,” Shotwell said.
That aura of Elon Musk and the influence he can have on other people’s minds was really crucial part of the Elon Musk’s life
Elon Musk And Gwynne ShotwellThe ability of Elon Musk to find flaws, and his knowledge/understanding would motivate people like Gwynne Shotwell to leave a high-paying job, work for SpaceX, and change the world.
Similarly, after buying Twitter, Elon Musk is likely to make a great team with Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal, who will help Musk run his new company easily.
Elon Musk also reads a lot of books, freely talks to a lot of people, and gains a lot of exposure.
Distractions can really make it impossible that Elon Musk manages all his companies effectively as a result they do their best to minimize failures.
Being distracted can make it impossible to achieve the goal of having Elon Musk manage companies effectively.
So how does Elon Musk manage all his companies by avoiding distractions?
Tesla is a car company, but unlike almost every other car company, Tesla has not spent even a single buck on marketing. They do not buy billboards, TV ads, or YouTube/FaceBook ads, as a result. Elon Musk does not have to worry about marketing.
Conclusion
Elon Musk is not superhuman, but his clever management tricks and ability to make his multiple companies work together with the Unified Field Theory of Elon Musk for overall Growth.
His undying spirit, and ability to work hard for a long time, and close to 100 hrs a week, have largely made it possible that Elon Musk manages all his companies at the same time.
This vision and hard work are important for surviving. Without it, companies start to die. Look at Apple, for example, after Steve Jobs Apple is no more innovative. Learn more about How Apple is dying slowly.
Elon Musk is a true inspiration, and it’s still amazing how Elon Musk manages companies effectively. The effort and the hard work make the impossible task real.
He faces tough competition from all industries. Blue Origin is constantly aiming to bring down SpaceX. The whole Gasoline Gang is willing to bring down Tesla. Yet Elon Musk stands unafraid.
For those of you who skipped my entire content, and skipped to the very end, for summary, here you go: Elon Musk manages two companies by making multiple companies work together in a way that both of them benefit from each other. Elon Musk has a talented team that manages tasks and helps Elon Musk manage companies by reducing unnecessary activities in his companies like there is no marketing team in Tesla. Besides that, unlike most people who dream of 40 hr work week, Elon Musk works for 80+ hrs, frequently touching 100 hrs of work in a week.
#ElonMusk #SpaceX #Tesla #UnifiedFieldTheory #SNL #Dogefather
Comments