Elon Musk at Montana Jobs Summit

next speaker is certainly face big very big it dreams big does big things his ideas have been described as excessively cool whether it's PayPal the cars SpaceX obviously as you know when the cofounders of PayPal CEO Tesla drove one of his cars short while they going man they are they got to pick up and go they are really cool SpaceX he always tied in here with Z cast Kozlov SpaceX rocket components are made right here in Butte I am Robyn's family so we're very very proud of all that let's give a big big run applause to Elon Musk all right thanks very much for having me I actually just came from from a/c cast which is a that they make a cast titanium and inconel parts for the SpaceX rocket engines and actually brought all my five kids who are sitting right there [Laughter] [Applause] so that they got to see steel being poured and and then titanium being being poured as well and and creating sophisticated castings they seem pretty excited about that and it was it was kind of like Charlie in the metal Factory I guess so let's see I guess I'll maybe talk a bit about entrepreneurship and technology you know tell me tell you about my experiences and what you know what happened to me and and then I think we're gonna try to reserve as much time as possible for Q&A from the audience and certainly feel free to ask any any and every question and so I can I give the nutshell account because it's getting a little bit long at this point so I I am I arrived in North America when I was about 17 I was born in South Africa but I was actually named after my American great-grandfather so I was returning to my ancestral homeland actually and he was he was John Ilan Haldeman and he was actually from Minnesota and Jerry from the Masonic Minnesota Wisconsin area okay but I want to come to the United States because I think it's it's where great things are possible it's where the technological frontiers are pushed forward and I knew I wanted to be involved in that I don't know exactly how but anyway I went through through college and I ended up at eventually at Stanford with the idea of studying applied physics and material science try to figure out ways to store energy more effectively for electric cars so you can make them go go further and I ended up putting that on hold to start an Internet company in 95 and at the time it wasn't from the perspective of making a lot of money because nobody had made any money on their internet and in 95 but it seems to me that the internet was something that would create effectively line a nervous system for Humanity so whereas previously if you wanted to access information you'd have to go to a library and you know if even even if you went to a lot of libraries you still wouldn't have access to all that much information but but if everything got connected then any of anyone anywhere if you were in sort of a jungle in middle of Amazon jungle in South America or something and you had an internet connection you'd have access to all the world's information in fact you'd have access to more information than that the US President did and let's say 1980 which is it so it'd be pretty incredible and transformative so I thought well I I wanted to be part of helping make that happen and and so I decided to put my studies at Stanford on hold and and start an Internet company initially to help the media companies get online and so we had as investors in customers New York Times company Hearst knight-ridder and so forth and that that ended up working out so we sold that company and then created PayPal and and there the idea behind paper was simply to facilitate payments on the internet because at the time if you bought something from someone you'd have to mail them a check and it would take weeks to conduct the transfer and we we figured out how to make it really fast and easy to transfer funds from one person to another and then that actually grew superfast it grew virally and the key to that was figuring out how to make the friction of signing up for an account very very low and make it easy for one person to refer another and and so as our customer base grew the actual rate of growth grew and this resulted in some initial challenges and scaling because we started off with with five people in customer service and after two months we had a hundred thousand customers so our phone lines exploded basically but we were able to overcome that that those issues and and then eBay bought the company and in 2002 and it and it sort of burned from them so what that did though was gave me the capital to try to do some things that that are a fairly high capital and there were two things there two areas that I really wanted to get into one was sustainable energy production and consumption of energy in a sustainable manner and the other was space exploration and I started off initially with the idea of doing something in the space exploration arena in fact it wasn't actually what the idea of creating a company was initially with the thought of spurring interest in in sending people to Mars so I put together this idea of called Moz Oasis which was to sand a small greenhouse to the surface of Mars and get people excited about the idea of going there and thus increased NASA's budget in order to make it happen and as I got more and more into that I discovered that the the real issue was that the cost of space transportation was really high in fact and it was getting worse so we're used to technology getting better over year but in some arenas that actually does not it goes gets worse particularly when you consider that in 1969 we were able to go to the moon and then we were unable to go beyond low-earth orbit and now with the space shuttle retired we're not even able to go to earth over at all even with people so that's you know that was not the right trajectory so I would actually went to Russia three times to look at buying an ICBM to launch this mission just very crazy very cool so after my third trip of trying to negotiate with the Russians to buy an ICBM and I did actually get a deal so figured out what it would cost and everything but I concluded that my initial assumption had been wrong that it was not a question of trying to generate more will to explore because I think the United States in particular its distillation of the human spirit of exploration people its space exploration is fundamental to the American psyche so but people really need to believe that it can be done and it's not going to break the bank if it does so that's when I decided to start a rocket company and I actually didn't think it would succeed and it almost didn't so we we we saw drove developing a small rocket which was kind of a scale scale model version it was about a hundred thousand pounds of thrust so big you know big by normal standards but small for a rocket and felt the engine and the airframe and the electronics and the guidance control system and and and then proceeded to have three failed launches in a row and so for various technical reasons the the first three launches did not succeed in reaching orbit launches two and three did did get to space but they didn't achieve enough speed to reach orbital velocity and and so this is 2008 and and so we're heading into the recession and we had way too one rocket left and unfortunately in in late 2008 that fourth launch did work and we made it to orbit and then we won a NASA contract after that and and so fortunately things worked out but if that if that fourth launch had not worked then there's basics wouldn't be around so it was very close call if I when I when I started I thought okay I've got enough money I think I've got enough money for three launches unfortunately it was just enough to make that fourth one so in parallel there was there was Tesla and the the impetus for Tesla was was really to to create a compelling electric car and at first I thought there would there would not really be a need for such a thing because other people aware of this but Jim at the time it had created the EB one or electric vehicle one and Toyota done the electric rav4 it had been primarily as a result of regulations from the zero emission mandate States particularly California so they created the these electric vehicles and I thought okay this is great well GM's obviously can go from the ev1 to the ev2 and eb-3 and everything will be fine but when California changes to regulations they actually at GM recalled old eveyone's and and then crushed them in a so that they could never be returned so it was clear that if if a start-up company did not create an electric vehicle and show that it's possible to have an electric car that looks good goes fast has long range and that if you created such a thing that people would buy it then it would be a very long time before the large incumbents did so and so that was the I felt was important that we create Tesla for that reason and and it has also almost died in 2008 and the view as you call the the recession was particularly difficult for for car companies and writers in the summer 2008 we had to raise a big funding round but because of the collapse in the financial system that that funding round didn't didn't happen and we had to piece together the money to keep the company going from myself and the existing investors and were able to just come to complete a financing around that was just barely enough to keep the company going and we closed it on the last hour of the last day that it was possible to do so it was it was Christmas Eve 2000 2008 6:00 p.m. and after that the investors would would have had they were going on vacation wouldn't have been possible to bring them back to the table and we would have run out of money a few days after Christmas so that was also close cool so while things are going really well these days I think it's always important to remember that when you're creating a company there are very dark times and it's about getting through those those dark times that that's the difference between success and failure so of course now things are actually going pretty well for for Tesla may they stay that way and and also for SpaceX we've got the Model S which is in production and it's the it was like Consumer Reports gave it a 99 out of 100 which it's actually the highest score that Consumer Reports has ever given a car of any kind was given to the Model S [Applause] and and then the when the federal government did the safety tests it actually also got the the highest safety rating of any car ever including minivans and SUVs so for a sedan and area so that's let's that's going pretty well and we're actually exporting a lot of the cars to Europe currently and then we start exporting to Asia and it's funny exercise running like we got these incredibly good rates for shipping goods to China because all these container ships come in full and they go back empty so it's real cheap to ship things to China so we'll start doing that in first quarter and then with SpaceX we've got a launch coming up which is our next generation rocket because the the the the key thing for rocketry the key breakthrough that's needed is to create a fully reusable rocket because I think what SpaceX has done less polished evolutionary but not revolutionary in order for that to occur you have to bring the rocket back to the launch pad and be able to relaunch it again and write it just like it has to be reusable and much in the way that an airplane or a car or or any other mode of transport is reusable so that's the that's kind of the Holy Grail goal of spaceflight which we're we're hoping to make progress towards but it's very risky so there's there's a good chance that the upcoming launch could go wrong it's currently slated for the end of this month and hopefully that that goes well it's always a tricky thing with with rocket business because you can't issue a recall or you know send us off for a patch or anything after the rocket lifts off nine minutes later it's either in orbit or it's exploded yeah it's nervous nine minutes all right so with with those introductory or monks let's let's just go to Q&A under happy to answer any questions you have yeah I think the one question lined up the student by presidency of Montana zane somehow magically seen is going to appear on the screen as good question okay Zane well in terms of influencing public policy I'm not sure we've been particularly successful in influencing public policy but but we've been able to go with the flow of what other people are doing to influence public policy I think so in you know in the case of electric vehicles GM was a big proponent of an electric vehicle tax credit to help with the eb1 or not the v1 I mean the the vault and and then Nissan was also a big proponent of that so that they have a lot more influence than intellibid serve me so but we were able to kind of go with them in that direction maybe add a little bit to to the influence on that front and then on the on the space side we've been arguing for a greater share of that more of space should be commercial and I think that's that there's been some success in that direction well though it's still a very small part of the NASA budget it's it's maybe a seven or eight percent of the NASA budget so it's still slow pelvis is fairly small so I wouldn't I wouldn't say we've been particularly successful in influencing you know policy but but we have taken note of where policy what general policy directions are happening and then trying to you know go along with those yeah on the truth I'll ask the first question that we know but it up you it said something which is very interested in true that is it's every business started up reaches a point where the clouds are dark yes and it's leaving yourself and going through with the Tesla and also in the SpaceX a couple of times you almost lost it most companies all over the country and also like clear in our state will face issues like that could you just tell us a little bit more about how you dealt with those dark moments yeah sure because I think that's pretty key to succeeding absolutely so I think so when you when you create a company I mean if you well what is a company really a company is a group of people gather together to create a product or service and that that's really all the company is and so you have to really believe in what you're creating and and that it's and and and know in your heart and mind that this is something that matters that and and and that the world ought to have and I think it's important to investors to to show that that you were you're all in and I think for example with with Tesla the fact that I invested all the money I had literature literally I had to borrow money from friends to pay the rent and in 2008 the fact so the fact that I was all in I think was hugely made a huge difference to to the investors to convince them to invest in and in Tesla at the same time that that GM and Chrysler were we're going bankrupt and yeah I think you have to show that you really care like it's like you you you've got skin in the game that if you've given it everything that you've got and then the other people the company will follow suit as well investors I think that's really important and yeah did that oppose SpaceX and Tesla like that that's that's really really fundamental and then when you hire people or really what you're trying to when you hire people that just means you're convincing people to join you in in the endeavor you should hire people that are they're also passionate about what you're doing so it's not just that they're not just there for the salary that they really need to care about what what they're doing and and then that then they will stay during the dark times thank you lon wait nice question I just see your five sons in the front row of gleams beer and I went to see your dad nobody Oh why would six seven months ago I saw your photographs on the wall alone has five boys three triplets and two twins and I want to know your dad is really proud really proud of of all you talked about you and on this wall there okay first question yes sure what I mean I think that the reason it's important to develops a sustainable energy production consumption is that even if even if one ignores the environmental consequences and and and says okay well simply a scarce resource well unless we move towards something that is sustainable that will be there in the long term then leaving aside any questions of environmental impact will face economic collapse if we run out of fuel to burn and and then put in vehicles so in my initial interest in Tintin in sustainable energy production and consumption was actually not driven from an environmental standpoint although I do think there are environmental consequences but rather from the importance of the continuance of human solute civilization which we were before we would face a disaster if we do not find some alternate means to power society and and and travel and and and I well although the scarcity issue will only become really serious maybe towards the end of the century because of the enormous industrial base of power generation and transport it will take decades to transform that to a sustainable system so we must take action now in order to avoid a calamity towards the end of the century I think sustainable production consumption of energies is the most important terrestrial problem that we face in the 21st century well the the overarching goal of SpaceX is to develop technologies that will enable the establishment of a permanent city on Mars a self-sustaining base on Mars and we'll try to get as far in that direction as possible because I think the future Humanity is fundamentally different if we are a spacefaring civilization and multi-planet species compared to one where we are not and I think both for defensive reasons and essentially to have life insurance to life itself on another planet and pull frankly the the adventure of it I think we ought to do that sort of thing and and I actually personally am sort of more motivated by the fact that it would just be the greatest adventure if any of us would like to join you all I realized I was at a no card I should've been dressing people the question is that the microphones that's why they lined up over there okay yes over there mr. musk welcome to Montana and I have to tell you that you've been one of my great heroes ever since Jeremy Clarkson on top gear fell in love with an electric car thank you very much for that my question for you is how do you balance your capacity for risk your risk tolerance against your desire to continue to innovate how do you manage to to weigh the two because with Tesla you went all-in right so how how do you reconcile that that risk with yourself knowing that this last project could very well be you know the end versus your desire to to keep innovating with the Hyperloop or whatever innovations you have down the pike sure um well I mean at the end of the day I I you know I think that what I mean I was certainly facing the loss of all assets I mean technically it would have been negative because it would have been owing people money but I but I figured I could always make enough to you know already spot her enough to pay the rent and and you know buy food and that kind of thing so I didn't think we would starve or lack for shelter although it would be would have been sad to not have lost all the assets gained from prior companies but really the toughest decision was was not whether to invest the money into Tesla it was really that had Tesla and SpaceX and that the tough decision was if if I if I split the money between the two companies then it's possible that both may still have died and so I I had to decide would I dedicate funds to just one company or and let the other one die for sure or split the funds between the two companies and that's that that was really that was the really difficult decision okay couple more questions keep them very short please it works right answers yeah dust and young Montana Department of Commerce thank you for your time mr. musk my question relates to v's and electrical storage on the grid and what your thoughts are on that and what your company is doing to move that forward sure um I do you think that we'll need to pair solar power with grid storage with battery storage and and I don't think actually using the car is going to be ideal solution because people I usually want to use their car and their house so I think but this is often suggested and it is true that the the car has a big battery and and so one could use a map perhaps in an emergency but I think what we'll need to do is have a moderate amount of a pack of stationary pack storage combined with Sola and then an electric car but and I think that works over here yes sorry thank you for on your presentation today and my question to you really is is a young man who's out there Saoirse for himself and as many of my generation are we have jobs not really careers and we're searching we're continuously facing employment how do we convert that a yellow ideology of space future and energy and how do we personalize it so that we ourselves can convert this energy into something meaningful how do we get involved okay well I think you could either work work at a company in those arenas or or say okay what's some important piece of the puzzle in rockets or cars or something and then put together a group of people and figure out how to make that piece of the puzzle super good and and that's that's a I think that best way to do it over here good morning math sergeant from headframe spirits here in Butte I'm wondering how a rural state like Montana can increase its technology economy you know what lessons have you learned from Silicon Valley that could apply here in small-town America well I mean the most important thing is people so you need to gather together a group of Engineers essentially to create technology and that's what engineers do they create technology and and but you have to have a critical mass of such such people that's equal to the task that you attempt to complete so that's the most important thing critical mass of people thank you over here hey max Ilan right on John right on John innovations Elon it's please a pleasure to talk to you here oh you're like myself here except you with innovation but you have more money so I started out with zero though yes I'm at that this point rate at this point I have innovations that could actually move SpaceX the tunnel even Tesla car what would be the easiest way to be in contact with you to bring ideas forward well you can send an email to yo and musk office at SpaceX comm if you'd like that's okay all right and can i I do have a sheet right here with my with my info if I could leave it with somebody all right okay thank you very much go get that dog okay yes hello my name is Jackson I'm a sentinel high school or from Missoula Montana thank you for coming and I want to know what is the one thing that is surprised to you about your life oh one thing well well I certainly I'm surprised by the whole thing I wanna see I certainly didn't expect to be to be 20 of these things to happen honestly yeah I just do I knew I wanted to be involved in technology and in fact the only reason I started a company back in 95 and here at company was because I couldn't get it there were only a few internet companies and I couldn't get a job at any of them I try to get a job at at Netscape and sent my resume and I tried hanging out in the lobby but I was too shy to talk to anyone and and there's like okay well I guess I'll have to start a company because I can't get a job anywhere thank you [Music] my name's Toby macadam I have a company called Rising Sun hell I deal with government regulations what do you think of them I've actually dealing with the FDA and after talking to Senator Baucus I've had 5050 and attorneys and they spend three and a half million dollars wearing a middle of a consensus we've got they have 15 attorneys after I've talked to senator Baucus and Senator tester we end up with 15 attorneys on the FDA and they've signed a consent decree but government regulation what do you think of those are they two strictest with the FDA they haven't had a regular they haven't had a I guess since 1995 but they keep changing the rules in right now in the last three years more fatales have been in the previous 50 yeah I mean I think we probably are getting a bit too regulated right well I know I think generally with with laws and regulations I think I think they should all come with with some sort of a sunset clause in every case otherwise they're just they have infinite line well I do think I mean I do think that there ought to be standards bodies I'm not you know it's sort of sort of I'm not completely libertarian in the sense of like I don't think there should be regulations at all I just think that that the natural bias of regulations is to last forever unless there are actively I mean you have to actively delete a regulation or a law you know what the way things are set up in most lost of some walls have sunset provisions and and the problem with that is you you get bested interests who like that law and and and there's a an inertia around it and so over time the body of law and regulations grows and grows and grows and it I mean it is as something that I think is is not ultimately good for society so in fact I think it would generally be a good idea to have it such that it's hard to establish a rule and easy to remove one what you're saying is the rules should be consistently used to all companies well sure of course absolutely that's that's fair thank you one couple more very quick we're already over the end there's a big sign here that says the end brother Craig Sundberg you know I'm just I'm just been interesting yeah go ahead I just sighs been hosting space travel and one of the problems where they've had was the lack of gravity and the fix of that on the human body I was wondering how your company has made progress in that area so that you know causation of Mars at some point can be possible sure well the zero gravity or on the way to Mars it's not too much of a problem because people have actually shown that they can live for over a year in zero gravity and you know your bones do get a little thinner but they come back and they're walking around they're doing fine so I think I think the zero gravity Trent you know spending 3 to 6 months in zero gravity is not a problem and and and then one can deal with the solar radiation for solar storms essentially by having a column of water between you and the Sun so on your spaceship you orient the spaceship so that the there's a column of water between you and the Sun they'll take care of the the solar storms thank you we're gonna have to wrap up you're really very so we're way with it's bent we're it's a little tell you this sign the ends been nothing but 10 minutes oh yeah that's [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you

Channel: MontanaJobsSummit

Views: 75,384

Keywords: Elon Musk, Max Baucus, Montana, Montana Jobs Summit, Montana Economic Development Summit, SpaceX, Tesla Motors (Organization)

Id: fWCCcgVwNJ0

Length: 35min 23sec (2123 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 15 2013