The Wired Entrepreneur: The Early Years of Elon Musk
The Wired Entrepreneur: The Early Years of Elon Musk
He might have dropped out of Stanford University after just two days, but Elon Musk was no slouch when it came to learning. He just wanted to do things his own way. Indeed, Musk moved all the way from his hometown in South Africa to pursue his ideas on cutting edge technology in North America. The first company he founded, Zip2, would be sold to Compaq for $307 million in cash. His second company, PayPal, was not only later sold to eBay for $1.5 billion, but it changed the way the world does business online. Now, Musk is turning his attention to the skies, producing space launch vehicles with his new company SpaceX. This is one entrepreneur who puts no limits on his dreams.
Those dreams began on June 28, 1971 in South Africa. Born to a South African engineer father and a Canadian dietician mother, Musk’s father had a strong impact on the young boy’s life. He inspired Musk’s love of technology. When Musk was just ten years old, he bought himself his first computer. Not knowing anything about computers to begin with, Musk taught himself how to program. Just two years later, he had created a space game called Blaster, and was selling it commercially.
When Musk was 17 years old, he graduated from Pretoria Boys High and decided to leave home against his parents’ wishes. He did not want to take part in the South African military’s compulsory service. “I don’t have an issue with serving in the military per se,” says Musk, “but serving in the South African army suppressing black people just didn’t seem like a really good way to spend time.”
Musk decided to make North America his next home. “I think South Africa is a great country,” he says. However, “if you wanted to be close to the cutting edge, particularly in technology, you came to North America.” Musk first made his way to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Even with working part-time jobs, Musk found he was barely making ends meet, living on just $1 a day. His fate would soon change, however, when he was awarded a prestigious scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. “Tuition costs are outrageous,” he recalls. “Fortunately, they gave me a scholarship…so I only had to cover living expenses, books, etc., by working.”
Musk graduated from Wharton with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He decided to stay in Pennsylvania for another year to complete a second bachelor’s degree in physics. At that point, Musk was not quite sure what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew there were three “important problems” that he wanted to get into: “One was the Internet, one was clean energy and one was space.”
In 1995, Musk was accepted into a high energy physics graduate program at Stanford University. After just two days, he decided it was not for him and dropped out. He had an idea for a company and he figured a graduate degree would not get him any closer to achieving his goals.
The Wired Entrepreneur The Early Years of Elon Musk
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“I didn’t really expect to make any money,” he says of his first venture. “If I could make enough to cover the rent and buy some food that would be fine. As it turns out, it turned out to be quite valuable in the end.”
He might have dropped out of Stanford University after just two days, but Elon Musk was no slouch when it came to learning. He just wanted to do things his own way. Indeed, Musk moved all the way from his hometown in South Africa to pursue his ideas on cutting edge technology in North America. The first company he founded, Zip2, would be sold to Compaq for $307 million in cash. His second company, PayPal, was not only later sold to eBay for $1.5 billion, but it changed the way the world does business online. Now, Musk is turning his attention to the skies, producing space launch vehicles with his new company SpaceX. This is one entrepreneur who puts no limits on his dreams.
Those dreams began on June 28, 1971 in South Africa. Born to a South African engineer father and a Canadian dietician mother, Musk’s father had a strong impact on the young boy’s life. He inspired Musk’s love of technology. When Musk was just ten years old, he bought himself his first computer. Not knowing anything about computers to begin with, Musk taught himself how to program. Just two years later, he had created a space game called Blaster, and was selling it commercially.
When Musk was 17 years old, he graduated from Pretoria Boys High and decided to leave home against his parents’ wishes. He did not want to take part in the South African military’s compulsory service. “I don’t have an issue with serving in the military per se,” says Musk, “but serving in the South African army suppressing black people just didn’t seem like a really good way to spend time.”
Musk decided to make North America his next home. “I think South Africa is a great country,” he says. However, “if you wanted to be close to the cutting edge, particularly in technology, you came to North America.” Musk first made his way to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Even with working part-time jobs, Musk found he was barely making ends meet, living on just $1 a day. His fate would soon change, however, when he was awarded a prestigious scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. “Tuition costs are outrageous,” he recalls. “Fortunately, they gave me a scholarship…so I only had to cover living expenses, books, etc., by working.”
Musk graduated from Wharton with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He decided to stay in Pennsylvania for another year to complete a second bachelor’s degree in physics. At that point, Musk was not quite sure what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew there were three “important problems” that he wanted to get into: “One was the Internet, one was clean energy and one was space.”
In 1995, Musk was accepted into a high energy physics graduate program at Stanford University. After just two days, he decided it was not for him and dropped out. He had an idea for a company and he figured a graduate degree would not get him any closer to achieving his goals.
The Wired Entrepreneur The Early Years of Elon Musk
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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