I respect Elon Musk immensely for what he has accomplished. Leading SpaceX and Tesla to market dominance at the same time is insanely impressive! The guy is obviously very brilliant and very driven.
But I don't envy him one bit. I remember an interview with Elon where they asked him why he doesn't just relax, now that he has so much money. And he replied that he's not the type of guy who can sit on the beach. After a couple days he gets so antsy, he has to go do something incredible (like start the next multi-billion dollar company).
I would rather be the guy who is able to sit still and be at peace (even if it means I just have a "regular" job, whatever that means). Why? Because Elon doesn't have a choice. He HAS to start the next multi-billion dollar company. He makes it look like it's his choice, but it really isn't. Put him anywhere else, and he would probably be the most miserable person on the planet. Even if he DOES successfully IPO all his companies and becomes worth $10 billion (instead of just $1 billion), he will not be one bit more satisfied. Because it's not like the additional $9 billion will give him the thing he's missing. If it were like that, then the first $1 million would've taken care of that (or the first $2 million, whatever). And so after his current companies succeed, he'll have to do it all over again. And then again.
Compare this to someone who could decide to work hard and strive to be successful, but doesn't HAVE to. (i.e. he wouldn't feel terrible if he wasn't insanely successful)
So while I think Elon is a totally awesome entrepreneur, I don't envy being him.
But I don't envy him one bit. I remember an interview with Elon where they asked him why he doesn't just relax, now that he has so much money. And he replied that he's not the type of guy who can sit on the beach. After a couple days he gets so antsy, he has to go do something incredible (like start the next multi-billion dollar company).
I would rather be the guy who is able to sit still and be at peace (even if it means I just have a "regular" job, whatever that means). Why? Because Elon doesn't have a choice. He HAS to start the next multi-billion dollar company. He makes it look like it's his choice, but it really isn't. Put him anywhere else, and he would probably be the most miserable person on the planet. Even if he DOES successfully IPO all his companies and becomes worth $10 billion (instead of just $1 billion), he will not be one bit more satisfied. Because it's not like the additional $9 billion will give him the thing he's missing. If it were like that, then the first $1 million would've taken care of that (or the first $2 million, whatever). And so after his current companies succeed, he'll have to do it all over again. And then again.
Compare this to someone who could decide to work hard and strive to be successful, but doesn't HAVE to. (i.e. he wouldn't feel terrible if he wasn't insanely successful)
So while I think Elon is a totally awesome entrepreneur, I don't envy being him.