Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future Paperback – Illustrated, January 24, 2017

For those of us familiar with the work of Ashlee Vance, it will come as no surprise that this is one incredibly well-written book. His pieces for Bloomberg Businessweek and the New York Times were always well thought out and thoroughly researched - and, like Elon, Ashlee was born in South Africa so it came as no surprise that his biography of Musk is very engaging and provides an in-depth view into his business methodologies and companies. Vance writes about Musk in an objective way that is straightforward and educational. I was hooked from the first page through the last - I could not put the book down!The book begins by covering the early years of Musk’s life. He does not spend too much time delving into his childhood but just enough for the reader to understand how these first critical years shaped Musk to become the driven man he is today. He discusses his upbringing in South Africa (which I assume he can somewhat relate to), followed by his time in Canada ultimately how he made it to the United States. A majority of the book covers his time in the United States because the book mostly discusses the creation of his companies.That said, one of the main reasons I enjoyed this book so much is because Vance writes as much about Elon Musk as a person as he does Musk the inventor and entrepreneur. While most things that I have read about Elon Musk focus on his businesses acumen, very few sources shine a light on him as a human being, which I think is important. The parts about his relationships past and present were discussed with open honesty and make him somewhat relatable - a difficult feat in this age of "celebrity" idolization. When I have discussed people like Elon with my son, I remind him that we are all human beings, and humans being, and it is important to focus on the hard work and dedication instead of the celebrity. I feel like this book helps manage peoples' expectations around what it actually takes to be successful.Vance does an excellent job of covering the beginning of Musk’s career including his companies Zip2 and Paypal. Vance then covers the history of Tesla and SpaceX and the hard work and determination (and dare I say some luck?) that it took for those companies to reach success. The book discusses the complexities of Musk’s companies and his unique thought process that helped make these companies the powerhouses they are today. Vance delves into the inventive mind of Musk and writes about it in a way that is inspiring for those looking to pursue their own dreams and aspirations.Before I bought this book, I read a review that stated that the reviewer was disappointed that Vance didn’t discuss in-depth details of the technology behind Musk’s companies. I believe that is actually a good thing. It makes the book easy to read for those who aren’t technologically savvy and helps protect what I assume are trade secrets.This book is for anyone who is interested in learning more about Elon Musk or anyone who is interested in learning about what it takes to run a very successful company or in Musk’s case, numerous successful companies. This is not a puff piece but more an honest, nonbiased biography about one of the world’s most interesting people. I have already recommended it to a few friends who are both fans of Elon's and those who are focused on business as a career. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

There is an article on Business Insider titled “Steve Jobs Vs. Elon Musk – Which Tech Legend Actually Accomplished More” which was inspired by the question “Who is the next Steve Jobs?”. That has been a big question to people since the passing of Steve Jobs. The judgement has been left to many fanatics of the Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs. But to Musk, when asked about trying to emulate Steve Jobs, he simply responded “No”. Then what is the legend that he is building? The answer can be found in Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, a biography written by Ashlee Vance and published in 2015. For the first time Musk has consented to cooperate with an author to tell his life’s story. He respected Vance’s determination and inability to take “no” for an answer. In fact, this is how Musk operates as well. This book provides genuine insights into Musk’s life by elaborately recounting his life’s events in conjunction with recording different perspectives of people close to him.The book does not only give us his side though, but spends just as much time highlighting his vision and talents as it does illustrating his deep rooted flaws and massive ego. By doing this, it captures how Elon Musk can be a brilliant innovator as well as being overly demanding and critical of both his employees and family. Musk’s motivations are conveyed especially well throughout the biography and help to give insight into his immense drive as well as his choice of start ups. It was particularly interesting reading about the evolution in Musk’s character and motivations after his near death experience with Malaria. Including experiences such as these help to explain how adversity has helped to mold Elon Musk into the man he is today and are some of the most interesting parts to read through.It also captures much of his personal life including some of Musk’s highest highs and lowest lows. And without a doubt one of his lowest points covered in the book, is his divorce with his ex-wife and the mother of his five children. The book provides extensive detail of this time period and shows the reader how Musk was not always the media darling he sometimes appears to be today. The author gives us personal details of Musk’s divorce and how it was made into a public spectacle in which he played the villain. This came at a time when his businesses were failing and he was at risk of losing everything. However, the book does a good job transitioning from this low point into some of Musk’s greatest accomplishments and his experience finding new love.Vance covers many aspects of Musk’s life, but one of the things the book focuses on is the company he is most well known for, Tesla. It takes us from the beginnings of Tesla, and shows us the successes and failures of the company, and reminds us why Elon Musk is a household name, summing the company up in one statement, “Tesla had transformed the car into a gadget.” Throughout the book, we are reminded how Tesla has created a car that is more than a means of transportation; it’s an extension of our gadgets. Reading about Musk’s dreams and then seeing the process of him creating those dreams was inspiring. At the very end of the book, Musk states that he “would like to die on Mars.” This book shows us a man who, through failure, has succeeded but won’t stop until he has accomplished all he plans to accomplish.