"Elon Musk’s Wisconsin Town Hall: The Hard Truth About Building a Useful Business"
In this excerpt from a town hall in Wisconsin, Elon Musk shares his thoughts on entrepreneurship and what it takes to build a successful business. His perspective is practical, candid, and rooted in his own experiences as a founder of multiple companies. Here’s a breakdown of what he’s saying:
1. The Reality of Business Failure: Musk starts by acknowledging a hard truth—most businesses don’t make it. This isn’t meant to discourage but to set a realistic tone. He’s highlighting that success is the exception, not the rule, which makes his advice that follows more grounded.
2. The Core of Success: Usefulness: His central message is that a business succeeds when it offers something people genuinely need or value. Whether it’s a restaurant, a retail store, or a tech venture like Tesla or SpaceX, the key is to create a product or service that improves lives or solves problems. He frames this as “being useful” to others, suggesting that utility drives demand and, ultimately, success.
3. Universal Principle: Musk emphasizes that this idea applies across industries—it doesn’t matter what type of business you’re starting. The question to ask is: “Are you doing things that are useful to your fellow human beings?” If the answer is yes, he believes the business has a strong chance of thriving.
4. The Challenge of Being Useful: While the concept sounds simple, Musk stresses that executing it is tough. Being useful requires understanding people’s needs, delivering quality, and standing out in a competitive world. It’s not enough to have a good idea—you have to make it work in practice, which takes skill and persistence.
5. Respect for Honest Effort: He expresses admiration for anyone who puts in “an honest day’s work” to serve others through their business. This reflects his view of a company as a vehicle for creating value for society, not just for profit or personal gain.
6. Self-Motivation Over Encouragement: Perhaps the most striking part is his closing advice: if you need someone to cheer you on to start a company, you probably shouldn’t do it. Musk implies that entrepreneurship demands an internal drive and resilience—qualities that can’t be borrowed from external encouragement. This aligns with his own track record of pushing through setbacks without relying on outside validation.
In summary, Musk’s take is both inspiring and sobering. He boils business success down to a single principle—be useful—but doesn’t shy away from the difficulty involved. Drawing from his own journey with companies like Tesla and SpaceX, he’s essentially saying: find a real need, fill it well, and don’t expect it to be easy. It’s a no-nonsense pep talk for aspiring entrepreneurs, filtered through his pragmatic, problem-solving lens.
