one minute blog: who's your elon?

check this out and lmk what you think

October 04, 2024

For many founders - Elon Musk is the north star. 

It makes sense. The guy is probably the GOAT entrepreneurs:

  • Richest guy in the world

  • Most famous founder

  • Badass - he’s unafraid, goes after the biggest, hardest, problems

He’s incredible…but I’d never want to be him. His family life is a mess, he neglects his health, & he lives a high-stress life. 

“One man’s heaven is another man’s hell.” - some wise monk, probably.

So it begs the question - who do I actually admire? Who’s life/career do I look at and say - ‘gimme one of those’? 

It’s never an exact copy you want, but a useful guide.

For me - I admire creative polymaths. For example, Ben Franklin:

  • As a scientist, he invented Bifocals, and the franklin stove. 

  • In media, he created a successful newspaper (the Pennsylvania Gazette) 

  • In politics, he was a founding father, helped write the constitution & declaration of independence

  • In business, he was CEO of the US postal system, made it efficient and profitable

  • In music, he invented the glass armonica, an instrument that influenced composers like Mozart and Beethoven 

Science, Media, Politics, Business, Music… what a legend.

Jesse Itzler is a modern day example:

  • Started as a white-boy rapper

  • Wrote a few famous jingles (won an emmy) 

  • Entrepreneur (coconut water, private jet company) 

  • Prolific runner / endurance athlete 

  • Lived in a monastery with monks, had david goggins live in his house

  • Wrote a couple great books

  • Married sara blakely, 4-5 kids, seems like a good dad

Why do I love these careers so much? I think it’s because a part of me feels like life is short - that Disneyland will close soon and I wanna ride all the rides before we get kicked out.

Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) once said: "If you want to be successful, find out what the price is and then pay it."

Looking at my examples, here’s what I wrote down for the “price I need to pay”:

I need to…

  • reinvent self and not be afraid to start from scratch (beginner's mind)

  • become a very quick learner

  • be unafraid to do things that I’m clueless at

  • be willing to change my career label, friend circle, and habits every few years. 

These all sound fun. It sounds like me, or at least, what I want to be like. 

So, who’s your Elon? 

- Uncle Shaan

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