Elon Musk - Pain, Suffering and Survival

Summary

In early 2007, Robert Downey, the hero of the Iron Man, visited SpaceX and had a close chat with Elon Musk. He succeeded in his movie and praised the inspiration he got from Elon. Then Elon was gradually accepted by the mass and became more like a public figure. He enjoyed glories and admiration from others before the middle of 2007. As 2007 rolled into 2008, Musk suffered from his divorced marriage and failures in Tesla and SpaceX. His friends accompanied him to England to have a vacation. He met his second wife there. They got married months later.

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Thoughts

He would say that everything we did was a function of our burn rate and that we were burning through a hundred thousand dollars per day. It was this very entrepreneurial, Silicon Valley way of thinking that none of the aerospace engineers in Los Angeles were dialed into. Sometimes he wouldn’t let you buy a part for two thousand dollars because he expected you to find it cheaper or invent something cheaper. 

Other times, he wouldn’t flinch at renting a plane for ninety thousand dollars to get something to Kwaj because it saved an entire workday, so it was worth it.

目前看到的这一章内容里对两个公司的介绍要少了，主要是集中在Elon的第一段婚姻的糟糕结束和第二段婚姻的火速开始，先不说这个。因为看到这里插进去的一段关于Elon对时间和金钱的观念，特别想称赞他。“把钱花在刀刃上”“不让精力有丝毫的松懈和浪费”。这么草草看来有点像是纯粹的理性思维和资本主义的以金钱为重。其实不然，即使是以国家为支撑的产业也并没有实现质和量的突破，多数时候都是100个次品中出一个精品，浪费时间和精力不说，还让人更加的绝望，这也是很多中国知识分子，国家公务员30年前下海经商的一个由头。待在体制内，责任意识就会削弱，反正只要安分守己就不会殃及到我。Elon是商人，但是是一个有理想和抱负的商人，所以呢，就会出现这两种情况的平衡。一方面他愿意倾尽所有发展，另一方面，钱和精力的话费必须看到回报。

这一点对我是有启发的，做一件事情，在温饱和理想之间，如果不平衡，要么穷死要么愤青，哈哈，就是会把失败归结到外界的时机不成熟。而看看Elon在工作上的态度是从来不认输，从来不放弃，从来不怪外界，从来不推卸责任。勇者，智者，都是他。学习他的勇气，坚持他的韧劲～

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Words and Expressions

“ Instead of visualizing how life might have been for Hughes, Downey could perhaps get a taste of the real thing.”

“get a taste of ”

[释义]get/develop a taste of something = acquire a taste for something (formal) 

to start to like something

[例句] At university she developed a taste for performing.

[造句] Some people are born to love painting. But I got a taste of it after I read some books of paintings.

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“Enthusiastic employees were zipping about, fiddling with an assortment of machines.”

“fiddling with”

[释义]to keep moving and touching something, especially because you are bored or nervous

[例句] She was at her desk in the living room, fiddling with a deck of cards.

[造句] As long as she lies, she will fiddle with the corner of her sleeves.

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“But the press lapped up the comparison, and Musk started to become more of a public figure.”

“lapped up”

[释义]If you say that someone laps up something such as information or attention, you mean that they accept it eagerly, usually when you think they are being foolish for believing that it is sincere. 轻信；照单全收；欣然接受

[例句]Their audience will lap up whatever they throw at them.

[造句] She loves all-out aspects of her husband as well as laps up whatever he says.

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1. “On a superficial level...” ; "on a deeper level..." 

2. “downs scotch” 喝酒

3. “a vacant stare” 眼神空洞

4. “vacuuming up” = use up 花光，用完了