WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:04.919 When Elon was twenty three, he got out of college. 2 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:09.080 He went to San Francisco, the Bay Area, with a car, 3 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:14.359 a computer, and two thousand dollars. Yeah, that's right, and 4 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:16.559 he started a company called zip two. It was sort 5 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:18.519 of like what the early Yahoo was. 6 00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:19.760 It was an online directory. 7 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:23.000 Four years later, when he was about my age, he 8 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:26.000 sold the company for just over three hundred million dollars 9 00:00:26.039 --> 00:00:29.359 to compac. And I bring this up not because it 10 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:33.159 was the largest internet company acquisition at the time, but 11 00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:36.079 because he's done so much stuff since. 12 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:37.600 Then that nobody even remembers. 13 00:00:37.799 --> 00:00:42.880 This initial success for zip to doesn't get much play. 14 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:45.200 So I'm gonna ask him some questions. 15 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:47.000 We're going to go through he's got, you know, as 16 00:00:47.079 --> 00:00:50.439 Jane said, three mind blowing companies, and then hopefully we'll 17 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:52.880 have some time for you all to ask him some questions. 18 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:57.920 So start thinking and we'll get to those. So I'm 19 00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:00.280 gonna put up something that probably looks familiar to most 20 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:03.679 people here. This is the home page of PayPal. In 21 00:01:03.719 --> 00:01:06.799 two thousand, Elon was a co founder and the company 22 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:09.719 was sold to eBay and two for one point five 23 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:12.959 billion dollars. And we all know what PayPal is today. 24 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:14.760 But I was hoping you could sort of share with 25 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:17.239 us kind of what your vision was from the beginning. 26 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:19.640 Well, it certainly evolved over time. 27 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:25.760 Initially the well, after selling ZIP two, I want to 28 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:27.599 do something more on the Internet. And it seemed to 29 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:29.120 me that there hadn't been all that much innovation in 30 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:32.400 the financial sector. And given that money is kind of 31 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:35.319 just an entry in a database and it was low bandwidth, 32 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:39.079 you s didn't require some big infrastructural upgrade to the Internet. 33 00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:42.480 It seemed it should lend itself to innovation. So I 34 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:46.760 try to think of what could be you know, what're 35 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:50.400 something compelling it could be done? And I thought, well, 36 00:01:50.400 --> 00:01:52.959 if we can combine all types of financial services in 37 00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:56.799 one so you can have like mortgages, like basically all 38 00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:00.439 your your entire financial relationships seamlessly integrated together in one 39 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:04.079 place online, that would be cool. And then there was 40 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:06.359 a little feature that just seemed like an obvious feature, 41 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:10.240 which was the ability to transfer money from one person 42 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:13.800 to another by entering a nique identifier like an email address. 43 00:02:14.680 --> 00:02:16.479 There was like just the sort of a little feature. 44 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:20.039 But then whenever we demonstrate the product, people wouldn't get 45 00:02:20.039 --> 00:02:22.280 excited about the consolidated financial services, but they would get 46 00:02:22.280 --> 00:02:25.479 excited about emailing money, so you're sort of focusing our 47 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:27.560 energy on that, and that really ended up being the 48 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:28.599 big driver of growth. 49 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:30.919 Right, So it sort of went from a super bank 50 00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:32.360 I think that's what the media called. 51 00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:37.520 Yeah, like a super financial services thing, to really narrowly 52 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:41.560 focusing on email payments. Although I should point out that 53 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:44.319 actually a lot of people aren't aware that a lot 54 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:46.680 of the success of paypalt is due to the underlying 55 00:02:46.680 --> 00:02:49.599 financial services that are there, such as the money market fund, 56 00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:51.639 which is one of the highest yielding, in fact, I 57 00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:54.719 think the highest yielding in the country. And the fact 58 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:57.520 that there's a PayPal debit card which operates off the 59 00:02:57.520 --> 00:02:59.879 massive card system, so you can you can buy things, 60 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:03.879 you know, by thinkings in the real world and get 61 00:03:03.879 --> 00:03:07.360 cash from an ATM that directly taps into your PayPal account. 62 00:03:07.479 --> 00:03:09.639 Those are actually very important to the PayPal business model. 63 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:10.080 Right. 64 00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:13.800 So you were CEO of the company for for most 65 00:03:13.800 --> 00:03:18.919 of two thousand, I think, and you went PayPal merged 66 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:21.360 or sorry, Elon's company merged with. 67 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:23.520 Another company it became PayPal. 68 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:26.840 He was running the company, he went on an investment 69 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:29.240 raising trip and when he got back. 70 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:30.759 What happened? 71 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:34.680 Well, yeah, so. 72 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:42.280 You know, I think it's not a good idea to 73 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:45.680 leave the office when there are like a lot of 74 00:03:46.240 --> 00:03:49.439 major things underway which are causing people a great deal 75 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:55.080 of stress. But it was a combination of needing to 76 00:03:55.159 --> 00:04:00.439 raise money and I had not gotten married earlier that 77 00:04:00.520 --> 00:04:02.599 year and not had any vacation or honeymoon or anything. 78 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:05.719 So it was kind of a combined financing trip, sash honeymoon, yeah, 79 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:10.360 and and. 80 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:12.840 Anyway, but away for two weeks. 81 00:04:14.120 --> 00:04:17.040 And there was just so much that there was just 82 00:04:17.079 --> 00:04:21.639 a lot of worry, and that that caused the management 83 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:23.759 team to decide that I wasn't the right guy to 84 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:29.199 run a company. And so the bard was like, you know, geez, 85 00:04:29.240 --> 00:04:31.560 what do we do? So basically I could, I could 86 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:34.240 afford it really hard, but instead I except, you know, 87 00:04:34.680 --> 00:04:37.240 rather than fight at it at this critical time, best 88 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:38.120 to sort of concede. 89 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:40.199 It's amazing to me how you managed. 90 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:43.079 When I first asked you about this, you said you 91 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:48.439 buried their hatchet. And you know, one of the basically 92 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:50.800 the person who replaced you just put I think twenty 93 00:04:50.839 --> 00:04:54.160 million dollars or so into your company. And how did 94 00:04:54.199 --> 00:04:58.560 you get past that? Kind of betrayal. I mean, did 95 00:04:58.639 --> 00:04:59.959 you how did you guys patch it up? 96 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:05.759 Yeah, that's actually an interesting story. Well, well, I didn't 97 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:09.399 agree with their conclusion. I understood why they took the 98 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:14.639 action they did. And they're not you know, Peter and 99 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:17.920 Max and David and the other guys not. I mean, 100 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:21.959 they're smart people with generally the right motivations. They did 101 00:05:21.959 --> 00:05:23.920 what they thought was was right, and I think for 102 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:26.800 the right reasons. I mean, except that the reasons weren't 103 00:05:26.839 --> 00:05:32.800 valid in my opinion. But it's hard to argue with 104 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:34.879 the ultimate outcome, which is which is positive. 105 00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:37.040 So you know, I just thought, you know. 106 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:41.279 It's just easy to be better and and uh and 107 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:44.800 and have I just hate them forever, but you know, 108 00:05:44.839 --> 00:05:47.240 it's best that the right better course of action is 109 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:50.279 to any other cheek and and sort of you know, 110 00:05:50.360 --> 00:05:54.120 make make the relationship good. And and it was, you know, 111 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:56.319 but I've put a lot of effin into sort of 112 00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:02.360 making things good and and then yeah, actually, recently, the 113 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:06.160 Founder's Fund, which is comprised primarily of ex PayPal people, 114 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:09.759 including Peter, who replaced me as CEO, invested in SpaceX. 115 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:12.199 Yeah, and I invested in Peter's things before that. 116 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:15.920 So I want to put up something about what this, 117 00:06:16.600 --> 00:06:19.639 you know, PayPal sale to eBay helped make possible. 118 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:24.600 Uh, tell us, tell us what we're looking at. 119 00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:28.759 That's the Tesla Roadster, which is the world's first production 120 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:31.079 electric sports car. 121 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:36.519 And how much does it cost? Give us the sales pitch. Okay, 122 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:39.800 they just opened a dealership, so he should be good 123 00:06:39.800 --> 00:06:40.040 at this. 124 00:06:40.519 --> 00:06:44.839 Yeah. Actually, I've sold a lot of cars. So the 125 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:51.600 Tesla Roadster is the nutshell that you know. The elevator speech. 126 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:55.120 Thing is that the Roadster is faster than a Ferrari 127 00:06:55.399 --> 00:06:59.839 and more efficient than a Prius, so it actually has 128 00:06:59.879 --> 00:07:03.920 been better acceleration than any Ferrari except the Enzo. And 129 00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:07.079 it's about a three point nine seconds zero to sixty, 130 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:12.040 and that actually understates the true acceleration because zero sixty 131 00:07:12.079 --> 00:07:13.800 for a gasoline car is measured from when the wheels 132 00:07:13.800 --> 00:07:15.959 start moving, but the wheels only stop moving when you 133 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:18.680 engage the clutch, and it typically takes about a quarter 134 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:20.839 second or more to engage the clutch. But there's no 135 00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:25.439 clutch for our car. It's direct drive, so you don't 136 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:27.759 have a clutch engagement delay. So it's like equivalent to 137 00:07:27.959 --> 00:07:29.839 a gasoline car with a zero to sixty for about 138 00:07:29.839 --> 00:07:36.079 three point six seconds, and it's good, incredibly good handling. 139 00:07:36.920 --> 00:07:41.319 And then the energy efficiency of the car is probably 140 00:07:41.319 --> 00:07:44.720 the most amazing thing. It only costs four dollars at 141 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:47.560 current California rates to go about two hundred and fifty miles. 142 00:07:47.720 --> 00:07:51.199 So the range, the current EPA rated range, which is 143 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:53.560 a combination of highway in the city with the conditioning on, 144 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:55.199 is two hundred and forty four miles. 145 00:07:56.279 --> 00:07:59.199 So it's amazing. 146 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:04.759 So this is I mean, it's so cool. It costs 147 00:08:04.759 --> 00:08:07.600 one hundred and nine thousand dollars. If anybody's interested. 148 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:10.319 It's it's expensive, but it's comparable to like a portion 149 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:13.319 nine lemon, you know. So we wanted to have something 150 00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:16.399 which was in the price range of a comparable guesstline 151 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:22.199 car that it could, you know, probably beat, and you know, 152 00:08:22.360 --> 00:08:24.800 so that's that's key because you know, it's one thing 153 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:27.160 to have a compelling product, but it has to be 154 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:29.040 a compelling product a compelling price. 155 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:32.639 Right you in the press obviously, this this has gotten 156 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:34.600 a lot of attention, and Elon has taken a lot 157 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:38.360 of flak for various redesigns. You've sort of been you've 158 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:42.519 been portrayed as a micromanager, you know, redesigning the headlights 159 00:08:42.600 --> 00:08:43.000 or whatever. 160 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:49.000 I thought it was a nano manager. I've improveditude. 161 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:54.399 So why why does the car need to be perfect? 162 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:56.840 I mean, why did you need to redesign you know, 163 00:08:56.919 --> 00:08:58.000 the doors for instance. 164 00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:00.600 Well, first of all, the car is definitely not perfect. 165 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:06.320 In fact, one of the things that that troubles me 166 00:09:06.360 --> 00:09:08.879 personally is like when I see a product, it's sort 167 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:11.080 of I commediately see a readout of all the flaws. 168 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:14.519 I need to reprogram myself or remind myself to like 169 00:09:14.600 --> 00:09:18.200 look at the good things as well. So it's certainly 170 00:09:18.200 --> 00:09:18.960 far from perfect. 171 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:19.799 But the. 172 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:25.960 Acceptance, I mean fundamentally, if you don't have a compelling 173 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:29.159 product at a compelling price, you don't have a great company. 174 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:32.840 And that's that was really my gate, the gate that 175 00:09:32.519 --> 00:09:35.360 the product that the car had to pass through. And 176 00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:39.360 so there were things like the dorsals because we used 177 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:44.240 a chassis that was inherited from the Lotus lease. In retrospect, 178 00:09:44.240 --> 00:09:46.960 we should have completely redesigned the car and not and 179 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:51.759 not use any a lease componentory because we really it's 180 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:53.039 sort of like you go into a house and you 181 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:55.440 think you'll just change this or that, and it'll be okay, 182 00:09:55.480 --> 00:09:57.440 and then you end up changing everything in the house. 183 00:09:57.440 --> 00:09:59.000 It would have been better to just level the house and. 184 00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:03.000 Start and produce the knew Because the car, our car 185 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:06.279 is thirty percent heavier, the load points are all different, 186 00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:10.960 so we had to really redesign the chassis. And one 187 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:12.159 of the things I said, we've got to do is 188 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:13.159 to lower the dorsals. 189 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:16.480 And as it is, that dorsals is still too high. 190 00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:19.240 But if I'd say, imagine if they're two inches higher, 191 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:22.320 because that's what they were, it made it almost unusable 192 00:10:22.360 --> 00:10:22.840 in my view. 193 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:24.840 Yeah, I mean, what are you on. 194 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:28.200 I think you were quoted saying something like Dolorean failed 195 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:31.840 because we built a bad car, and you need to 196 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.639 the car needs to be worth one hundred and nine 197 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:35.519 thousand dollars. 198 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:40.039 Absolutely, absolutely exactly if you don't exactly, We did not 199 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:42.440 want to create another Dolorian, and the Dolorian kind of 200 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:46.759 looked kind of cool, but it was really weak on performance. 201 00:10:47.159 --> 00:10:49.519 It was unreliable, and there were. 202 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:51.360 Lots of little issues with the car, and we just 203 00:10:51.399 --> 00:10:53.399 didn't want to be in that situation. And it's not like, 204 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:56.039 I mean, we could have built a worse car and 205 00:10:56.120 --> 00:10:58.240 still sold a bunch of them. But if you don't 206 00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:00.799 sell enough to make it make the business look attractive 207 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:03.200 to future investors, you're not going to attract the capital 208 00:11:03.240 --> 00:11:04.960 to take it to the next level or even to 209 00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:05.919 sustain where it is. 210 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:09.799 How many orders have you taken? Twelve hundred deposits? 211 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:13.320 Wow, so we only take orders when somebody puts down 212 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:15.080 a deposit of at least five thousand dollars. 213 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:18.320 Yeah, so I'm going to move to another company. But 214 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.159 you told me that the last successful car startup was Jeep. 215 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:25.159 In nineteen forty one. 216 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:26.960 Yeah in the US. Yeah, in the US. 217 00:11:27.960 --> 00:11:31.320 So doesn't that kind of say something bad about going 218 00:11:31.399 --> 00:11:32.200 to the car business? 219 00:11:32.279 --> 00:11:35.279 I mean, why why go for this? 220 00:11:38.080 --> 00:11:40.799 Well, it certainly I would not have done this if 221 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:44.200 it were a gasoline car. So this is not about 222 00:11:44.799 --> 00:11:46.480 it's not because I thought the world had a shortage 223 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:50.639 sports cars that we started Tesla. It's because it's very 224 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:56.679 important that we accelerate the transition away from gasoline for 225 00:11:56.840 --> 00:12:00.960 environmental reasons, for economic reasons, for national security reasons. It's very, 226 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:11.679 very fundamental and frankly, so you know, even if you 227 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:13.480 don't think believe in the environ bental reasons, even if 228 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:15.679 you don't believe in the national security issues reasons. It's 229 00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:19.879 obviously gasoline oil is not a renewable resource, and sooner 230 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:23.639 or later, the economic issues are going to cause a 231 00:12:23.679 --> 00:12:26.159 collapse of the economy, literally a collapse of the economy 232 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:30.039 if we don't find an alternative, because you'll be paying 233 00:12:30.039 --> 00:12:33.240 twenty thirty forty dollars gas for gasling. The stuff's going 234 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:35.960 to get you know, it's going to start approaching the 235 00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:38.200 price of gold. I mean, it's going to be crazy. 236 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:44.399 So we got to find a renewable alternative. And the 237 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:49.840 good that Tesla's doing is not just Tesla's what Teslas itself, 238 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:51.960 it's the example that Tesla sets for the rest of 239 00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:54.600 the industry. In fact, people are probably see the announcement 240 00:12:54.679 --> 00:12:59.519 for the Chevy Vault. Well, Bob Lat's Bob Blatz is 241 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:02.679 the champion of the Chevy Vault, and he credits Tesla 242 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:06.759 with the with starting getting the Chevy volt started. Because 243 00:13:06.879 --> 00:13:09.679 when we unveiled our Tesla Roads to a couple of 244 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:13.080 years ago, he saw the press release, he took the 245 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:15.399 Tesla press release, went to his development guys and said, 246 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:17.240 if a little company in California can do this, why 247 00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:20.120 can't we Yeah, and that's what prompted the Chevy Vault. 248 00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:23.320 Yeah. Well, let's let's talk about how we power these things. 249 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:26.080 Uh oh, that's a that's a picture of the workshop 250 00:13:26.120 --> 00:13:28.480 in uh In Center or just south of San. 251 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:29.159 Francisco, right. 252 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:32.279 And then this is another company that you on. This 253 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:34.240 is probably the one that you're maybe least involved with 254 00:13:34.279 --> 00:13:36.399 on a day to day basis, but it's uh it's 255 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:39.519 Solar City, And sort of the elevator pitch for this one, 256 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:41.799 as you've told it to me before, is you know 257 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:45.960 you're gonna do for solar power what Dell did for computers, 258 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:48.320 which I think is such a nice way of putting it, 259 00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:50.200 and I was hoping you could just unpack that for 260 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:50.799 us a little bit. 261 00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:55.639 Certainly, Well, Dell doesn't make the CPU or the hord 262 00:13:55.720 --> 00:13:58.080 drive or the memory, but they put it all together, 263 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:01.320 and they managed their relationship with the end customer, and 264 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:04.080 they manage the service and all that. And that's a 265 00:14:04.120 --> 00:14:06.879 very important element because if you had to go to 266 00:14:08.039 --> 00:14:10.519 Intel and buy your CPU and somewhere else and buy 267 00:14:10.519 --> 00:14:13.360 your hard drive and put that all together, very few 268 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:17.240 people would have computers. So Solo City is about packaging 269 00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:19.840 that or making it really easy to use. Would just 270 00:14:19.879 --> 00:14:22.960 basically make one call. It's just seamless and painless. And 271 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:24.919 then they also have a lot of innovation on the 272 00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:28.159 financing front. So they did a three undred million dollar 273 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:32.559 debt facility with the mortgage Stanley that allows the end 274 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:36.840 consumer to sign up for solar power, put no money down, 275 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:38.320 and your utility build decreases. 276 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:40.159 So it's a complete no brainer. 277 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:42.480 Now, it doesn't work for every house because your house 278 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:45.440 has to be you know, south face, you know, have 279 00:14:45.799 --> 00:14:48.639 a south facing roof and of sufficient size, and you 280 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:50.639 have to be in an area where electricity is not 281 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:51.360 super cheap. 282 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:53.759 But it works for a lot of a lot. 283 00:14:53.559 --> 00:14:55.919 Of houses and you know, maybe a third probably third 284 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:59.200 of the house in California and something like that. And 285 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:01.919 so they've just enjoyed phenomenal growth. I mean they're literally 286 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:05.799 growing as fast as they can hire good people. And 287 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:07.679 I mean the numbers for the month of August came 288 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:10.039 in and solar cities as big as the next five 289 00:15:10.399 --> 00:15:14.399 solar power providers combined in California. So and all credit 290 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:18.440 to them. I mean, really, it's a phenomenal job. I 291 00:15:18.440 --> 00:15:20.519 mean I was sort of weighing every now and again, 292 00:15:20.639 --> 00:15:21.559 like yeah, how about that? 293 00:15:21.639 --> 00:15:25.200 So how about that? But really is of very little credit? 294 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:26.919 No, no, no managing. 295 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:29.600 There, No, not at all. Yeah, thank goodness. 296 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:37.080 So Jane brought up Mars in our introduction and you know, 297 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:40.720 you got out of PayPal with and zip to, you know, 298 00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:43.919 with a lot of money. And I think, I'm sure 299 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:46.440 people in this room have had this happen to them, 300 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:49.000 and many people will have it happened sometime in the future, 301 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:49.399 I hope. 302 00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:52.759 And instead of buying mutual. 303 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:55.440 Funds or I don't know, doing whatever one does with 304 00:15:55.799 --> 00:15:59.080 several hundred million dollars, you decided. 305 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:03.639 To emolts backed securities. There they're great. 306 00:16:07.639 --> 00:16:11.840 You you decided to start a rocket company with the 307 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:15.519 express purpose of well making it cheaper to get stuff 308 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:19.399 in outer space and then eventually going to Mars for 309 00:16:19.559 --> 00:16:20.919 helping humanity go to Mars. 310 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:22.360 And I just wanted to. 311 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:25.600 Know, you know, why, why do that? 312 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:26.720 It isn't obvious. 313 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:34.399 Well, when I was in college, there was sort of 314 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:38.159 three areas that sort of what's really going to affect 315 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:40.960 the future humanity in a significant way. The three things 316 00:16:40.960 --> 00:16:42.759 that seemed to be most significant to me were the 317 00:16:42.759 --> 00:16:46.720 Internet of the transition to a sustainable energy economy, and 318 00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:51.120 the third was the extension of life beyond Earth becoming multiplanetary. 319 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:53.279 I didn't think i'd be involved in at all in 320 00:16:53.720 --> 00:16:59.200 option three, But the reason I think it's important is 321 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:02.320 is it goes to how we decide that anything is important, 322 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:04.559 and the lens of history is a good way to 323 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:07.839 distinguish what seems important in the moment from what is 324 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:11.160 truly important over the long term. And if you zoom 325 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:13.519 out and look at a long enough period of time 326 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:17.000 and sell the four billion year history of Earth and 327 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:20.960 the evolution of life itself, then there's only about half 328 00:17:20.920 --> 00:17:26.160 a dozen or so major of milestones in the. 329 00:17:25.079 --> 00:17:25.559 History of life. 330 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:28.640 There's obviously single celled life, multiceliar life, differentiation to plants 331 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:36.119 and animals, the transition from oceans to land, mammals, consciousness 332 00:17:36.519 --> 00:17:39.880 so and then also on that scale would fit life 333 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:44.440 becoming multiplanetary. It would be I think at least important 334 00:17:44.920 --> 00:17:47.200 as life going from the oceans to land, and probably 335 00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:50.559 more important or more significant, because at least that that 336 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:53.400 was a gradual transition. If you didn't, if land was 337 00:17:53.440 --> 00:17:55.160 if things got a little uncomfortable on land, you could 338 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:58.319 just hop back in the ocean, and that's not really 339 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:00.559 feasible on interplanetary journeys. 340 00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:04.359 So you know, here we are. 341 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:06.400 It's sort of the first time in the four billionaire 342 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:07.839 history of Earth that life has been able to go 343 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:11.680 beyond Earth. And that window may be opened for a 344 00:18:11.720 --> 00:18:14.039 long time, and I'm optimistic that I hope it will, 345 00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:16.079 and I'm actually fairly optimistic about the future of Earth. 346 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:21.920 But something may happen that that closes that window and 347 00:18:22.279 --> 00:18:26.119 prevents us, prevents life from extending beyond Earth, and that 348 00:18:26.279 --> 00:18:29.000 risks the extension of life, or at least consciousness as 349 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:31.400 we know it, and that would be a terrible thing. 350 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:32.519 Life is a terrible thing. 351 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:36.400 Aways, So I want to give people a sense of 352 00:18:36.799 --> 00:18:38.160 what kind of we're talking about. 353 00:18:38.279 --> 00:18:41.960 So we just have a shut Oh, this is you know, 354 00:18:41.960 --> 00:18:45.440 building the rocket, and this should give people a sense 355 00:18:45.480 --> 00:19:13.519 of So so that's your rocket, and and and that launched. 356 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:20.319 Yeah, that that that launched, Uh what about three three 357 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:21.519 weeks ago or four weeks ago? 358 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:23.599 And we'll get to what happened. 359 00:19:23.640 --> 00:19:25.440 But I just want to ask you, I mean, watching 360 00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:27.559 that and and and when you watch that for the 361 00:19:27.599 --> 00:19:31.119 first time, the first your first rocket went in five 362 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:32.200 I believe. 363 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:35.400 Or I mean, how did that how did you feel when. 364 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:38.880 You know, one hundred million dollars years of work and 365 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:41.599 you know you're shooting something, you know, in the air. 366 00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:42.799 I mean it must have been amazing. 367 00:19:43.319 --> 00:19:48.400 Yeah, it's pretty new wracking, that's for sure. The Parker 368 00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:54.319 factor on launch day is very high. So now you 369 00:19:54.359 --> 00:19:59.480 know me, well, yeah, I mean, you know, I'm actually 370 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:02.039 should be said, I'm actually kind of like a physics guy. 371 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:04.759 I mean, I'm like an engineer really, and I do 372 00:20:04.839 --> 00:20:07.720 kind of the business stuff because you know, you kind 373 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:09.799 of have to do the business stuff, or if you 374 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:11.319 don't do the business stuff, somebody's else can to do 375 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:12.960 it for you, and then then you could. 376 00:20:12.759 --> 00:20:16.480 Be in trouble. And I actually the chief designer of 377 00:20:16.519 --> 00:20:16.839 the rocket. 378 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:18.759 I mean I could tell you I could redraw that 379 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:21.759 rocket without without the benefit of blueprints for the most part. 380 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:25.039 So it's sort of like seeing my baby go up there, 381 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:28.599 you know, and it's it's pretty scary. 382 00:20:29.119 --> 00:20:30.160 Yeah. 383 00:20:30.920 --> 00:20:34.279 So, so there have been three flights so far, and 384 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:37.759 each one has obviously the goal is to get into orbit. 385 00:20:37.880 --> 00:20:39.440 Each one has sort of not made it. 386 00:20:42.119 --> 00:20:43.839 Did you deal with the Well, we got to space. 387 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:46.880 Okay, you got to space, but it didn't you didn't 388 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:47.920 get where you wanted. 389 00:20:47.640 --> 00:20:54.680 To go not all the way sorry, well you know, 390 00:20:55.559 --> 00:20:57.799 but necessarily go all the way on the first few days. 391 00:20:58.119 --> 00:20:59.240 SpaceX has. 392 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:03.319 You gotta work your way up there. 393 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:08.960 So but it certainly flights two and three got to 394 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:12.319 well into well beyond the boundaries of space. It didn't 395 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:13.759 get to full a little velocity though. 396 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:17.799 Yeah, but I mean you've got SpaceX has several hundred employees, 397 00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:21.079 and obviously you said it was like your baby. I mean, 398 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:24.319 how did you deal with it personally? And then how 399 00:21:24.319 --> 00:21:28.160 did you deal with the company as a manager, sort 400 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:31.119 of helping them get past it and helping your customers 401 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:34.640