The Disrupter

 

"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things which never were, and ask why not?"

George Bernard Shaw

A disrupter. Boy, do we hear that term quite a bit today. Mostly, in relation to some start up, run by a bunch of youngins. "This young company from Podunk, is disrupting the industry!" Blah, blah, blah. All marketing hype. However in my most humble opinion, we do have a real, bona fide disrupter in our midst. And this guy, at one time was a "youngin". He started a couple of software financial companies, sold them, and walked away quite rich. Did he then retire, buy an island, and consume umbrella drinks all day? Not hardly.

Elon Musk is a "one off" type of guy. People who are made of the stuff Musk is made of, are not common. Not at all. In 2002, Musk took much of his money, and started SpaceX. He is now the CEO. As if that was not enough to do, Musk then joined Tesla, and became its CEO in 2008. After that, he co-founded OpenAI and Neuralink. Did I mention Starlink? His internet company, which will connect the world using about a zillion satellites?

Each one of Musk's companies, are disrupting the industry they exist in. Not by a little bit, by a lotta bit. I don't follow all his pursuits, but I do follow SpaceX. He has passed up NASA, like it was a race between the tortoise and the hare. In fact, NASA will now start using some of Musk's SpaceX products. How big does Musk dream when it comes to SpaceX? He wants to ship over a million pounds of material to Mars, using 1,000 SpaceX Starships, to start building a city. He is creating robots (full of AI), to land with all that material, to build livable habitats for the first settlers. When? A hundred years from now? No - maybe by 2030. More likely however, by 2040 or 2050. But with Musk, don't rule out 2030. 

When I think of Elon Musk, I think of the George Bernard Shaw quote, "There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things which never were, and ask why not?" Bingo! That is Elon Musk in a heartbeat. He is constantly asking "why not?" Has he failed in the past? Oh, yes. Has he flirted on bankruptcy? Yep. But Musk always looks at his failures as learning opportunities. When he stumbles, he gets up, dusts off, and continues on.

Elon Musk is the Andrew Carnegie or Henry Ford of our age. In other words, Musk is a "Captain of Industry". A "Captain of Industry" who is also a disrupter. My hope is many young people watch Musk, study him, and maybe even try to imitate or emulate him.

Is Musk a true disrupter? Absolutely. In fact, I could almost like that word, "disrupter" once again. Musk is changing our world faster than anyone else right now. That is the kind of "disrupter" I can get on board with.