There’s a tremendous bias against taking risks. Everyone is trying to optimize their ass-covering.

When somebody has a breakthrough innovation, it is rarely one little thing. Very rarely, is it one little thing. It’s usually a whole bunch of things that collectively amount to a huge innovation.

I always invest my own money in the companies that I create. I don’t believe in the whole thing of just using other people’s money. I don’t think that’s right. I’m not going to ask...

I always have optimism, but I’m realistic. It was not with the expectation of great success that I started Tesla or SpaceX… It’s just that I thought they were important enough to do anyway.

Really pay attention to negative feedback and solicit it, particularly from friends. Hardly anyone does that, and it’s incredibly helpful.

It’s OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.

You shouldn’t do things differently just because they’re different. They need to be… better.

My biggest mistake is probably weighing too much on someone’s talent and not someone’s personality. I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.

I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.

If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.

Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, other times it will be behind. But brand is simply a collective impression some have about a product.

You have to say, ‘Well, why did it succeed where others did not?’

I don’t create companies for the sake of creating companies, but to get things done.

It is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree — make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is...

What makes innovative thinking happen?… I think it’s really a mindset. You have to decide.

I don’t think it’s a good idea to plan to sell a company.

I would just question things… It would infuriate my parents… That I wouldn’t just believe them when they said something ’cause I’d ask them why. And then I’d consider whether that response made sense given...

I don’t believe in process. In fact, when I interview a potential employee and he or she says that ‘it’s all about the process,’ I see that as a bad sign. The problem is that...

In terms of the Internet, it’s like humanity acquiring a collective nervous system. Whereas previously we were more like a collection of cells that communicated by diffusion. With the advent of the Internet, it was...

People should pursue what they’re passionate about. That will make them happier than pretty much anything else.

It is a mistake to hire huge numbers of people to get a complicated job done. Numbers will never compensate for talent in getting the right answer (two people who don’t know something are no...

It’s very important to like the people you work with, otherwise life [and] your job is gonna be quite miserable.

Starting and growing a business is as much about the innovation, drive, and determination of the people behind it as the product they sell.

My proceeds from the PayPal acquisition were $180 million. I put $100 million in SpaceX, $70m in Tesla, and $10m in Solar City. I had to borrow money for rent.

Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death.

A company is a group organized to create a product or service, and it is only as good as its people and how excited they are about creating. I do want to recognize a ton...

We have a strict ‘no-assholes policy’ at SpaceX.

The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.

When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.

I wouldn’t say I have a lack of fear. In fact, I’d like my fear emotion to be less because it’s very distracting and fries my nervous system.

People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.

I think the best way to attract venture capital is to try and come up with a demonstration of whatever product or service it is and ideally take that as far as you can. Just...

There are really two things that have to occur in order for a new technology to be affordable to the mass market. One is you need economies of scale. The other is you need to...

Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.

If you’re trying to create a company, it’s like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion.

If you’re co-founder or CEO, you have to do all kinds of tasks you might not want to do… If you don’t do your chores, the company won’t succeed… No task is too menial.

Disruptive technology where you really have a big technology discontinuity… tends to come from new companies.

Talent is extremely important. It’s like a sports team, the team that has the best individual player will often win, but then there’s a multiplier from how those players work together and the strategy they...

Failure is an option here. If things are not failing, you are not innovating enough.

If you’re trying to create a company, it’s like baking a cake

I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens.

As much as possible, avoid hiring MBAs. MBA programs don’t teach people how to create companies.

Work like hell. I mean you just have to put in 80 to 100 hour weeks every week. [This] improves the odds of success. If other people are putting in 40 hour workweeks and you’re...

The path to the CEO’s office should not be through the CFO’s office, and it should not be through the marketing department. It needs to be through engineering and design.

I think we have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness to make sure it continues into the future.

I do think there is a lot of potential if you have a compelling product and people are willing to pay a premium for that. I think that is what Apple has shown. You can...

Don’t delude yourself into thinking something’s working when it’s not, or you’re gonna get fixated on a bad solution.

I’ve actually not read any books on time management.

Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up.

When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars, people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.