The Secret System Behind Tesla, SpaceX, and Radical Innovation (#294)

Lynn Thoman· Host0:00

[chime] Love him or hate him, Elon Musk has built companies like Tesla and SpaceX that introduced a radically different way of building cars and rockets. There's a story about Elon that I love. Early on, he flew to Russia hoping to buy a rocket. The engineers there laughed at him. On the flight home, he started breaking down the cost of a rocket material by material. He realized that the physical components of a rocket cost only about two percent of the total cost. The rest, administrative costs, bureaucracy, and layers of inefficiency. That insight helped spark the idea that eventually became SpaceX. Elon says the thinking behind companies like Tesla and SpaceX follows a formula he calls the algorithm. So what is that algorithm, and what might happen if more of us started thinking that way? [instrumental music] Hi, everyone. I'm Lynn Tolman, and this is Three Takeaways. On Three Takeaways, I talk with some of the world's best thinkers, business leaders, writers, politicians, newsmakers, and scientists. Each episode ends with three key takeaways to help us understand the world, and maybe even ourselves, a little better.