THE 53 TRUTHS – Greatest Advice From The Most Successful

I want to skip the flattery and the
attaboys because I do know this the
sooner that we become less impressed
with our lives with our accomplishments
with our career with whatever that
prospect is in front of us the sooner we
become less impressed and more involved
with that and these things the sooner we
get a whole lot better at doing them so
I’m going to talk to you about some
things I’ve learned in my journey most
from experience some of them I heard in
passing many of them I’m still
practicing but all of them I do believe
are true now they may be truth to me but
don’t think that that makes them mine
because you cannot own a truth so please
think of these as signposts
approaches paradigms that give some
science to satisfaction your steel used
to share like into your own lives to
personally apply in your own lives in
your own way should you choose to so
here we go number one life’s not easy
life is not easy it is not don’t try to
make it that way life’s not fair it
never was it is it now and it won’t ever
be do not fall into the trap the
entitlement trap of feeling like you’re
a victim you are not get over it and get
on with it and yes most things are more
rewarding when you break a sweat to get
them number two unbelievable is the
stupidest word the dictionary should
never come out of our mouth think about
it to say oh wow what an unbelievable
play it was an unbelievable book an
unbelievable film an unbelievable act of
courage
really it may be spectacular it may be
phenomenal most excellent or outstanding
but unbelievable give others and
yourself more credit it just happened
you witnessed it you just did it believe
it what about the other side of
unbelievable you know that that side
when we humans underperform or act out
of our best character
for instance man flies a suicide jet
into the World Trade Center millions
died from diseases every day that we
have cures for Bob the Builder swears
that he’s going to have your house built
by Thanksgiving and you can’t move in
until Christmas the next year our best
friends lied to us
and we lie to ourselves all the time
unbelievable I don’t think so again it
just happens and it happens every day
nothing that we Homo Sapien Earthlings
do is unbelievable and if there’s one
thing you can depend on people being its
people so we shouldn’t be surprised we
us are the trickiest mammals walking the
planet I’m not worried about the monkeys
I’m worried about you and me yeah so
acknowledge the acts of greatness as
real and do not be naive about mankind’s
capacity for evil nor be in denial of
our own shortcomings happiness is an
emotional response to an outcome if I
win I will be happy if I don’t I won’t
it’s an if-then cause-and-effect quid
pro quo
standard that we cannot sustain because
we immediately raise it every time we
attain it see happiness happiness
demands a certain outcome
it is result reliant and I say if
happiness is what you’re after then
you’re gonna be let down frequently and
you’re gonna be unhappy much of your
time joy though Joy’s a different thing
it’s something else Joey is not a choice
it’s not a response to some result it’s
a constant joy is the feeling that we
have from doing what we are fashioned to
do no matter the outcome now personally
as an actor I started enjoying my work
and literally being more happy when I
stopped trying to make the daily labor a
means to a certain in for example I need
this film to be a box-office success
I need my performance to be acknowledged
I need
expected my peers are all those are
reasonable aspirations but the truth is
as soon as the work the daily making of
the movie the doing of the deed became
the reward in itself for me I got more
box office more accolades and respect
than I ever had before see joy is always
in process it’s under construction it is
in constant approach alive and well in
the doing of what we’re fashioning to do
and enjoying number four define success
for yourself define success for yourself
but check this out
I’m in South of New Orleans a few years
ago I went to a voodoo shop and they had
this this wooden partition against the
wall of these columns and and in these
columns where all these vials of these
magic potions right and the headings
above each potion defining what they
would give you were things like
fertility health family legal health
energy forgiveness money hmm guess which
column was empty my name I’ve submitted
monies King today is what make the work
makes the world go round it is success
the more we have the more successful we
are right now I would argue that our
cultural values have even been
financialized financialized humilities
not in vogue anymore it’s too passive
it’s a get-rich-quick on the Internet
riches 15 minutes of fame world that we
live in and we see it every day but we
all want to succeed right so the
question that we gotta ask ourselves is
what success is to us what success is to
you is it more money that’s fine I got
nothing against money I don’t maybe it’s
a healthy family maybe it’s a happy
marriage maybe it’s to help others to be
famous to be spiritually sound leave the
world a little bit better place than you
found it
continue to ask yourself that question
now your answer may change over time and
that’s fine
but do yourself this favor whatever your
answer is don’t choose anything that
will jeopardize your soul prioritize who
you are who you want to be and don’t
spend time with anything that
antagonizes your character don’t drink
the kool-aid mmm it tastes sweet but you
will get cavities tomorrow
all right life is not a popularity
contest be brave take the hill but first
answer that question what’s my hill so
me how do i how do i define success for
me myself well for me it’s a measurement
of five things we got fatherhood
we got being a good husband we got my
health I’m body and spirit we’ve got
career and we got friendships these are
what’s important to me in my life right
now so I try to measure these five
things each day I check in with them I
like to see whether or not I’m in the
the debit section or the credit section
with each one a man and the red or I’m
in the black you follow for instance
sometimes say my career’s rolling all
right it’s way up here in the black but
I see how I my relationship with my wife
maybe you could use a little bit more of
my attention I got to pick up the slack
on being a better husband get that one
out of the red or say my spiritual
health could use some maintenance it’s
down here but hey man my friendships in
my social life they’re in high gear
right I got to recalibrate checks and
balances I got to go to church remember
to say thank you more often something
but I got to take the tally because I
want to keep all five in healthy shape
and I know that if I don’t take care of
them if I don’t keep up maintenance on
them one of them is gonna get weak man
it’s gonna dip too deep into the debit
section it’s gonna go bankrupt it’s
gonna get sick die so first we have to
define success for ourselves and then we
have to put in the work to maintain it
take that daily tally tend our garden
keep the things that are important to us
in good shape I mean let’s admit it
we’ve all got two wolves in a suit a
good one
and a battle and they both want to eat
the best I can tell we just got to feed
that good one a little more than the
other one here we go number five
process of elimination is the first step
to our identity
aka where you are not is as important as
where you are all right 1992 I got my
first job as an actor three lines three
days work in a film called Dazed and
Confused all right all right all right
all right there we go
so this director of that film Richard
Linklater he kept inviting me back to
set each night putting me in more scenes
which led to more lines all of which I
happily said yes to I mean I’m having a
blast people were telling me I’m good at
what I’m doing and they’re writing me a
check for $325 a day I mean hell yeah
give me more scenes I love what I’m
doing well by the end of the shoot I’ve
been to the film those three lines had
turned into over three weeks work and it
was mine it was wooderson’s 1970
Chevelle that we went to go get
Aerosmith Tickets hit man yeah it was
badass well a few years ago I’m watching
this film again and I noticed two scenes
I really shouldn’t have been in and one
of these scenes my character would Orson
I exit screen left to head somewhere and
then I reinter the screen and double
check if any of the other characters
wanted to go with me now and re watching
the film and you’ll agree if you know
Wooderson wooderson’s not a guy who
would ever say later and then come back
to see if you were sure you didn’t want
to go now when Watterson leaves
Watterson is gone he does not stutter
step flinch rewind ask twice or solicit
do you know what I’m talking about
Watterson has better things to do like
like in those high school girls
as I get older they stay the same eh my
point is I should not have been in that
scene shouldn’t come back should have
exited screen left and never come back
but back then making my first film
getting invited back to the set cashing
that check and having a ball
I wanted more screen time I wanted to be
in the scene longer and more and come
back into the scene right but I should
have been there wood arson shouldn’t
have been there
and it’s just as important where we are
not as it is where we are look the first
step that leads to our identity in life
is usually not I Know Who I am I Know
Who I am that’s not the first step the
first steps usually I Know Who I am not
process of elimination defining
ourselves by what we are not is the
first step that leads us to really
knowing who we are you know that group
of friends that you hang out with that
really might not bring out the best in
you you know they they gossip too much
or they kind of shady they really aren’t
gonna be there for you in a pinch
or how about that bar that we keep going
to that we always seem to have the worst
hangover from or that computer screen
right that computer screen that keeps
giving us an excuse not to get out of
the house and engage with the world and
get some real human interaction about
that food that we keep eating this stuff
that tastes so good going down it makes
us feel like crap the next week we feel
lethargic and we keep putting on weight
well those people those places those
things stop giving them your time and
energy just don’t go there I mean to put
them down and when you do this when you
do put them down when you quit going
there and you quit giving them your time
you inadvertently find yourself spending
more time and in more places that are
healthy for you that bring you more joy
why because you just eliminated the
who’s the where the what’s in the winds
that were keeping you from your identity
trust me too many options I promise you
the too many options will make a tyrant
of us all right so get rid of the excess
the wasted time decrease your options if
you do this you will have accidentally
almost innocently put in front of you
what is important to you my process of
elimination no one who we are is hard
it’s hard so give yourself a break
eliminate who you are not first and
you’re gonna find yourself where you
need to be I’m a six
don’t leave crumbs ah and the beauty of
delayed gratification so what are crumbs
or the crumbs I’m talking about are the
choices that we make that make us have
to look over our shoulder in the future
you didn’t pay that guy back the money
that you owed him and tonight you just
saw him three rows behind you you
slept around on your spouse and you just
found out that tomorrow she and the lady
you’re having an affair with are gonna
be at the same PTA meeting again
you drank too much last night
you’re too hungover to drive your son
does 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning baseball
practice these are the crumbs they come
in the form of regret guilt and remorse
you leave trumps today they will cause
you more stress tomorrow and they
disallow you from creating a customized
future in which you do not have to look
over your shoulder so let’s flip the
script instead of creating outcomes that
take from us let’s create more outcomes
that pay us back fill us up keep your
fire lit turn you on for the most amount
of time in your future these are the
choices I’m talking about and this is
the beauty of delayed gratification I to
yourself up
do yourself a favor make the choices the
purchase is today that pay you back
tomorrow residuals
my business we call it mailbox money I
do my job well today and that movie
keeps rerunning on TV five years from
now I’m getting checks in the mailbox
it’s a heck of a deal so whether it’s
prepping the coffeemaker the night
before so all you got to do is press the
button in the morning or getting ready
for the job interview early so you don’t
have to cram the night before or choose
not to hook up with that married woman
because you know you’re gonna feel
horrible about it tomorrow and your
husband carries a gun or paying your
debts on time so that when you do see
that guy three rows back tonight you
don’t have to hunker down your seat
hoping that he don’t see you get some
ROI you know what that is return on
investment your investment you customize
your future don’t leave Trump’s number
seven dissect your successes and the
rest of prosity of gratitude we still
often focus on failure don’t we we study
failure obsessed with failure we dissect
failure and our failures dissect them so
much we end up intoxicated with them to
the point of disillusion and when do we
write in our diary usually when we’re
depressed what if we gossip about other
people’s flaws and limitations and we
can dissect ourselves into self-loathing
if we’re not careful I find that most of
the times our obsession with what is
wrong just sends up breeding more wrong
more failure the easiest way to dissect
success is through gratitude
doing thanks for that which we do have
for what is working appreciating the
simple things we sometimes take for
granted we give thanks for these things
and that gratitude reciprocate creating
more to be thankful for it’s really
simple and it works and I’m not saying
being denial of your failures no we can
learn from them too but only if we look
at them constructively as a means to
reveal what we are good at but we can’t
get better at what we do succeed at now
personally I’ve read a whole lot of my
bad reviews I have had quite a few
written by the more talented critics
they are the ones who give constructive
bad reviews they reveal to me what did
translate in my work what came across
what was seen or what wasn’t now I don’t
obsess on the unfavorable aspect of
their review review but I do see what I
can learn from it because their
displeasure actually uncovers and makes
more apparent what I do do well what I
am successful at and then I detect fact
my life’s a verb we try our best we
don’t always do our best so architecture
is a verb as well yes it is and since we
are the architects of our own lives
let’s study the habits the practices the
routines that we have that lead to and
feed our success our joy our honest pain
our laughter our own tears let’s dissect
that and give thanks for those things
and when we do that guess what happens
we get better at them and we have more
to dissect number eight
make voluntary obligations my mom and
dad since we were young they teach us
things as children teachers mentors the
government and on laws they all give us
guidelines for which to navigate his
life rules to abide by in the name of
accountability I’m not talking about
those obligations I’m talking about the
ones that we make with ourselves with
our God with our own consciousness I’m
talking about the you versus you
obligations we have to have it again
these are not societal laws and
expectations that we acknowledge and
endow for anyone other than ourselves
these are faith-based obligations that
we make on our own these are not the
lowered insurance rates for a good
driving record you will not be fine to
put in jail if you do not gratify these
obligations I speak of no one else
covers these but you they are your
secrets with yourself your own private
counsel personal protocols and while
nobody throws you a party when you abide
by them no one’s going to arrest you
when you break them either except
yourself or some cops who got to
disturbing the peace call at 2:30 in the
morning because you were playing bongos
your birthday suit yeah that was me an
honest man’s pillow is his peace of mind
and when you lay down on that pillow at
night no matter who’s in your bed we all
sleep alone these are your personal
jiminy crickets and there are not enough
cops in the entire world to police them
it’s on you
it’s on you number nine from can to want
alright check this out in 1995 I got my
first big paycheck as an actor I think
was a hundred fifty grand
the film mom is almost boys on the side
and we were shooting in Tucson Arizona
and I had to sweep a little Adobe guest
house on the edge of the swirling
national park the house came with a made
my first made it was awesome so I got a
friend over one Friday night and we’re
having a good time and I’m telling her
about how happy I am with my setup the
house the maid especially the maid I’m
telling her look it’s a she cleans the
place up after I go to work she washes
my clothes the dishes put fresh water by
my bed leaves me cooked meals sometimes
she even presses my jeans my friend she
smiles at me happy that I’m excited over
this she says well that’s great Matthew
if you like your jeans pressed my god
looked up batter my jaw caught hanging
open I stuttered a moment had that dumb
ass look that you get when you just been
told the truth and you didn’t think
about it and I hit me I hate that line
going down the front of my jeans I hate
that line and it was then for the first
time that I noticed it I’d never thought
about not liking that starched line down
the front of my jeans because I’ve never
had a maid Dharma jeans before and since
she did now for the first time in my
life I just liked it because I could get
it I never thought about if I really
wanted it well I didn’t want it there
that line and that night I learned
something just because you can
it’s not a good enough reason to do
something even when it means having more
be discerning choose it because you want
it do it because you want to never have
my jeans pressed again number 10 a roof
is a man-made thing this may cut a
little close to the bone
since the geography but I think we all
were there and we will all remember
where we were but in January the 3rd
1993 he was the NFL playoffs and your
Houston Oilers for playing the Buffalo
Bills
the Oilers were up 28 to 3 at half time
35 to 3 early in the third Frank Reich
and the bills come back to win 41 to 38
and overtime for one of the greatest
comebacks in NFL history they had the
bills want but they didn’t really beat
the others the others lost that game
they beat themselves y’all remember now
huh why why do beat themselves for how
was it because at halftime they put a
ceiling a roof a limit on their belief
in themselves aka the prevent defense
maybe they started thinking about the
next opponent in the playoffs at
halftime I mean they were up and they
came out played on their heels lost the
mental edge the entire second half and
voila
they lost in a mere two quarters
defensive coordinator Jim Eddie went
from being called the defensive
coordinator of the year and the man
first in line to be a high head coach
next year to a man without a job in NFL
you ever choked nobody who’s ever choked
I have yeah you know talking about
fumbling at the goal line
suck your foot in your mouth once you
got to the microphone had a brain freeze
on the exam that you were totally
prepared for forgot the punchline to a
joke in front of 4,000 graduating
students at the University of Houston
commencement or maybe you’ve had that
feeling of oh my god life just cannot
get any better than this moment and ask
yourself do I deserve this now what
happens when we get that feeling we
tense up we have this sort of outer body
experience where we are literally
through seeing ourselves in the third
person and we realized that the moment
just got bigger than us never felt that
way ah
and it’s because we have created a
fictitious ceiling a roof to our
expectations of ourselves a limit where
we think it’s all too good to be true
but it’s not and it’s not our right to
say or believe it is
we shouldn’t create these restrictions
on ourselves a blue ribbon a statue a
score a great idea the love of our life
our euphoric bliss who are we to think
that we don’t deserve or haven’t earned
these gifts when we get them it’s not
alright but if we stay in process
all right within ourselves in the joy of
the doing we will never choke at the
finish line why because we aren’t
thinking of the finish line because
we’re not looking at the clock we’re not
watching ourselves on the jumbotron
performing the very act that we’re in
the middle of no we’re in process the
approach is the destination and we are
never finished bo Jackson what do you do
used to run over the goal line through
the endzone and up the tunnel the
greatest snipers and marksmen in the
world they don’t aim at the target they
aim on the other side of the target we
do our best when our destinations are
beyond the measurement when our reach
continually exceeds our grasp and when
we have immortal finish lines and when
we do this the race is never over the
journey has no port the adventure never
ends because we are always on the way so
do this do this and let them let
somebody else come up and tap you on the
shoulder and say hey you scored let them
run up and tap you on the show and say
mint you won
let them come tell you you can go home
now let them say I love you too let them
say thank you take the lid off the
man-made roofs that we put above
ourselves and always play like an
underdog
here we go number 11 turn the page
the the late great University of Texas
football coach Darrell royal if y’all
remember him he won national champion in
69 he won a couple of national
championships hello Darryl oh he was a
friend of mine and a good friend of many
people now a lot of people looked up to
this man one of the people looked up to
him was a musician named Larry now at
this time in his life Larry was in the
prime of his country music career he had
number one hits and his life was rolling
and he had it picked up a bad habit of
uh snorting the white stuff somewhere
along the line and at one particular
party after a a bathroom break Larry
went confidently up to his mentor
Darrell and he started telling him the
story Oh Troy listen as he always had
and when Larry finished his story and
was about to walk away coach royal put a
gentle hand on his shoulder and he very
discreetly said hey Larry you uh got
something under on your nose there but
Larry immediately hurried to the
bathroom near where he saw some of the
white powder that he hadn’t cleaned up
his nose
he was a shame he was embarrassed as
much because he felt so disrespectful to
coach royal and as much because he’d
obviously gotten too comfortable with
the drug to even hide it as well as he
should
well the next day Larry went to coach’s
house he rang the doorbell coach
answered and he said coach I need to
talk to you
Darrell said sure come on in Larry
confessed he purged his sins to coach he
told him how embarrassed he was and how
he had lost his way in the midst of all
this fame and fortune
and towards the end of an hour Larry who
was in tears he asked coach he said
coach what do you what do you think I
should do my coach being a man a few
words just looked at him in a calmly
said Larry I have never had any trouble
turning the page and the book of my life
Larry got sober that day and he’s been
sober for the last 40 years you ever get
in a rut you know I’m talking about you
get the funk it’s stuck on the
merry-go-round of a bad habit I have but
we’re gonna make mistakes you got to own
them and you got to make a mint and then
you got to move on guilt and regret
kills many a man before their time so
turn the page get off the ride you are
the author of the book of your life turn
that page number 12
give your obstacles credit you know
those uh no fear t-shirts that were out
I don’t know you used to wear them ten
years ago no fear you may remember those
was just me I saw him everywhere all
right
I don’t get them and I never did I mean
well I try to scare myself at least once
a day I mean I get butterflies every
morning before I go to work I was
nervous before I got here to speak
tonight I I think fear is a good thing
now why because it increases our need to
overcome that fear all right say your
obstacle is fear rejection all right you
want to ask her out or you want to ask
him out but you fear that he or she may
say no all right you you you want to ask
your boss for that promotion but you’re
scared he’s gonna think you’re
overstepping your bounds well instead of
denying those fears declaring save the
fear out loud admit it give them the
credit they deserve don’t get all macho
and act like they’re no big deal and
don’t get pear
by denying that they exist and therefore
abandoning your need to overcome them
I mean I’d even subscribe to belief that
we’re all destined to have to do the
thing that we fear the most anyway at
some point so give your obstacles credit
and you will one find the courage to
overcome them or you will to see more
clearly that they’re not really worth
prevailing over so be brave have courage
and when you do you get stronger you get
more where you get more respectful of
yourself and that which you fear number
thirteen so how do we know when we cross
the truth thirteen and was asking why
did I pick thirteen that’s an unlucky
number well I don’t know when thirteen
got the bad rap and became the mongrel
of numerology he’s never done me wrong
thirteen in fact thirteen has been a
pretty lucky number for me and I want to
tell you how I’ve always taken these 21
day trips by myself to far-off places
where I usually don’t know the language
and nobody knows my name their
adventures one but they’re also a purge
all right they’re cleanse for me they’re
like a 21-day fast from attention from
all the things I have and my
well-appointed life they’re a check out
so I can check in with me see how I’m
doing be forced to be my own and my only
company to have a look in my mirror and
we all know what can happen when we do
that sometimes we do not like what we
see in 1996 right after I got famous
from the film I did call the time to
kill I I headed out on one of these
21-day walkabout and this time to the
jungles in the mountains of Peru the
sudden fame that I just gotten was
somewhat unbalancing my face was
everywhere everyone wanted a piece of me
people I’d never met were swearing that
they loved me everywhere I went there I
was on my billboard a magazine cover it
was it was just weird over a hall
you know as I was asking us up what’s
the reality in this and what’s the
did I deserve all this these
were all questions I was asked myself
who was I was another now there’s always
an initiation period with these trips an
amount of time that it takes for the
place to initiate the traveler the time
it takes to disconnect from the world we
just left and become completely present
than the one we are traveling in now for
me that initiation period usually lasts
about 13 days 13 hellish days until I am
out of my own way well it was the night
of the 12th day in my 21 day trip I’m
settling into camp
I’d already hiked 80 miles to this point
and I had a 3 day trek out of me to
Machu Picchu
and I was full-on sick of myself
wrestling with the loss of my anonymity
I was guilt ridden for sins of my past
had a lot of curette I was lonely
disgusted with my company mine grappling
with these demons on this night I
couldn’t sleep
all of these badges and banners and
expectations and anxieties that I was
carrying with me I need to free myself
from him so I stripped down to nothing I
I took every moniker that gave me pride
and confidence all the window dressings
the packaging around the product I
discarded them all I got rid of my lucky
and faithful American cap I stripped off
all my talismans from adventures past
I even discarded my late father’s gold
ring with an M on it that he gave to me
it was a meltdown of he and my mom’s
class rings and gold for my mom’s teeth
even got rid of that I was naked
literally and figuratively and I got
sick felt clean I felt free and light
long a muddy path on this walk I turned
a corner and there in the middle of the
road was was this Mirage it’s
magnificent pinks and blues and red
colors that I’d ever seen
it was electric glowing and vibrant just
hovering just off the surface of the
jungle floor as if it was plugged into
some neon power plant I stopped I stared
there’s no way around it the jungle
floor in front of me was actually
thousands of butterflies there in my
path it was spectacular so I stayed a
lot and somewhere in my captivation I
heard this little voice inside my head
say these words all I want is what I can
see and all I can see is what’s in front
of me now at that moment trip I had
stopped anticipating what was around the
corner for the first time I stopped
thinking about what was coming up next
what was up ahead time slowed down I was
no longer in a rush to get anywhere and
my anxieties were greatly eased a few
hours later I returned to camp even the
local Sherpas I was traveling with that
day they noticed calling out to me
sohe’s loses mateo so he’s lose which
means you are light in Spanish see I
forgave myself that morning I let go of
the guilt the weight it was on my
shoulders was lifted my penance was paid
and I got back in good graces with my
God and I shook hands with myself my
best friend the one that we’re all stuck
with anyway ourselves and from that
morning on the adventure was awesome I
was present I was out of my own way I
was not anticipating next I was
embracing only what was in front of my
eyes and giving everything to justice
that they deserve
you see I crossed the truth that morning
now did I find it I don’t know I think
it found me
why because I put myself in a place to
be found I put myself in a place to
receive the truth so how do we know when
we cross the truth well I think the
truce all around us all the time I mean
I think the answer you know it’s always
right there right there these are all
around us we just don’t always see it
but it always grasped it here it access
it usually because we’re not in the
right place to do so so what do we do
first I believe we’ve got to put
ourselves in the place to receive the
truth
that’s the minute we live in an
extremely noisy world with all kinds of
frequencies coming at us
we got commitments we got deadlines fix
this do that plans expectations and they
all make it hard to get clarity and
peace of mind so we have to consciously
put ourselves in places to receive that
clarity and that may be prayer that may
be meditation that may be a walkabout
that may be being in the right company a
road trip whatever it is for you
schedule that time schedule it so if we
do that if we hear it if we put ourself
in a place to hear then we do and it’s
become clear the truth natural and
infinite then the second part comes
which is to personalize ask yourself how
it works for you how it applies to you
personally why you need it in your life
specifically and if you do that then
comes the third part have the patience
to internalize it and get it from our
intellectual head thinking about it and
into our bones and our soul in our
instinct now we cannot rush this part it
does take time so if we get that far
we’ve received it we personalized it and
we’ve internalized it I’ve got to have
the courage to act on it to actually
take it into our daily lives and
practice it to make it an active part of
who we are and live it do that right if
we do that then we have what I believe
is heaven right here on earth and that’s
the place where what we want is also
just what we need
I mean that’s the ticket in it think
about it I know that’s where I want to
live while we’re here and they’re gonna
run across the Jumbotron let’s make it a
place where we break a sweat where we
believe where we enjoy the process of
succeeding in the places in ways that we
are fashion to where we don’t have to
look over our shoulder because we’re too
busy doing what we’re good at
voluntarily keeping our own counsel
because we want to traveling towards
immortal finish lines we write our own
book overcoming our fears we make
friends with ourselves and that is the
place that I’m talking about I didn’t
think of it as all that risky I mean I
was so excited about what we were doing
it’s true I could have gone bankrupt but
you know I had a set of skills that were
highly employable and in fact my parents
were still willing to let me go back to
Harvard and finish my education if I
wanted to you’ve always got a job with
baby and the only the thing that was
scary to me wasn’t quitting and starting
the company it was when I started hiring
my friends and they expected to be paid
and then we had customers who went
bankrupt customers that I counted on to
come through and so then I got this
incredibly conservative approach that I
wanted to have enough money in the bank
to pay a year’s worth of payroll even if
we didn’t get in heat any payments
coming in and you know I’m almost rude
about the whole time we have about 10
billion now which is pretty much enough
for the next year
anyway you know I if you’re gonna start
a company it takes so much energy that
you know you it better overcome your
your feeling of risk I don’t think that
you necessarily if you’re gonna start a
company should do it at the start of
your career I think there’s a lot to be
said for working for a company learning
how they do things you know if you’re
young it’s hard to go lease premises
they made that hard for me you couldn’t
rent a car when you were under 25 at the
time so I was always taking taxis to go
see customers people would you know
people say well we’re gonna go have a
discussion in the bar like go to the bar
and fun because I’ll tell you when
people are first skeptical and angle
this kid doesn’t know anything then when
you show them you’ve really got a good
product you know something they actually
tend to go overboard and they think whoa
you know they know a lot let’s really do
an incredible amount with these people
so our youth at least in this country
was a huge asset for us once we reached
a certain threshold it is hard it’s hard
to hire old older people because they’ll
be a little bit conservative about
whether they should come in and take the
risk and it took three or four years
before we could go out into the normal
sort of employment pool but those those
problems that come with starting the
firm you better think of those as as
part of the the pleasure part of the the
challenge that that is part of the
excitement my Keller gets very full with
those and then at night after the kids
have gone to bed I’m on email a great
deal I get messages during the day
that’s my chance to give long responses
and then over the weekend I send a lot
of mail as well as well I take two weeks
a year to just go off and read and think
where I’m not interrupted by work or
anything else I’m just solidly trying to
think about the future and people get to
send me things to read as part of that
so-called think week so it’s nice mix of
things about 25% of the time then I’m
out
traveling around meeting with customers
Europe Asia and that sort of helps me
think okay do we have the right
priorities what what are people
responding well to and what would they
they like to see us do better I’m Bill
Gates chairman of Microsoft in this
video you’re going to see the future
Windows Microsoft first came up with the
Windows concept back in 1983 and today
the leading software users have switched
into the Windows environment it’s really
incredible how quickly our powerful
applications like Word and Excel and
PowerPoint have been adopted it’s not
just Microsoft applications even
companies like WordPerfect and Lotus
have now come out with Windows
applications and every week we see new
innovative work it’s really attracting
all the innovation in the industry we
predicted this a long time ago and now
it’s the future I talked to my dad I
talked to Warren I had talked to my wife
Melinda so I have enough people that
know me and actually know where my
judgment isn’t its strongest where I
might get overexcited about something or
you know forget to think about something
and so they’re good at correcting
particularly good at correcting whatever
those blind spots are and I think it’s
good to encourage your friends and
advisers to really give them that
license you know I can go to a party and
forget to say hello to various people or
something that’s a very minor example of
my clients a small number of people that
you can turn to on on certain key things
is a great great asset there is you’ve
got to enjoy what you do every day and
for me that’s working with very smart
people it’s working on new problems you
know every time we think hey we’ve had a
little bit of success we’re pretty
careful not to dwell on it too much
because the bar gets raised you
find an idea that requires three or four
years of improvement and patience and
really sticking with it that we’re very
good at that
take Windows which we bet our company on
everybody who doubted that would succeed
IBM did not support us in that it took
longer than we expected over four years
before finally graphical interface got
popular and now people take it for
granted it’s part of every personal
computer and you just you just expect it
to be there that was one of the grand
successes of the company in the same way
we’re betting on the internet that our
tools there will be popular and that a
few of these content plays that we’ve
decided to get involved in that the
scale and and the users will make those
in the great business are you happy
which I get and what makes you happiest
well I’m very happy I I’m lucky that I
get to work on exactly the things I want
to I get to work with brilliant people
on interesting problems like malaria
tuberculosis and you know I’m always
learning always seen the progress that
we’re making that’s why I love to come
to India because there always is so much
progress I’ve got a great family kids
who are growing up very well I’ve you
know healthy the tools I can use to be
curious that people I can meet you know
I can’t imagine changing places with
anyone my best business decisions really
have to do with picking people and
deciding to go into partnership with
Paul Allen is is probably at the top of
the list and then subsequently hiring a
friend Steve Ballmer and having somebody
who you totally trust who’s totally
committed who shares your vision yet he
has a little bit different set of skills
and also acts as a check on you you know
some of the ideas you come up with you
run by them because you know they’re
gonna say hey wait a minute you know
have you thought about this and that and
just you know the the benefit of
sparking off of somebody who
who’s got that kind of brilliance it’s
not only made it fun but it’s really led
to a lot of the success so picking
picking a partners is crucial the thing
that really drives me is building
software products that can help people
out that’s what I’ve been doing for over
20 years that’s what I’ll be doing the
rest of my life well it’s a very
competitive business and oh absolutely
when you have the level of success that
we’ve had when you have a business
that’s important as this with this many
competitors you’re going to have people
saying some nasty things and so you have
to learn a little bit not to take it too
personally and just keep doing the same
old thing you were doing before you have
to take your skills and attack the new
frontiers for example graphical
interface used to be outside the
operating system and so there were many
people doing those systems Windows came
out ahead there and now it comes with
the operating system likewise the the
browser is something that Netscape
looked at turning the browser into an
operating system and we looked at taking
our operating system and building the
browser in an integrated fashion well
certainly every product we do is
absolutely as capable as it can possibly
be
you know there’s nothing there’s no
holding back we are the people at
Microsoft come in to work every day
building the best products they can and
they’re very proud you know you go out
go into schools and see how kids are
using this stuff going ask people about
how their jobs have changed because of
the personal computer you know we’re
sitting there listening to our customers
saying how they’d like to make things
better so we’re we do absolutely our
best job and in fact that’s why we’ve
been successful you know anybody who
holds back in this business isn’t gonna
be around for long because this is a
business where you always have to be
moving at a very rapid pace
to Harvard and you’re dropped out have
you ever thought how your life could be
better off if you had gotten your
Harvard degree well I I’m a weird
dropout because I take college courses
all the time I love learning company
courses and things so I love being a
student and there were smart people
around and you know they fed you and
they gave you these nice grades that
made you feel smart so I I feel it was
unfortunate that I didn’t get to stay
there but I don’t think I missed any
knowledge because you know whatever I
needed to learn I would I was still in a
learning mode we’ve competed against
various forms of UNIX over the years and
Linux is a growing in popularity and
definitely a competitor how threatening
a competitor well it’s a competitor we
take very seriously I think you know
part of Microsoft’s success is that we
don’t underestimate the importance of
the work that other companies are doing
and so we look out we you know we think
are there aspects of that that that are
best practices for example online
support some of the community things
that are done around Linux are are done
very well so you know we’re we’re
thinking about it making sure that our
innovation will make sure that our value
in our leadership stays in front
first I met Warren we were talking about
getting together and doing something
again he pulled out his calendar and the
pages were so blank and I said wow you
know you’ve managed to avoid getting
tied into a lot of kind of meaningless
activity and you know Warren said yeah
you have to be good at saying no and
picking the things that really make a
difference and that’s one of many things
I’ve learned from warm but that’s one of
my favorites and I so I can blame it on
him whenever I’m turning things down you
have made a significant contribution in
the fight against AIDS in Africa you
have funded to a large degree vaccines
and vaccine research give me a sense of
where that’s directed and which success
you think we were making and and your
own particular interest in public health
in the world well this is a real passion
for me I saw it
I’ll give a succinct answer people I
think don’t have a full awareness how
four billion of the six billion people
on this planet don’t have basic health
needs met the the death rate of infants
the epidemic infectious diseases that
are just a way of life in most the world
don’t exist in the in the developed
world and yet the research isn’t going
on for the medicines that would get rid
of these diseases even diseases like
tuberculosis where for a few hundred
dollars lives can be saved that’s not
being done vaccines aren’t being moved
from the rich world to the poor world
AIDS is the most extreme where the
prevention measures that could prevent
this from becoming a huge epidemic in
countries like India Nigerian many
countries where it’s not in huge
percentages which is about you know the
right things I think are not being
prioritized so the foundation that my
wife and I have is have taken as its top
priority
these world health issues the research
getting the vaccines out and it’s been
fascinating to learn about this and to
try and say that all these lives the
lives all over the world should be
treated with the same value that we
treat lives here in the in the rich
world so you’re just to sum up in a
sense I mean the what you have learned
from your own involvement from funding
it in terms of more money than had ever
been applied is that it can make a
difference absolutely millions of lives
can be and should be saved through these
efforts and you know we we can make a
difference and we can encourage others
to get involved that was my last
question is that happening as you fund
these efforts are you I mean is it
becoming a kind of wedge that other
governments and other foundations and
other sources a following suit or
matching we’ve seen a good start I would
say the vaccine fund we put together we
put in 750 million now governments have
agreed to put up 500 million in addition
to that in the AIDS area some of the
things we’ve backed have been able to
attract additional money having said
that this is a cause that somehow
deserves more visibility because when
you talk to people about this and they
hear about malaria or AIDS they really
do care and they think their
government’s doing more and so you know
when I’m not working a lot of my
creativity is going into what could be
done to show people that their money
would be well spent it would make a
difference and you know try and make
sure that that world health gets gets
more a priority than you can save life
if you ask people across the United
States is the future going to be better
than the past most say no my kids will
be worse off than I am
they think innovation won’t make the
world better for them or their children
so who’s right the people who say
innovation will create new possibilities
and make the word world better or the
people who see a trend toward inequality
and a decline in opportunity and don’t
think innovation will change that the
pessimists are wrong in my view but
they’re not crazy
if innovation is purely market driven
and we don’t focus on the big inequities
then we could have amazing advances and
inventions that leave the world even
more divided
we won’t improve public schools we won’t
cure malaria we won’t end poverty we
won’t develop the innovations poor
farmers need to grow food in a changing
climate if our optimism doesn’t address
the problems that affect so many of our
fellow human beings then our optimism
needs more empathy if empathy channels
our optimism we will see the poverty and
the disease and the poor schools we will
answer with our innovations and we will
surprise the pessimists over the next
generation you Stanford graduates will
lead a new wave of innovation which
problems will you decide to solve if
your world is wide you can create the
future we all want if your world is
narrow you may create the future
the pessimist fear I started learning in
swayed oh that if we’re going to make
our optimism matter to everyone and
empower people everywhere we have to see
the lives of those most in need if we
have optimism without empathy then it
doesn’t matter how much we master the
secrets of science we’re not really
solving problems we’re just working on
puzzles
I think most of you have a broader
worldview than I had at your age you can
do better at this than I did if you put
your hearts and minds to it
you can surprise the pessimists we’re
eager to see it and one habit that I
developed when I when I was at college
it was actually a very bad habit which
was I like to show people that I didn’t
do any work and that I didn’t go to
classes and I didn’t care and then at
the very last minute like two days
before the test I get serious about it
and and people people thought that was
funny you know that was my positioning
the guy who did nothing until the last
minute then when I went into business
that was a really bad habit and it took
me a couple years to get over that
nobody praised me because I would do
things at the last minute and I tried to
reverse to students I’d actually I
didn’t think that highly of who were
always organized and had things done on
time I’m I’m still working on it but
procrastination is not a good good habit
I really need some thought to like how
can I provide advice that would be most
helpful and I’m not sure I’ve given
enough thought to to that to give you
the best possible answer but I think I
think certainly being focused on
something that you’re confident will
have high value to someone else and just
being really rigorous in making that
assessment because people are attend
tend to natural human tendency is
wishful thinking so a challenge for
entrepreneurs is to say well what’s the
difference between really believing new
ideals and sticking sticking to them
versus pursuing some unrealistic dream
that doesn’t actually have merit and
it’s it’s that is it that is a really
difficult thing to to tell you can you
tell the difference between those two
things I know so you need to be sort of
very rigorous in your self self analysis
I think certainly extremely tenacious
and and then just work like hell I mean
you just have to put in
you know 80-hour and you don’t hurt our
weeks every week and their matter like
that all those things improve the odds
of success okay
I mean if other people are putting in
40-hour work weeks and you’re putting in
100 hour work weeks then even if you’re
doing the same thing you know that in in
one year you will achieve what they
achieve you will achieve in four months
what it takes them a year to achieve how
do you think about making a decision
when everyone tells you this is a crazy
idea where do you get the internal
strength to do that uh office well I’d
say I actually think I feel feel fear
quite strongly so it’s not as though I
just have the absence of fear I’ve I
feel it quite strongly but there were
times when if something is important
enough you believe in it enough that you
do it in spite of fear so speaking of
important things like people shouldn’t
think III I should I should think well I
feel fear about this and therefore I
shouldn’t do it it’s normal to be to
feel fair like you’d have to definitely
something mentally wrong you shouldn’t
feel fair so you just feel it and let
the importance of it anyway yeah you
know I actually wear something that can
be helpful as fatalism some degree you
could just think it’s just accept the
probabilities then that diminishes fear
so I’m starting SpaceX I thought the
odds of success were less than 10% and I
just accepted that actually probably I
would just lose lose everything but that
maybe would make some progress if we
could just move the ball forward even if
we died maybe some other company could
pick up the baton and move and keep
moving forward so that we still do some
good
yeah same with Tesla I thought your odds
of a car company succeeding were
extremely low when does happy focused on
for short time and money coming in when
creating companies because otherwise the
company will die so that I think that a
lot of times people think like creating
company is gonna be fun I would say it’s
not it’s really not that fun I mean
there are periods of fun and then there
are periods of where it’s just awful and
particularly if you CEO of the company
you actually have a distillation of all
the worst problems in a company there’s
no point in spending your time on things
that are going right so you only spend
on things on your time on things that
are going wrong and there are things
that are going wrong that other people
can’t can’t take care of so you’re like
the worst you have a filter for the
crappers problems in the company the
most pernicious and painful problems so
I wouldn’t say it’s it’s I think you
have to feel quite compelled to do it
and have a fairly high pain threshold
and there’s a friend of mine who says
like starting companies like staring at
the abyss and eating glass and there’s
some truth to that we’re staring into
the abyss part is that you’re going to
be constantly facing the extermination
of the company because most most
startups fail like 90 percent ugly 99%
of startups fail so I so you that that’s
the staring into the abyss part you
can’t constantly saying okay this if I
don’t get this right the company will
die it should be quite rightful quite
stressful and then the eating glass part
is you’ve got you’ve got to do you’ve
got to do the problems you’re gonna sell
you’re gonna work in the problems that
the company needs you to work on not the
problems you want to work on and so that
the that’s you and I’ve working on
problems that that you’d really wish you
weren’t working on and so that’s the
eating class part
and that goes on for a long time so how
do you keep your focus on the big
picture when you’re constantly faced
with we could be out of business in a
month well it’s just a very small
percentage of mental energies on the on
the big picture like you know you know
you know where you generally heading for
and and the actual path is gonna be some
sort of zigzagging thing in that
direction you try not to deviate too far
from the path that that you want to be
on but you’re gonna have to do that some
degree but I don’t want to I don’t want
to diminish the I mean I think the
product the profit motive is it is a is
a good one if the rules of an industry
are properly set up there’s something
fundamentally wrong with puffins in fact
profit just means that people are paying
you more for whatever you’re doing then
you’re spending to create it that’s a
good thing and if you’re not if that’s
not the case then you’ll be out of
business and rightfully so you’re not
adding enough value it would definitely
advise people your starting company to
expect a long period of quite high
difficulty yeah
but it means long as people stay super
focused on creating an absolute best
product or service that really delights
their end customer if they stay focused
on that then it should basically if you
get a such that your customers want you
to succeed then then you probably will
all right you have to focus on the
customer delivering for them yeah make
sure if your customers W you will your
odds of success are dramatically higher
but when you’re building something new
there’s going to be mistakes and it’s
important to to recognize those mistakes
acknowledge them and take corrective
action yeah and the success of a company
is very much more about how quick are
you to fix the mistakes not will you
make mistakes or admit mistakes yeah
absolutely yeah and if you see the
difference between a startup that is
successful in one that is not and it’s
because the successful one they both
made mistakes but the successful one
recognized the mistakes fix them very
quickly and the unsuccessful one tries
to deny that the mistakes exist you know
extremely smart people are sometimes
quite arrogant because they believe in
what they believe in right and so when
they face criticism it’s less likely to
admit you know they can make mistakes
was that in your case I learnt it when I
was doing when I was studying physics
the the you know in physics you’re
taught to always question yourself
you’re taught to always assume that
you’re wrong not to seem that you’re
right and you have to prove yourself not
not wrong and so I think that that that
physics framework is really where where
I learnt it and it’s very effective for
wonderful learning counterintuitive
things that aren’t obvious mm-hmm so you
were very famous in saying that failure
is actually an option and if you’re not
failing but that means you’re not you
know they do it yeah it’s not like I
like failure when you’re likes failure
was terrible but if you only do things
that are certain to succeed then you’re
only gonna be doing a very obvious thing
did you think I need to pack this in
Darren why not I don’t ever give up I’d
have to be dead or completely
incapacitated when interview someone to
work at the companies to be to ask me to
tell me about the problems that they
worked on and how they sold them and if
someone was really the person who solved
it they’ll be able to answer multiple
levels they’ll be able to go down to the
brass tacks and if they weren’t they’ll
get stuck and then you can say oh this
person was not really the person who
solved it because anyone who struggled
hard with a problem never forgets
gonna make sure that whatever you’re
doing is a great product or service and
it has to be really great and I go back
to what I think oh yeah
if you’re a new company I mean this it’s
like some new industry or new market
that if it’s an untapped market or then
then you have more ability to give is
this the standard is lower for your
party service but if you’re entering
anything where there’s an existing
market place against lodge and trenched
competitors then your product or service
needs to be much better than theirs it
can’t be a little bit better because
then you put yourself in those shoes of
the consumer and they say why would you
buy it as consumer where he’s going to
buy the trusted brand unless there’s a
big difference so a lot of times you
know entrepreneurial rule and what was
something which is only slightly better
and it’s it’s not you can’t just be
slightly better it’s got to be a lot
better if you’re creating company or if
you’re joining a company the most
important thing is to I I try is to
attract great people so either be with
join a group that’s amazing that you
really respect or if you’ve building a
company you’ve got to gather great
people I mean all the company is is a
group of people that have gathered
together to create a product or service
and so depending upon how talented and
hardworking that group is and the
greeter which they are focused
cohesively in a good direction that will
determine the success of the company
so do everything you can to to gather
great people if you’re creating company
really liking what you do whatever area
that you get into given that you know
even if you if you’re the best the best
there’s always a chance of failure so I
think it’s important that you really
like whatever you’re doing if you don’t
like it life is to be short if you like
what you’re doing you think about it
even when you’re not working I mean
it’ll just it’s something that your mind
is drawn to and and if you don’t like it
you just really can’t make it work I
think depending on how well you want to
do particularly if you’re starting a
company you need to work super hard so
what is super heart mean well when my
brother and I were starting our first
company instead of getting an apartment
we just rented us a small office and we
slept on the couch and we showered at
the YMCA and we’re so hot up we had one
computer so the the website was up
during the day and I was coding at night
seven days a week all the time and I
sort of briefly had a girlfriend in that
period and in order to be with me she
had to sleep in the office so I work
hard like it mean every waking hour
that’s that’s the the thing I would I
would say if your particular if you’re
starting a company
and I mean if you do simple math to say
like okay if somebody else is working 50
hours and you’re working 100 you’ll get
twice as done as much done in the course
of a year as as the other company so
many people try to talk me out of
starting a road company it was it was
crazy one good friend of mine collected
a whole series of videos of rockets
blowing up and made me watch those you
just didn’t want me to lose all my money
we’re doing these things that seem
unlikely to succeed and we’ve been
fortunate and at least thus far they
have succeeded now is the time to take
risk you don’t have kids as you get
older your obligations increase so your
and once you have a family you start
taking risks not just before yourself
but for your family as well it gets much
harder to do things that might not work
out so now is the time to do that before
you before you have those obligations so
I would encourage you to take risks now
to do something bold you want to regret
it
we focus on on signal over noise a lot
of companies get confused they they
spend money on things that don’t
actually make the product better for
example at Tesla
we’ve never spent any money on
advertising we put all the money into
R&D and manufacturing and design to try
to make the car as good as possible
and I think that’s that’s the way to go
before for any given company just keep
thinking about are these efforts that
people are expending are they resulting
in a better product or service and if
they’re not stop those efforts how did
you figure you were gonna start a car
company and be successful at it
well I didn’t really think Tesla would
be successful I thought we were most
likely failed but I thought that we at
least could address the false perception
that people had that an electric car had
to be ugly and slow and and boring like
a golf cart but you say you didn’t
expect the company be successful then
why try if something is important enough
you should try even if they probably
outcome as failure what Tesla your goal
has been to make a better car and you’ve
done that with an electric vehicle that
people covet that has quite a cult
following that’s upgradable but you also
want to achieve and your turn rephrase
is very nice or try to achieve this
Platonic ideal of a car right to reach
perfection so what does the perfect car
look like well I’m gonna do I do use
that phrase with our engineering design
team that aspirationally we’re in
pursuit of TOEIC ideal of the perfect
car and here’s what that looks like
actually but it’s I want to try to make
every element of the car as as flawless
as possible and they’ll always be you
know some degree of imperfection but try
to minimize that and and create a car
that is just a line fill in every way
and I think if you do that then the rest
kind of takes care of itself
doing business sometimes requires no
assistance and sometimes could be very
boring do you have the same flam from
innovation as from business running a
business well just an innovator engineer
instead of a business owner or runner I
mean I’d love to just do innovation work
and just to engineering but you raise a
good point because you know a lot of
life in general any job there’s like you
have to do your chores you know there’s
no nobody can do that for you
well it’s yet I think to be successful
at almost anything you can’t it you have
to do the tough stuff and as well as the
enjoyable stuff you have to do the
boring stuff as well as the non boring
stuff and if you don’t do your chores
then bad things will happen but if they
don’t do the things that they don’t like
to do then the company will be in
trouble
yeah like you have to basically be like
it’s more fun to cook the meal into to
clean the dishes okay but you need to
clean the dishes do SpaceX and you’ve
said that your ultimate goal is to get
humankind to Mars
I’ve heard your response to the question
but these guys need to hear it why is
Mars important why does Mars matter sure
well the it’s really fundamental we need
to make as a civilization you know what
kind of future do we want do you want a
future where we are forever confined to
one planet until some eventual
extinction event however far in the
future that might occur or do we want to
become a multi-planet species and and
then ultimately be out there among the
stars being among many planets many star
systems and I think the latter is a far
more exciting and inspiring future than
the former and and Mars is the next
natural step in fact it’s the only
planet we really have a shot at at
establishing a self-sustaining City on
and and I think once we do establish
such a city there will be a strong
forcing function for the improvement of
spaceflight technology that will then
enable us to establish colonies
elsewhere in the solar system and
ultimately extend beyond the beyond our
solar system
and and so there’s the defensive reason
of protecting the future of humanity
ensuring that the line of consciousness
is not extinguished should some calamity
before earth but also and that’s the
defensive reason but personally I find
the more the word what it gets me more
excited is is the fact that this would
be an incredible adventure maybe like
the greatest adventure ever
mm-hmm and it would be exciting and
inspiring and they need to be things
that excite and inspire people yeah
after we’re you know reasons why you get
up in the morning it can’t just be
solving problems it’s got to be yeah
something something great is gonna
happen in the future yeah we talked
about this at length yesterday it’s it’s
not an exit strategy or a back-up plan
came in time or it fails right it’s also
to inspire people on earth right and to
transcend and to seek to go beyond our
mental limits of what we think we can
achieve right I mean I think sort of how
incredible the Apollo program was and
just yeah I mean if you ask anyone and
to name name some of humanity’s greatest
achievements in the 20th century the
Apollo program landing on the moon would
wouldn’t it and in many of my most cases
be number one 2001 with just just
touring a friend of mine and you asked
me yes we was gonna have to pay for how
long I thought well you know I was
wondering like I’d like to get involved
in space but I just didn’t think there
was anything for you as an individual
and but as curious as to win we wintered
NASA would be standing a team to Mars
because that was always gonna be the
thing to do after I’ve moved I figured
that that there’d be some plan and I
just got a website and you know I could
read the you know the schedule then Mars
thirst oh yeah it’s like okay 2017 good
okay but actually it wasn’t anything on
on the website and
or at least I thought like a mic and
I’ll find it like what’s gonna under
here and it’s a secret I don’t know I
said but it turned out that that NASA
had done a study on what it would cost
to send did to do a manned Mars mission
and I this was under Bush the first and
I suppose he asked for a 90-day study
she would laugh – taking office and NASA
came back with a 500 billion dollar
price tag and he said okay maybe not
billion lb that’s been 500 billion
dollars was serious money for the
government so I so then that got totally
shelf and it was like you’re not allowed
to talk about any kind of crude mission
to Mars at NASA anyway so I thought well
if I could do something that would
galvanize public interest that and then
that public interest would translate to
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additional appropriations for NASA
who’s the budget then then maybe they
could do it so the foot so actually what
I sort of thinking I would do is stand
at a small greenhouse the surface of
Mars where seeds in dehydrated gel and
then on landing hydrate the gelatine and
the public has to respond to precedents
and superlatives so this would be the
farthest that life’s ever traveled the
first life on laws I try to try to
figure out how to do this with the
proceeds that I had from from PayPal and
I was able to figure out how to get the
cost of the spacecraft down and the
communications and and the little of
greenhouse and everything but the one
thing I couldn’t compress was the cost
launch was there only a few options and
the us options were way too expensive
and I ended up going to Russia three
times to try to buy the biggest ICBM and
the Russian nuclear fleet
that’s where I’d start yeah yeah go baby
well yeah I mean okay but it was so
there was some strange trips that’s for
sure
but you know it’s like virtually like
you can buy any it’s a very capitalist
society some ways so I actually didn’t
ago she had a deal to buy two of the
ICBMs – the nukes and but I came to
conclusion have that third trip that it
wouldn’t really matter like you for food
I actually came inclusion that my
initial premise was was was wrong
because I actually think there’s there’s
torrents about a will in the American
population particularly to to explore
the United States you know maybe more
than any other country is a distillation
of the human spirit of exploration and
it’s really fundamental to psyche so if
people think there’s a way I think it
actually get a lot of support but then
it can’t be just banging your head
against the wall I gotta believe that
this can be done without breaking the
federal budget so that’s when I said
okay well is there some way to affect
the cost of space transport and and is
and so I got together with a group of
people of her series of Saturday’s just
to just try it outside is there
something super expand ‘mentally super
expensive about rockets or can the cost
be substantially improved and I had a
bunch those kind of brainstorming
sessions and I couldn’t see I couldn’t
say any fundamental obstacle to
improving the cost of rockets so that’s
when I started SpaceX it’s like I’ll
just build them myself
yeah and then but I said at that point I
would say the probability of success was
definitely less than 30% I thought it
would most likely not succeed but
where’s worth the try