When I was in college, I wanted to be involved in things that would change the world.

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

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 better than one), will tend to slow down progress, and will make the task incredibly expensive.

When we got Tesla going at the very beginning, if you asked me what I thought the odds of success were, I would have said less than 50%. I would have said that failure is the most likely outcome.

It's important that we attempt to extend life beyond Earth now. It is the first time in the four billion-year history of Earth that it's been possible, and that window could be open for a long time - hopefully it is - or it could be open for a short time. We should err on the side of caution and do something now.

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

I do love email. Wherever possible I try to communicate asynchronously. I'm really good at email.