{"id":29668,"date":"2025-03-31T12:30:33","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T12:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/?p=29668"},"modified":"2025-03-31T12:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T12:59:07","slug":"elon-musks-key-advice-for-entrepreneurs-focus-on-usefulness-and-face-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/builder\/elon-musks-key-advice-for-entrepreneurs-focus-on-usefulness-and-face-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"Elon Musk’s key advice for entrepreneurs: Focus on usefulness and face challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post<\/a> was originally published on this site<\/a><\/p>

<\/p>\n

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX, told aspiring entrepreneurs in Wisconsin, US, on Sunday that creating useful products and services is essential to business success, while warning that most startups fail due to the difficulty of generating value.<\/p>\n

Musk spoke at a town hall event supporting Judge Brad Schimel\u2019s Wisconsin Supreme Court candidacy, responding to an 18-year-old attendee, Vito Gabriel, who asked for advice on starting a business and contributing to the country.<\/p>\n

Gabriel, who worked in his family\u2019s restaurant from age eight, called Musk \u201cone of the most successful businessmen to ever live,\u201d a nod to his transformative impact on industries like electric vehicles and space exploration.<\/p>\n

Musk\u2019s comments came during a broader discussion on government efficiency, where he outlined efforts to curb waste through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative.<\/p>\n

Usefulness as the Core of Success<\/h4>\n

Musk, admired for turning ambitious visions into reality with companies like Tesla and SpaceX, said, \u201cWell, it is very hard to start a business and have it succeed. It is true that most businesses that start do not succeed. So I guess I\u2019d really just say if there\u2019s a product or service that you think is really needed, then you go out and you make that product or you produce that service and try to be as useful as possible really,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He further said, \u201cIt\u2019s like whether it\u2019s a great restaurant or store or a technology company or whatever the case may be, it\u2019s really just like are you doing things that are useful to your fellow human beings? If you are, then I think the company will be successful. So that\u2019s really what it comes down to is just being useful. Like people ask me what\u2019s the top advice? I\u2019m like try to be useful. It\u2019s actually very difficult to be useful,\u201d Musk added.<\/p>\n

Admiration for Honest Work<\/h4>\n

Musk said he admired honest work. \u201cBut I have a lot of admiration for anyone who just does an honest day\u2019s work, making products or producing services for their fellow human beings. That\u2019s what a company is. That\u2019s it,\u201d he said, defining a company\u2019s purpose in simple terms.<\/p>\n

From Humble Beginnings to Billionaire<\/h4>\n

Musk\u2019s own journey fuels his credibility as an entrepreneurial icon. Starting with little after moving to the United States from South Africa in the early 1990s, he co-founded Zip2, a web software company, which he sold for nearly $299 million (R5.54 billion) in 1999. He then launched X.com, an online payment firm that evolved into PayPal after a merger, revolutionising e-commerce transactions. In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5bn in stock, netting Musk roughly $162m and laying the foundation for his billionaire status, later amplified by Tesla and SpaceX. As of March 31, 2025, Musk is ranked as the world’s richest person on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, with a net worth estimated at approximately $330bn.<\/p>\n

A Warning on Difficulty<\/h2>\n

He then addressed the challenges of entrepreneurship. \u201cBut it is hard. To be totally frank, I generally say if somebody needs encouragement to start a company, I would recommend not starting it. Starting a company is very difficult,\u201d Musk cautioned, suggesting only those with strong resolve should proceed.<\/p>\n

He drew on his own experience, where his persistence led Tesla and SpaceX to succeed against steep odds. \u201cLike if you look at, say, the automotive industry, the only two American car companies that have not gone bankrupt are Tesla and Ford. So it\u2019s a big cemetery is what I\u2019m saying. That\u2019s a tough one, very tough industry. And there were really no commercial rocket companies that were successful before SpaceX,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Economic Reality of Profit<\/h4>\n

Musk concluded with an economic lens on business success. \u201cIt\u2019s generally very difficult to make the value of the output exceed the cost of the input. And that\u2019s really what defines successful business. And profit is really the difference between the value of the output and the cost of the input. That\u2019s what profit is. But it\u2019s shockingly hard to make the output more valuable than the input. That\u2019s what I found,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

BUSINESS REPORT<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla and SpaceX, told aspiring entrepreneurs in Wisconsin, US, on Sunday that creating useful products and services is essential to business success, while warning that most startups fail due to the difficulty of generating value.Musk spoke at a town hall event supporting Judge Brad Schimel\u2019s Wisconsin Supreme Court candidacy, responding to an 18-year-old attendee, Vito Gabriel, who asked for advice on starting a business and contributing to the country.Gabriel, who worked in his family\u2019s restaurant from age eight, called Musk \u201cone of the most successful businessmen to ever live,\u201d a nod to his transformative impact on industries like electric vehicles and space exploration.Musk\u2019s comments came during a broader discussion on government efficiency, where he outlined efforts to curb waste through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative.Usefulness as the Core of SuccessMusk, admired for turning ambitious visions into reality with companies like Tesla and SpaceX, said,\u00a0\u201cWell, it is very hard to start a business and have it succeed. It is true that most businesses that start do not succeed. So I guess I\u2019d really just say if there\u2019s a product or service that you think is really needed, then you go out and you make that product or you produce that service and try to be as useful as possible really,\u201d he said.He further said, \u201cIt\u2019s like whether it\u2019s a great restaurant or store or a technology company or whatever the case may be, it\u2019s really just like are you doing things that are useful to your fellow human beings? If you are, then I think the company will be successful. So that\u2019s really what it comes down to is just being useful. Like people ask me what\u2019s the top advice? I\u2019m like try to be useful. It\u2019s actually very difficult to be useful,\u201d Musk added.Admiration for Honest WorkMusk said he admired honest work. \u201cBut I have a lot of admiration for anyone who just does an honest day\u2019s work, making products or producing services for their fellow human beings. That\u2019s what a company is. That\u2019s it,\u201d he said, defining a company\u2019s purpose in simple terms.From Humble Beginnings to BillionaireMusk\u2019s own journey fuels his credibility as an entrepreneurial icon. Starting with little after moving to the United States from South Africa in the early 1990s, he co-founded Zip2, a web software company, which he sold for nearly $299 million (R5.54 billion) in 1999. He then launched X.com, an online payment firm that evolved into PayPal after a merger, revolutionising e-commerce transactions. In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5bn in stock, netting Musk roughly $162m and laying the foundation for his billionaire status, later amplified by Tesla and SpaceX. As of March 31, 2025, Musk is ranked as the world’s richest person on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, with a net worth estimated at approximately $330bn.A Warning on DifficultyHe then addressed the challenges of entrepreneurship. \u201cBut it is hard. To be totally frank, I generally say if somebody needs encouragement to start a company, I would recommend not starting it. Starting a company is very difficult,\u201d Musk cautioned, suggesting only those with strong resolve should proceed.He drew on his own experience, where his persistence led Tesla and SpaceX to succeed against steep odds. \u201cLike if you look at, say, the automotive industry, the only two American car companies that have not gone bankrupt are Tesla and Ford. So it\u2019s a big cemetery is what I\u2019m saying. That\u2019s a tough one, very tough industry. And there were really no commercial rocket companies that were successful before SpaceX,\u201d he said.The Economic Reality of ProfitMusk concluded with an economic lens on business success. \u201cIt\u2019s generally very difficult to make the value of the output exceed the cost of the input. And that\u2019s really what defines successful business. And profit is really the difference between the value of the output and the cost of the input. That\u2019s what profit is. But it\u2019s shockingly hard to make the output more valuable than the input. That\u2019s what I found,\u201d he said.BUSINESS REPORT<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-builder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29668"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29669,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29668\/revisions\/29669"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}