Tools

Explore

Videos Channels Figures

Atmrix

Tools

Explore

Videos Channels Figures

Atmrix

EM

Elon Musk

06/20/25

@ Y Combinator

In 2008, both SpaceX and Tesla were facing dire situations. SpaceX had failed its third launch in a row, and Tesla was going bankrupt. It was a nerve-wracking time, but we managed to secure a contract with NASA to resupply the space station, which was a company saver.

Video

Elon Musk: Digital Superintelligence, Multiplanetary Life, How to Be Useful

@ Y Combinator

Elon Musk: Digital Superintelligence, Multiplanetary Life, How to Be Useful

06/20/25

Related Takeaways

Elon Musk

01/10/17

@ Y Combinator

Even if I might lose everything with SpaceX, I believed we could still make progress and that another company could continue the work if we failed.

Paul Buchheit

07/17/19

@ Y Combinator

Elon Musk invested his entire fortune into SpaceX, demonstrating extreme commitment by planning for three rocket launches, despite the risk of failure.

Elon Musk

12/29/21

@ Lex Fridman

The SpaceX launch of human beings to orbit on May 30th, 2020, marked the beginning of a new era in human space exploration, providing hope during a challenging time in history.

Elon Musk

12/29/21

@ Lex Fridman

Leading up to the Crew Dragon Demo-2 launch was extremely stressful, as we could not let anyone down, but I was confident we had done everything possible to ensure success.

Anatoly Yakovenko

06/13/25

@ a16z crypto

I had to make tough decisions during a crisis, including shrinking the team and raising funds, which ultimately extended our runway and allowed us to launch successfully despite market challenges.

Elon Musk

03/20/13

@ TED

The goal of SpaceX is to advance rocket technology, particularly by developing a rapidly and fully reusable rocket, which is essential for humanity to become a space-faring civilization.

Elon Musk

01/10/17

@ Y Combinator

Accepting the probabilities can diminish fear; I thought the odds of success with SpaceX were less than 10%, but I accepted that risk.

Howard Schultz

06/04/24

@ Acquired

In 2008, I returned to Starbucks amidst a financial crisis, where the market cap had plummeted from $30 billion to less than $7 billion, and we faced negative sales growth for the first time in our history.

Y Combinator Cast

10/31/24

@ Y Combinator

In 2016, Y Combinator funded three aerospace companies, including Astranis, which have since become billion-dollar companies, showing that it's possible to succeed without a billionaire founder.