Elon Musk, as controversial as he is great for many, has been compared to something of a Tony Stark for how he has brought technology and business together to create his enormous fortune.
With a certain inventor aura, Musk has been founding and reconverting his companies based on his own passions. From creating what was the germ of PayPal, he began to think of Tesla, and now he is immersed with SpaceX in the next space race.
With those ingredients, many would like Musk’s advice to run their businesses efficiently.
Fortunately, Musk has repeatedly shared his more or less controversial view of what a good manager should take into account to keep his business model efficient and profitable.
Focus on the product and continually improve it
“Are the CEOs of American companies focused enough on product improvement? I think the answer is no,” Musk said in 2020 at a meeting organized by the Wall Street Journal.
For Musk, managers should spend less time focusing on things like finance, and more time “just trying to make their product as amazing as possible.”
Musk urges CEOs to step back and say, “Is our product as amazing as it could be? Probably not. What could you do to make it great?”
Put aside presentations and tasks that don’t add up directly
“I would honestly recommend anyone to listen to me … spend less time in meetings, less time in PowerPoint presentations, less time spent on spreadsheets and more time in the factory or with customers, “Musk also commented.
The ultimate goal is to be an “absolute perfectionist of the product that is manufactured or the service that is provided. [y] look for negative comments from all corners … from customers … from people who are not customers, “he insisted.
Even if an executive doesn’t specialize in product innovation per se, Musk commented that the skill is “learnable.” “It is not something mysterious or complicated”, affirmed.
For Musk, there should be fewer MBAs running companies
Musk sums up his philosophy on running a successful company in also giving room to passion “to create something new” and stay away from Excel and income statements.
In fact, at that conference he even said that there were “too many MBAs running companies.”
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