Abstract: In terms of business, Musk is an expert, and Chinese entrepreneurs are eager to be the next one; but he does not have the talent to "resonate with people", and efficiency first makes his evaluation differentiate in two levels. One is to be grateful even if he leaves, and the other is to speak ill of each other.
article | Wang Jingyi Guo Huaiyi Guo Yu Li Xiyin Shao Wei
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humanoid robot Optimus, supercomputer training system Dojo, FSD intelligent driving... On the latest Tesla AI DAY on October 1, Tesla and CEO Musk brought new progress in these technologies to everyone.
At first glance, only FSD smart driving is related to cars, and Tesla is becoming less and less like a car company. But this sentence is only correct in the second half.
Tesla does not only sell cars, but its business also includes solar panel and clean energy storage. Intelligent driving technology is not only used in cars. For example, the humanoid robot Optimus uses Tesla's technology accumulation in autonomous driving and visual recognition and action planning.
Intelligent driving technology has also been used in the production line of the Tesla California factory. Allen Pan, former head of the unmanned factory project in Tesla, told the reporter of " Finance " that the production line of the California factory is a general-purpose artificial intelligence, which is not based on specific scenarios. "If other Musk's companies also need it, they can also be used in that company."
uses a technology horizontally and vertically in different dimensions, which is enough to make other car companies learn and sought after. But in the view of CEO Musk, Tesla is not the most proud achievement he is. His ambition is cosmic, and solving the energy problem on the earth is only one step. The ultimate goal is to help humans immigrate to Mars . Such ambitions as
are praised by Chinese entrepreneurs. Management experts praised him as a "courageous entrepreneur" and "first principles are indispensable for disruptive innovation". Entrepreneurs all want to create "China Tesla" and "China SpaceX".
"Why can't China produce Musk" once became a question like the original "Why can't our schools always cultivate outstanding talents" in the new era of industrial innovation.
Whether looking at China from abroad or looking at itself from the industry, Tesla can become a barometer reflecting the expansion of China's market and industrial innovation under the background of globalization, and its typicality is not limited to the new energy vehicle industry.
Musk's "cosmic ambition"
Just like Maradona surpassed football. After Jobs , Musk is breaking the circle and becoming a global idol
No accurate title can define who Musk is.
He holds multiple positions. He is not only the CEO of Tesla, but also the CEO of space technology exploration company Space X, brain-computer interface , and tunnel mining company The Boring Company.
This may be the result Musk hopes to see. He does not like to be defined, whether it is himself or his companies. Although Tesla's annual sales of cars are nearly one million and has the title of the highest market value car company, he has reiterated on many occasions that Tesla has more than one automobile company, but an AI technology company that integrates software and hardware.
▲ Tesla Shanghai Super Factory (Photo source: IC)
Although there are many titles, he is extremely confident in his ultimate dream - to send humans to Mars.
From the current position to the cosmic ambitions in the distance, Musk has his own set of logic. These companies and the technological achievements that were born are just inevitable products of his dream path.
Tesla is the most well-known company in Musk's business empire and also shoulders an important part of its cosmic ambitions. If we divide the upward movement of Mars into two steps, the first step is work on Earth and the second step is flying to Mars, then what Tesla wants to accomplish is the former.
In early 2017, Musk renamed " Tesla Car " to "Tesla" - the last person to do so was Jobs who changed "Apple Computer" to " Apple ". Tesla writes on its official website that its business scope: pure electric vehicles, solar panels and clean energy storage.
extends its tentacles to almost all corners of the new energy industry chain, and it is not something that can be simply summarized by "wealthy and willful". Tesla’s ultimate goal is to create a sustainable world where most transportation can be driven by electricity, which is produced by sustainable energy. In Musk's view, solar energy is the most ideal sustainable energy source.
"In the past decade, Tesla's solar panel has generated more electricity than the total electricity consumed by Tesla factories and all Tesla cars on the road." Musk said at the shareholders' meeting on August 4 that in 2021, Tesla sold solar roofs, Powerwalls and other energy storage products equivalent to 4GWh, accounting for more than 15% of the global market share.
On the way Tesla achieves its ultimate goal, it has produced many leading technologies, including epoch-making electronic and electrical architecture, industry-leading three-electric systems, constantly imitated integrated die-casting technology, self-developed autonomous driving solutions for software and hardware, and even humanoid robots called "Optimus".
Many car companies are also following up this strategy - from a new energy vehicle company to an artificial intelligence (AI) technology company. There are many applications of artificial intelligence, and autonomous driving is the most common application scenario.
However, Tesla's use of autonomous driving technology is not as good as cars. For example, the "Optimus" humanoid robot prototype launched by Tesla on AI Day on October 1 is called by Musk as Tesla's "most important product" this year, and has used a lot of Tesla's technology in the field of autonomous driving. Previously, on August 11, the Xiaomi , which announced that it had built a car, had launched a humanoid robot "CyberOne", which was called " Iron Dan ".
As Zheng Yun said, in the field of smart electric vehicles, whether it is electrification, battery positive electrode materials, or even assisted driving and autonomous driving, Tesla has clearly played a guiding effect, helping the industry avoid detours.
But if you expand your sight to Musk's entire business territory, Tesla's positioning may be more like a production tool. Allen Pan believes that Tesla is a company used to manufacture and grind processes. Tesla is responsible for producing all the things Musk wants, such as Tesla will produce parts for Space X; some of the data used by Neuralink for analysis comes from Tesla.
Allen Pan believes that Musk himself is a real super company, and all the companies in his business empire are just departments in it. These branches will be interconnected, and Musk also encourages employees to exchange learning between these companies.
And his ultimate goal is to send humans to Mars. This is Musk's plan to save mankind - what if sustainable energy cannot save the earth? Then send humans to Mars. In 2002, Musk founded Space X, a space exploration technology company.
Space X has achieved achievements that many national aerospace agencies have not achieved. "There are only four people in the world who master spacecraft launch and recovery technology: the United States, Russia, China and Musk." The US Academy of Engineering believes that Musk has made breakthroughs in the design, engineering, manufacturing and operation of the reusable launch vehicle , sustainable transportation and energy systems.
With these achievements, Musk was selected as a member of the US Academy of Engineering in February 2022. Last April, SpaceX also won the exclusive contract of NASA to build a spacecraft for the latter to send astronauts to the moon.
UK " Financial Times " named Musk as the 2021 Person of the Year, believing that he triggered the historic transformation of the world's automobile industry to electric car , and has an extraordinary spirit of adventure and challenge. The results are not limited to cars.
Why started these companies, Musk's explanation is only one sentence: "I am trying to take a series of actions that I think are most likely to make the future a better place."
Musk is Tesla's natural billboard. The few words of this world-class internet celebrity on Twitter can drive the popularity of audio software clubhouse, the value of virtual currency Dogecoin and Bitcoin to rise sharply, and no car brand CEO can replicate such a celebrity effect.
"A charming leader with personality, strong business sensitivity, technical requirements, and unique insights into cross-age products is Tesla's biggest asset." In Zheng Yun's view, Musk is also a good product manager and can promote things to come to fruition.
However, managing multiple companies at the same time has made the outside world worried that Musk's approach is not conducive to Tesla's development. Marc Sachon, an IESE professor at the School of Business at the University of Navarra, Spain, described Musk as "dancing at too many weddings".
Marc Sachon told the reporter of "Finance" that the CEO of a car company is a full-time job and managing a company of a size like Tesla is not enough 24 hours a day, and even Musk should do so. "Musk is becoming a burden for Tesla and its employees. I think he should hand over the management power to an experienced executive and continue to be a pioneer in technology."
Two-point evaluation behind efficiency first
Accurate businessman, irritable boss, "He doesn't want to resonate with the people on earth, he just wants to go to Mars"
▲ Eron Musk (Photo source: IC)
"We are Tesla, we are changing the world, we are willing to rethink everything." This is the concept that Tesla began to instill in employee induction.
To understand how Musk influences companies and individuals, he must first understand his way of thinking about problems - the first principle: attribute everything to the essence of things and start to reason.
Musk took the example of battery cost: "Someone once proposed that the battery composition cost is very expensive, about 600 US dollars/Kwh, and it will remain high in the future. If you think about it with the first principle, I will consider what the raw materials that make up the battery are, what is the spot market price, but it actually only costs 80 US dollars/Kwh. So, you just need to come up with a smart way to combine these raw materials into the battery pack and you can get a much cheaper battery than people think."
battery is Tesla's core capability. When the Tesla Model 3 was officially delivered in 2017, the range of 354 kilometers (standard version) and 499 kilometers (long-range version) was outstanding in the world. At that time, the actual range of electric vehicles of the same level in China was less than 300 kilometers.
This physics-based entrepreneur believes that most of the time in life, people use analogy reasoning to think about problems, which is actually imitating other people's practices and making some changes. The result can only be a small iterative development. Only by exploring the essence of things can real innovation be achieved.
With the success of Tesla, first principles swept the automotive industry. Searching this keyword can reveal many articles such as "The First Principles of Intelligent Driving", "User Experience: First Principles of New Energy Vehicles", "How to Use First Principles to Judge Future Development Prospects of the Automobile Industry".
car company leaders are also not stingy with expressions - in the eyes of Aiways Auto co-founder and president Fu Qiang , the first principle is to build an intelligent car use ecosystem around the first principle of users; in NIO CEO O Li Bin , user experience is the first principle of NIO . Behind the first principle of
, what advocates efficiency first is the working method.
is reflected in Tesla's corporate mission, and is an acceleration in "accelerating the global transformation to sustainable energy". It is reflected in every induction training and on-the-job training of Tesla employees. It is a six sentence that is constantly instilled in: "We remain competitive and do excellence in everything; we are brave enough to solve problems; we are a startup company, we are full of fighting spirit; we do not waste time in bureaucracy, we focus on achieving missions; we complete our work efficiently and smartly; we work hard, love work, be happy and enjoy it."
efficiency supremacy makes Tesla and Musk's evaluations show two extremes: those who have worked at Tesla, one is to be grateful even if they leave, and the other is to speak ill of each other.
▲ Source: ICh
In the view of Ren Yuxiang , Tesla's biggest competitive barrier is people. There are many amazing companies, but what makes Tesla powerful lies in the entire team. To compete with Tesla, we must understand these people's spirit, problem-solving ability, and execution ability. Because with the right people, anything can be solved.
"When you solve the toughest problems in the world, the best people in the world will come to work for you," said Gene Berdichevsky, a former executive of Tesla's battery business. "For the past ten years, Tesla has been the only choice in this field."
Some people have increased their sense of mission. A Chinese person from Tesla told the "Finance" reporter: "Tesla does have a sense of mission to promote industrial transformation and improve the earth's environment. The outside world may feel that it is very weak, but in our opinion, it is like this. Personally, my child coughs and runny noses as soon as it arrives in winter, and is very sensitive to the environment, so I wonder if electric vehicles can be popularized faster and reduce more emissions."
Allen Pan still agrees with Tesla after resigning. He summarized his gains in the past few years into three: self-drive, cross-field, and hands-on solution to problems.
But for some people, that is a place that they don’t want to talk about. Jumai (pseudonym), who had worked at Tesla's Shanghai Lingang factory for a year, declined a telephone interview with a reporter from "Finance" and was only willing to communicate with words, "I am worried that my emotions will be out of control."
Just recalling the working environment when he was at Tesla, Jumai felt that he was "are going to be palpitations." He described Tesla's working style as "the hard working model of manufacturing + working hours of the Internet gene". "During my time in office (early 2020 to early 2021), I did not require 996 and 007, but in order to achieve the established task goals, I could only work 24/7. My mobile phone, email, and video phones were online at any time. It is normal to call me in the early morning."
has been in Tesla for more than a year, and Gu Mai has witnessed too many people leaving. "Insiders say that after the six-month probation period, I will be a veteran. In comparison, many people left in less than three months or even the day of joining the company, and the turnover rate is too high."
In the eyes of many employees, Musk does not care about other people's feelings. As his own brother Kimbal Musk said: "In business, he is an expert, but he does not have the talent to 'resonate with people'."
Who is Chinese Musk
Is there any kind of emperor and general? From Gousnavelci to Jobs, everyone is discussing Musk now. Generations of American entrepreneurs are very awesome. When will Chinese entrepreneurs become the totem of the times? Why can't it be the United States XXX?
This is a topic that everyone talks about.
First of all, a Chinese man who looks like Musk. He not only became popular on the Internet, but also received Musk's attention. Musk, who was born in South Africa, quipped that he might have Chinese descent.
If you abandon your appearance and only talk about the spiritual core, the shortlist is not long.
Geely Auto founder Li Shufu is a person. 20 years ago, he came to build a car with the courage of "cars are four wheels and two rows of sofas". Now Geely has grown into the sales champion of independent brands.
Li Shufu's commercial layout is more and more similar to Musk. He puts satellites on it, builds mobile phones on it, and chips on it, trying to create a "integrated world" smart travel ecosystem. On June 2, 2022, the "Gely Future Travel Constellation" accompanied by ShiSpace Daoyu Company was successfully launched at Xichang Satellite Launch Center in . As the company's chairman, Li Shufu became the second in the world and the first entrepreneur in China to "build cars with one hand and the other" and the other is Musk.
"For Tesla, what you see is the surface, what we see is the essence. Tesla's purpose is not to build cars, but to build cars is just the carrier for it to build online technology." Li Shufu thought so in 2018.
BYD Wang Chuanfu is another person. He also likes to show off his own words and talk about technology and products - Wang Chuanfu is a rare leader of Chinese auto companies who often come to the stage to talk about technology and products in person.
According to media reports, Wang Chuanfu lives in Pingshan far away from the center of Shenzhen and comes to the office at 7:30 every day. Even if I go back to Shenzhen on a business trip, I will still go to work at 11 o'clock in the evening. He convened a team of executives and had to gather within 5 minutes. Senior executives are required to report their work as concise as possible and not to have a single nonsense. He once said that he could not understand that it would cost tens of thousands of yuan to spend on a trip, and he felt it was "incredible". This coincides with the rhythm of workaholic Musk.
Four or five years ago, BYD has not yet become the world's largest sales leader in new energy vehicles as it is today. When he walked into the BYD factory, he heard a saying that Wang Chuanfu was called China Musk. "In fact, we would rather call Musk the United States Wang Chuanfu. They started making new energy vehicles almost at the same time. We all see the boss's research and persistence in technology, and it is no worse than anyone." A middle-level member told the "Finance" reporter.
2022, Musk, who has a bachelor's degree, achieved great success in scientific exploration and commercial applications and was elected as an academician of the US National Academy of Engineering. This triggers people's memories of a past event - three years ago, Wang Chuanfu, who was also an engineer and entrepreneur, was eventually defeated as a candidate for the academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
"Why can't China produce Musk" once became Qian Xuesen's question of "Why can't our schools always cultivate outstanding talents".
There are not many candidates for "Chinese Musk", and probably not all entrepreneurs want to go into the spotlight. But there are many companies that want to become a "Chinese Tesla".
With the launch of Model 3 in 2016, Tesla's performance and valuation have been rising steadily, and the threshold for traditional car manufacturing and automobile business logic have all changed. China has emerged with batches of new players joining car manufacturing, some of which are derived from white and black home appliances, some are real estate, insurance funds, and some are Internet companies.
How do you view Tesla? How to surpass Tesla? Whether it is the launch conference of a new car, the strategic communication conference of the group, or even the shareholders' meeting; from major shareholders, media, professional investors, and then individual investors, this is a question that everyone asks.
When faced with the soul's questioning, the new car-making forces learned to "reverse the customer first". They always say how Tesla plans, combines Tesla with its own car companies, and tells the industrial logic they understand; when encountering problems, they reply: Tesla was also questioned at the beginning, but Musk succeeded. The names of Tesla and Musk in China are common in newspapers.
even Mengniu , which sells milk. At a public event in 2020, Lu Minfang, president of Mengniu Group, announced that he would build a "Tesla" for the dairy industry.
The two businesses have nothing to do with each other, but Mengniu has a crush on Tesla's digitalization and globalization. During the strategic transformation period, Mengniu hopes to be like Tesla, like , digital and intelligent , upgrade to an ecological and platform-based enterprise, and disruptive innovations in the original industry; the second is to create a new marketing model, promote products globally, and then achieve rise.
even some companies that want to become "China SpaceX" are emerging.
"I started to contact the private rocket industry at the end of 2015.At that time, Space X realized the first time recyclable rockets at sea, which was a great impact and shock to the industry. "At that time, Huo Liang worked in the state-owned Aerospace Science and Technology Group . He was inspired by SpaceX. The entrepreneur, born in 1982, gave up his "iron rice bowl" and founded "Deep Blue Aerospace", focusing on the direction of liquid recycling and reuse launch vehicles.
In Huo Liang's view, SpaceX introduced Internet thinking into the aerospace field, implemented project management, quickly tried new ideas, quickly verify results, and quickly updated and iterated. From the technical route to the underlying logic, Deep Blue Aerospace directly benchmarked SpaceX, a global private aerospace benchmark enterprise. "To quickly learn advanced cases in the industry, it also needs to quickly realize the development of iterative ."
Musk, who founded four large companies, is considered to be Qiao After Booth Silicon Valley and even one of the world's greatest technology entrepreneurs. In the United States, Musk makes controversial remarks and extraordinary actions from time to time, from current affairs and economy to industries and individuals, making him criticize in various fields; but in China across the ocean, Chinese entrepreneurs always praise Musk and its companies.
Xiaopeng Motors CEOHe Xiaopeng In an interview with the media, Musk has many advantages, and China needs entrepreneurs who are as brave as Musk. Shenzhou Digital Chairman Guo Wei also said at a public event that Tesla is the best example of using first principles, that is, through the most fundamental level of research on the problem. Find solutions.
Musk's biography "Iron Man of Silicon Valley" was a bestseller in the bookstore for a long time. "Iron Man of Silicon Valley" has also become Musk's most well-known title in China, although this title has not appeared in the original English book; Musk's suggestions on entrepreneurship have been made into various articles and videos, which were reposted by entrepreneurs.
economists and management experts tirelessly analyze the first principles advocated by Musk. Deputy Dean of the Yangtze Business School Gan Jie Through the example of Musk making a battery, he split the thinking logic of the first principles: identify and define current assumptions, deconstruct existing problems, and propose new solutions. Zhejiang University Management Zheng Gang, director of the Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Center of the School of Science, believes that the first principle is indispensable for disruptive innovation.
entrepreneurial spirit demonstrated by Musk inspires Chinese entrepreneurs - to have lofty ambitions, and to break through national boundaries or even the earth, they are unyielding idealists, and at the same time have a realistic path to mobilize all external resources and realize their own ambitions. In this sense, it is only a matter of time to achieve any goal.
In today's prevalence of the anti-globalization theory, Tesla's unique investment and industrial layout in China proves that actively interacting with the world's most advanced companies and deeply integrating with the most scale and potential market can not only drive the development of the entire industry, but also benefit greatly from it. If Chinese companies with strong market advantages and manufacturing advantages can work with industry giants to innovate with open thinking, they will have a better chance of being invincible in the changing global competition in the future.
(Zhou Yijun, an intern of this magazine, also contributed to this article)
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Editor | Wang Jingyi
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