For Elon Musk, Everything Is a Side Project. Why That's Pure Emotional Intelligence | Inc.com
On Tuesday, Elon Musk appeared via video for an interview at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. I was there, along with a few hundred other people, to hear Musk talk mostly about the growth and rollout of Starlink.
If you aren't familiar, Starlink is Musk's plan to carpet the heavens with low-orbit satellites to reach sparsely populated areas with high-speed internet. "There's a need for connectivity in places that don't have it right now, or where connectivity is very limited and very expensive," Musk said during the interview. That's an understatement, but it is clear Musk has ambitious plans for the company.
"We are on our way to having a few hundred thousand users--possibly over 500,000 users within 12 months," he continued. As Musk talked about the company's goal of signing up a half-million subscribers within the next 12 months, something occurred to me. I don't know if it was the casual way Musk talked about it, but I couldn't help but think that Starlink isn't Musk's main thing. It's really just a side project.
Actually, to be accurate, it's a side project within another of Musk's side projects--SpaceX, the rocket ship company for which Musk serves as CEO. Sure, SpaceX and Starlink are both doing interesting things--like sending people to the International Space Station. And, clearly, Musk is passionate about all things Space and rockets and satellites, but that doesn't change the fact that it's basically a side hustle.
