Elon

"“One of the things that Elon was highly adept at, which frankly I underestimated... was on the VC side,” Fricker said. “He would articulate what was wrong with the industry. You know, the big monoliths, the lack of democracy in pricing... everybody would get all fired up.”"

"“What was more potent than the mathematical exercise was the story,” Payne would appreciate later, “and Elon was very good at pointing to the future—just as he is today—and saying the objective is over there, and I know it’s over there, and we should all go over there.”"

"At Musk’s home one day, Payne walked into the bedroom. “The room was literally filled with books—biographies or stories about business luminaries and how they succeeded,” Payne said, “In fact, I remember sitting there and at the top of this stack was a book about Richard Branson. It kind of clicked to me that Elon was prepping himself and studying to be a famous entrepreneur. He had some superordinate goal that was driving him.”"

"“Elon, as the world knows today, is a very gifted storyteller,” Moritz said, smiling. “And some of the stories even come true.”"

"For Musk, Thiel, and other PayPal executives, urgency was the default posture on all things—including and especially its international expansion campaign. Braunstein had only just arrived in London when Musk dropped in for a speaking engagement. They agreed to meet at the small London office. “Within an hour, [Elon’s] grilling me about the regulatory environment,” Braunstein remembered. “And I said, ‘Elon, I’ve literally been here for a week!’"

"“One of the things that Elon was highly adept at, which frankly I underestimated… was on the VC side,” Fricker said. “He would articulate what was wrong with the industry. You know, the big monoliths, the lack of democracy in pricing… everybody would get all fired up.”"

"“What was more potent than the mathematical exercise was the story,” Payne would appreciate later, “and Elon was very good at pointing to the future—just as he is today—and saying the objective is over there, and I know it’s over there, and we should all go over there.”"

"“Elon, as the world knows today, is a very gifted storyteller,” Moritz said, smiling. “And some of the stories even come true.”"

"Hoffman recalled the moment with humor: a musing of a compulsively ambitious friend whose to-do list included electric vehicles, space technology, mass transit, solar energy, bespoke flamethrowers, and much else. “It’s like, Elon, let it go,” Hoffman said."