When Henry Ford made cheap, reliable cars, people said, ‘Nah, what’s wrong with a horse?’ That was a huge bet he made, and it worked.

I don’t spend my time pontificating about high-concept things; I spend my time solving engineering and manufacturing problems.

“I think it’s very important to have a feedback loop, where you’re constantly thinking about what you’ve done and how you could be doing it better.

I think the best way to attract venture capital is to try and come up with a demonstration of whatever product or service it is and ideally take that as far as you can. Just see if you can sell that to real customers and start generating some momentum. The further along you can get with that, the more likely you are to get funding.

If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.

If something has to be designed and invented, and you have to figure out how to ensure that the value of the thing you create is greater than the cost of the inputs, then that is probably my core skill.

I say something, and then it usually happens. Maybe not on schedule, but it usually happens.

I wouldn’t say I have a lack of fear. In fact, I’d like my fear emotion to be less because it’s very distracting and fries my nervous system.

My biggest mistake is probably weighing too much on someone’s talent and not someone’s personality. I think it matters whether someone has a good heart.

The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.

It’s OK to have your eggs in one basket as long as you control what happens to that basket.

I’ve actually not read any books on time management.

A company is a group organized to create a product or service, and it is only as good as its people and how excited they are about creating. I do want to recognize a ton of super-talented people. I just happen to be the face of the companies.

What makes innovative thinking happen?… I think it’s really a mindset. You have to decide.

When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.

I think it is possible for ordinary people to choose to be extraordinary

Brand is just a perception, and perception will match reality over time. Sometimes it will be ahead, other times it will be behind. But brand is simply a collective impression some have about a product.

My proceeds from the PayPal acquisition were $180 million. I put $100 million in SpaceX, $70m in Tesla, and $10m in Solar City. I had to borrow money for rent.

Over time I think we will probably see a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence.