- Elon Musk solves his companies’ biggest problems every week, says Marc Andreessen.
- Musk quickly tackles pressing issues by working directly with engineers and coders, the VC said.
- The approach of the CEOs of Tesla and SpaceX attracts great talent and inspires deep loyalty, Andreessen said.
Elon Musk has built some of the world’s most valuable companies, from Tesla to SpaceX. A key factor in his success is his constant drive to resolve problems quickly, often by working directly with stuck engineers or coders, says Marc Andreessen.
THE legendary venture capitalist shared his insights from working closely with Musk on X, xAI and SpaceX during a recent episode of the “Modern Wisdom” podcast.
Unlike many CEOs, Musk is devoted to understand every aspect of its businesses, said Andreessen Horowitz co-founder and general partner. He is “on the ground talking directly to the people doing the work” and acts as the “primary problem solver within the organization.”
Musk’s companies include Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, xAI, The Boring Company and X – formerly Twitter. Andreessen said that every week, at each of his companies, Musk “identifies the biggest problem the company is having that week and he solves it. And then he does it every week for 52 weeks straight. And then each of his companies solved the 52 biggest problems that year.
On the other hand, the bosses of most large companies spend months or years hold meetings, watch presentations and conduct legal and compliance reviews before tackling their most pressing issues, Andreessen told host Chris Williamson.
Musk sees his companies almost as assembly lines and he focuses on eliminate bottlenecks and speed up the treadmill a little more each week, said the billionaire VC and Netscape co-founder.
His laser focus on problem solving attracted exceptionally talented people in its companies who want to work extremely hard and meet rigorous standards, thereby fueling the success of its companies, Andreessen said.
Straight from the source
When Musk spots a bottleneck, he goes through the various management levels to talk to the people who are actually working on the line or writing the code, Andreessen said.
“So he’s not asking the VP of Engineering to ask the Director of Engineering to ask the manager to ask the individual contributor to write a report that needs to be reviewed in three weeks,” the early-stage investor said . “He would throw them all out the window.”
Andreessen said that Musk approach Finding the person struggling with a particular problem and then working with them to solve it inspires deep loyalty.
The person thinks “if I’m faced with a problem that I don’t know how to solve, damn Elon Musk is going to show up in his Gulfstream, and he’s going to spend the night with me at the keyboard, or at the front.” of the manufacturing line, and he’s going to help me understand that,” the tech guru said.
Musk’s strategy of solving problem after problem has a “catalytic and multiplicative effect” that helps his companies get ahead of their competitors, Andreessen added.
In the past, Musk has been criticized for spreading himself too thin and not allocating enough time, energy and resources to a company like Tesla.
The richest man in the world has also repeatedly stated that he work too hard and juggle too muchand his “hardcore” the management style has been criticized as brutal And mercurial.
But in terms of technical progress and value creation, Musk’s approach of jumping in quickly to make things right appears to be paying off.