All articles
Ordered by part and episode. 8 articles.
Elon Musk's Boyhood and His First Company, Zip2 — From a Game at 13 to a First Big Sale
A boy born in South Africa had a game published in a magazine at 13, and later founded his first company, Zip2, with his brother. From his boyhood to the 1999 sale, here are the sourced facts, told simply.
Elon Musk and PayPal — From X.com to the CEO Change and the Sale to eBay (1999–2002)
After selling Zip2, Musk built an online bank, X.com. After a merger, a change of CEO and a rename, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion. Here are the sourced facts.
Why Did Elon Musk Build Rockets? How a Man Turned Down in Russia Founded SpaceX
He went to Russia to buy a rocket. The talks fell through, and he chose to build one himself. The story of how Elon Musk founded SpaceX, told simply with only sourced facts.
SpaceX's Falcon 1: Three Failed Launches, Then Success on the Fourth (2006–2008)
A fuel leak, a second-stage problem, a failed separation. After three failures in a row, SpaceX reached orbit for the first time on its fourth launch on September 28, 2008. A two-and-a-half-year brink, told with sourced facts.
2008: The Year Tesla and SpaceX Nearly Collapsed at the Same Time — Fundraising at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve
Rockets failed three times, the electric-car company's cash was nearly gone, and the world was in a financial crisis. The crises of Elon Musk's two companies in 2008, traced through dated and sourced facts.
Model S and Dragon — Tesla and SpaceX After the Crisis, 2009–2012
After the 2008 crisis, Tesla unveiled the Model S, SpaceX flew Falcon 9, and the Dragon spacecraft reached the International Space Station. The moves of 2009–2012, traced through sourced facts.
What Is First-Principles Thinking? Elon Musk's Way of Thinking, Explained Simply With Examples
The difference between "copying what's around you" (analogy) and "building up from the root" (first principles), explained plainly with a curry example and diagrams.
Why Are Batteries Expensive? Thinking About the Price From Materials [With the Trend in Battery-Pack Prices]
The six materials inside a battery and how the price stacks up, with diagrams. The average battery-pack price fell from over $1,200/kWh around 2010 to $108/kWh in 2025.