WORK EVERY WORKING HOUR

When I was young, I didn't really know what I was gonna do

when I got older. People kept asking me and…

But then eventually I thought the idea of inventing things would be really cool and

the reason I thought that was because

I read a quote from Odyssey clock which said that

sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic and that's really true.

If you go back, let’s say 300 years, the things that we take for granted today

you would be burned at the stake for.

You know, being able to fly, being able to see over long distances, being able to communicate

and having access to all the world's information

instantly from almost anywhere in the earth.

This is the stuff that really would be magic. It would be considered magic in times past.

In fact,

I think it actually goes beyond that because there are many things that we take for granted today

that weren't even imagined in times past.

They weren't even in the realm of magic so it actually goes beyond that. So I thought, well

you know, if if I can do

some of those things. Basically, if I can advance technology then that’s like magic and that would be really cool and

the…

I always had sort of a slight existential crisis because I was trying to figure out

what does it'll mean. Like, what's the purpose of things and

I came to the conclusion that if we can advance the knowledge of the world, if we can do things

that expand the scope and scale of consciousness then we're better able to ask the right questions and

become more enlightened and that's really the only way forward.

I think about what technology solution is necessary in order to achieve the particular goal

and then try to make as much progress in that direction as possible. I think the…

being a multi-planet species, being out there among the stars is important for

the long-term

survival of humanity.

But then the part that I find personally most motivating is that it creates a sense of adventure

and it makes people excited about the future.

Now if you consider two futures, one where

We are forever confined to Earth it until eventually something

terrible happens or another future where we are out there on many planets,

maybe even going beyond the solar system,

I think that second version is incredibly exciting and inspiring and

there need to be reasons to get up in the morning. You know, life can't just be about solving problems.

Otherwise, what's the point? There’s gotta be things that people find inspiring

and make life worth living.

When my brother and I were studying our first company,

instead of getting an apartment we just rented a small office and we slept on the couch

and we showered at the YMCA and

we're so hot up we had one computer.

So the website was up during the day and I was coding at night,

seven days a week all the time.

And I

sort of briefly had a girlfriend in that period and in order to be with me she had to sleep in the office.

So, work hard like, I mean, every waking hour.

That's the thing I would say if you're particularly starting a company.

Natural human tendency is wishful thinking.

So, a challenge for entrepreneurs is to say well, what's the difference between really believing in your ideals and sticking to them

versus

pursuing some unrealistic dream that doesn't actually have merit? And it's... that is a really difficult thing to tell.

Can you tell the difference between those two things?

So you need to be sort of very rigorous in your self-analysis.

I mean, certainly extremely tenacious and then just work like hell. I mean just have to put in,

you know, 80 hour, 80 to 100 hour weeks every week. All those things improve the odds of success.

How do you think about

making a decision when everyone tells you this is a crazy idea? Or where do you get the internal strength to do that?

Well, first of all, I'd say I actually think I feel fear quite strongly.

So, it is not as though I just have the absence of fear, I've I feel it quite strongly.

But there are times when

if something is important enough, you believe in it enough, that you do it in spite of fear.

People shouldn’t think, well I feel fear about this and therefore I shouldn't do it.

It's normal to be feel fear. So you just feel it and let the importance of it

drive you to do it anyway.

If you just accept the probabilities

then that diminishes fear.

Drive overrides fear.

It's about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past.

And I can't think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars.