You need an idol

Pankesh Bamotra
Aug 9, 2017 · 2 min read

For a countless times I’ve thought of the giants who inspire me to jump higher. During high school it was Mike Shinoda and during undergrad, Richard Feynman. Now it’s Elon Musk.

To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing.

– Elbert Hubbard

It’s hard to even count the number of web article that criticise Elon. The reason is simple. He doesn’t give a shite. But, why do I admire him?

The answer is — persistence and hope.

The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads.

- Jeffrey Hammerbacher, Founder of Cloudera

Jeffrey’s quote sums up my feelings and admiration for Elon. Elon is a futurist and leads a huge fan following. I mean why would someone care about sending humans to Mars? NASA should be doing that not Elon Musk, right? Yes, right. The way Elon wants to do it is — cheap. He’s not charting out plans to send mere ten mortals to the red planet. He’s thinking about transporting millions of humans.

I don’t care about his CEO skills. What keeps my interest going is that fact he is persistent in his efforts. He doesn’t give up on his ideas no matter how crazy they sound. SpaceX is a living example of it. Tesla is yet another. In fact, all his ventures reflect his persistence.

When was the last time humanity did experience such a revolution? Was it man’s landing on the moon? May be. After that what happened? All I recall is smart phones reaching everyone’s pocket. Everyone else monetised their way into our pockets.

Where was inspiration in that? The inspiration to dream big!

That’s what Elon Musk is to me. The inspiration in a world of click-baits.

Source: trickytran.com

Pankesh Bamotra
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade