Elon Musk's first startup, living a meaningful life, and Michael Jordan on persistence

Welcome back to the Z Fellows newsletter! Every Monday we share 3 ideas - to help you build companies, ship products, and create your life's work.

1: Elon Musk on his First Startup

Elon Musk dropped out of Stanford at 23 to pursue his first startup. Here he is describing the grittiness of those early days, and what it was like living in his office:

“I had no money whatsoever. I was working, doing research in Silicon Valley in a completely different subject, and trying to start this company at the same time. When it came time to decide doing graduate studies or starting this company, I decided to start this company.

We found that an office was actually cheaper than apartment in Silicon Valley. We got this dinky little office that had a leaky roof. It was just the nastiest place you could imagine. I lived in it too and showered at the YMCA.“

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUhM2-mAdEk&t=0s

2: Jeff Bezos on a Meaningful Life

"I wanted to project myself forward to age 80 and look back on my life. I wanted to have minimized the number of regrets I have. I knew that when I was 80 I was not going to regret having tried this. I was not going to regret trying to participate in this thing called the Internet that I thought was going to be a really big deal.

I knew that if I failed I wouldn't regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not ever having tried."

Source: https://youtu.be/jwG_qR6XmDQ?t=99

3: Michael Jordan on Persistence

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed.

I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuXZFQKKF7A

Best of The Week

See you next Monday,

- The Z Fellows Team

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