I worked very hard to collect the right expertise when starting SpaceX. I tried hard to find a great chief engineer for the rocket, but good chief engineers wouldn’t join and there is no point in hiring the bad ones. I ended up being chief engineer of the rocket. If I could have found somebody better, maybe we would have had fewer than three failures.268
Wherever the smartest, most driven people are choosing to work, that company is going to win.269
My philosophy for companies in the startup phase is a “Special Forces” approach. The minimum passing grade is excellent. I believe that’s the culture companies need to have if they're going to become successful.270
Q: Is building great teams and products just a question of being well funded?
It’s not like if we just had more money we could spend it effectively on R&D. That’s not how it works. If there was a factory producing excellent engineers, that would be true. Except this factory doesn’t exist. It’s incredibly difficult to find the right talent, integrate them into an organization, and have it work effectively. Money is not the constraint.
There are only a small number of excellent people, and they’re hard to find. Engineers especially.271 At the end of the day, the competitiveness of any company is a function of the most talented and driven people. That is the team that’s going to win.272
The fundamental limitation is exceptional engineers. There are not that many.273
Having a strong sense of purpose will attract the very best talent in the world. If the work is enjoyable, the financial rewards are good, and the product will change the world—that’s a pretty powerful set of motivators.274
I’ve made several hiring decisions where I valued intellect over heart and I think that was a mistake. I have tried to adjust accordingly. It matters whether somebody is a good person.275
One test for assessing someone’s character is to look at the character of their friends and associates. While people can put up a mask themselves for their character, their friends and associates will not. You can judge a person’s character by their associates and to some degree by their enemies. If evil people hate you, you might be doing something right.276
When hiring, look for people with the right attitude. Skills can be taught. Attitude changes require a brain transplant.