Elon Musk Tops Best Green Interviews at Fresh Dialogues

Elon Musk Tops Best Green Interviews at Fresh Dialogues

It’s been a stellar year at Fresh Dialogues. Here are our top ten green interviews: from Tesla’s Elon Musk to Google’s Rick Needham. Most are exclusive Fresh Dialogues interviews, but some were special assignments for NPR’s KQED, The Computer History Museum, The Commonwealth Club and The Churchill Club (2013).

 

1. Elon Musk on burning oil, climate change and electric vehicles

Elon Musk in conversation with Alison van Diggelen of Fresh Dialogues“It’s the world’s dumbest experiment. We’re playing Russian roulette and as each year goes by we’re loading more rounds in the chamber. It’s not wise… We know we have to get to a sustainable means of transportation, no matter what.” Tesla CEO, Elon Musk. Read more/ see video

 

 

2. Mayor Chuck Reed on leveraging private funding for San Jose’s Green Agenda

Alison van Diggelen interviews San Jose Mayor, Chuck Reed for a KQED assignment, City Hall 2013“I said from the beginning that the key to being able to succeed with our green vision was to work with other people’s money.” San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. Read more/ listen.

 

 

 

3. Carly Fiorina on fighting climate change

Carly Fiorina and Alison van Diggelen in conversation, Commonwealth Club, March 2013“The most effective thing the US should do is start substantive discussions with China on what they can do.” Carly Fiorina. Read more or listen here.

 

 

 

4. Jennifer Granholm on Obama and energy policy

Jennifer Granholm, Alison van Diggelen Fresh Dialogues interview, Feb 2013“He should create a clean energy jobs race to the top.” Former Michigan Gov., Jennifer Granholm. Read more/ see video

 

 

 

5. Peter Rumsey on Net Zero Buildings and kids

Peter Rumsey, Alison van Diggelen, Fresh Dialogues interview 2013“They’re going to say, ‘Wow, that’s one of the things we can do to solve this whole big climate change problem.” San Francisco Exploratorium Green Designer, Peter Rumsey. Read more/ see video

 

 

6. Gavin Newsom on why a carbon tax makes sense 

Gavin Newsom, Alison van Diggelen, Fresh Dialogues interview 2013 “I want to see a standard that could bring this country back to international prominence in terms of leaning in to a low carbon green growth strategy, so that we can dramatically change the way we produce and consume energy and lead the world.” Gavin Newsom, Lt. Governor of California. Read more/ see video

 

 

7. Steven Chu on climate change deniers

Steven Chu with Alison van Diggelen, Fresh Dialogues 2013“I’d put them in the same category as people who said, in the 60′s and 70′s, that you haven’t proved to me that smoking causes cancer. This is a real issue. We have to do something about it!” Former Energy Secretary, Steven Chu. Read more/see video

 

 

8. GM’s Pam Fletcher on electric vehicle adoption

GM's Pam Fletcher, Alison van Diggelen interview 2013“We need a lot of customers excited about great products. I want to keep people focused on all the good things that moving to electrified transportation can do for customers and for the country.” GM’s Chief of Electrified Vehicles, Pam Fletcher. Read more/ see video

 

 

9. Laurie Yoler on why Tesla is succeeding, despite the odds

Laurie Yoler, Alison van Diggelen discuss Tesla at Churchill Club 2013“You know you’re on to something good when everyone you talk to is a naysayer. It takes a huge amount of courage and tenacity to continue going forth.” Qualcomm executive and founding board member of Tesla Motors, Laurie Yoler. Read more/see video at 11:20

 

 

10. Rick Needham on self driving cars, car sharing and Google’s electric car fleet

Rick Needham, Fresh Dialogues interview 201“It’s not just the car that’s underutilized; it’s the infrastructure, the roads…There’s an enormous opportunity…on the environmental side, on the human safety side, on utilization of infrastructure side.” Google’s Rick Needham. Read more/see video

Elon Musk: On Critics, Steve Jobs & Innovation (Transcript)

Elon Musk: On Critics, Steve Jobs & Innovation (Transcript)

Last month, I interviewed Tesla Motors and SpaceX CEO, Elon Musk at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley and asked him what he’s learned from Steve Jobs and whether, in his view, innovation is plateauing. We also discussed how he felt about critics like his hero Neil Armstrong who spoke out against SpaceX and the commercialization of space. His answers may surprise you.

 

Here’s a transcript of our conversation that starts @51:19. (Page down for more transcripts)

Alison van Diggelen: I’d like to move on to innovation and motivation.There’s been a lot of talk lately about that fact that innovation is leveling off, we’re not making dramatic increases or improvements in innovation, like we did when the plane was invented…do you agree with that?

Elon Musk: No I don’t agree with that. We’ve seen huge improvements in the Internet, and new things…In recent years: Twitter, Facebook being pretty huge…when people thought the Internet was done. Some of the things we’re doing like electric cars are a new thing. And I do think there are some pretty significant breakthroughs in genomics. We’re getting and better and better at decoding genomes and being able to write genetics. That’s going to be a huge, huge area. There’s likely to be breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence…and I suspect we will even see the flying car…

Alison van Diggelen: Is that going to be an Elon Musk production?

Elon Musk: No.

Alison van Diggelen: Are you going to let someone else do that?

Elon Musk: Yeah, Well, I think…someone else is doing that.

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@1.00.30 On Steve Jobs

Alison van Diggelen: I’d now…let’s move on to focus on Silicon Valley. Steve Jobs was and is a wonderful Silicon Valley icon. Is he someone you’ve admired and what have you learned from Steve’s life and work?

Elon Musk: Well he’s certainly someone I’ve admired. Although I did try to talk to him once at a party and he was super rude to me… But I don’t think it was me, I think it was par for the course.

Alison van Diggelen: I don’t think you were the first.

Elon Musk: No not the first. No. I was actually there with… an old friend… Larry Page. I’ve known Larry since before he got venture funding for Google. He was the one who introduced me to Steve Jobs. It’s not like I was tugging on his coat (saying), ‘please talk to me.’ But obviously he was an incredible guy and made fantastic products. The guy had a certain magic about him that was really inspiring. I think that’s really great.

Alison van Diggelen: Is it that magic that you try to emulate?

Elon Musk: No, I think Steve Jobs was way cooler than I am.

@1.02.00

Alison van Diggelen: So I’d like to get inside your head a little bit. When you come up with an idea, do you doodle it on a pad of paper, or do you get your iPad out and take notes? I mean, when you come up with something new, a new rocket design or whatever it is, how does that manifest itself? Could we see you being creative?

Elon Musk: It’s somewhat clichéd but it happens a lot in the shower. I don’t know what it is about showers. (audience whistles). I know, exactly. Get the camera. (laughter) Like, yeah. I just kind of stand there in the shower and ..

Alison van Diggelen: So you have long showers…create lots of ideas…

Elon Musk: I do actually (laughter). Long showers.  It sounds wrong…

Alison van Diggelen: So there’s no iPad in the shower?

Elon Musk: …Not to mention the Burning Man epiphanies. Those are huge. And then there are some times late at night when  I’ve been thinking about something and I can’t sleep then I’ll be up for several hours pacing around the house, thinking about things. Occasionally I might sketch something or send myself an email…(see FD)

Alison van Diggelen: So we have a question from the audience. Who inspires you or do you have a mentor?

Elon Musk: I don’t have a mentor, though I do try to get feedback from as many people as possible. I have friends and I ask them what I think of this that and the other thing. Larry Page is a good friend of mine…I value his advice a lot, and I have many other good friends, so I think it’s good to solicit feedback, particularly negative feedback actually. Obviously people don’t love the idea of giving you negative feedback, unless it’s on blogs…they do that.

Alison van Diggelen: How do you deal with negative feedback, because you get some tough criticism, especially with SpaceX, you had incumbents like Neil Armstrong even, speaking out and saying this is wrong, you know. We don’t want commercial companies in space, it’s not a place for commerce. So how did you deal with that and how with naysayers in general, because you’ve had a lot.

Elon Musk: Yeah, that was kind of troubling, cos growing up Neil Armstrong was kind of a hero. So it kind of sucks to…

Alison van Diggelen: Knife in the back…?

Elon Musk: Yeah, that’s a bit of a blow. I think he was somewhat manipulated by other interests. I don’t know if he knew quite what he was saying in those congressional hearings.

Continues…

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Want to continue reading the transcript? Here’s the final part of the interview:

Elon Musk: On Team Building, Sleep, Warren Buffett, Family, Hyperloop and Dying on Mars

Earlier transcripts:

Elon Musk: On South African Childhood, Iron Man and The Meaning of Life

Elon Musk: The Reluctant CEO of Tesla Motors

Elon Musk: On Obama, Climate Change and Government Regulations

 

Elon Musk: On Team Building, Warren Buffett and Mars (Transcript)

Elon Musk: On Team Building, Warren Buffett and Mars (Transcript)

Here is the transcript from the final part of my January 2013 interview with Elon Musk at the Computer History Museum. We discuss team building; time management; the Buffett school of thought; keeping companies ‘in the family;’ and why Musk wants to die on Mars, just not on impact.

More transcript excerpts are available at Fresh Dialogues. See below for selections.

 

This transcript begins at 1:05:02 in the interview.

Alison van Diggelen: It’s one thing to have these wonderful ideas in the shower or at Burning Man, but it’s another to build, motivate and retain a team of excellent people. Can you talk about some tips and things you’ve learned that obviously work for you?

Elon Musk: Well I mean, think about a company. A company is a group of people that are organized to create a product or service. That’s what a company is. So in order to create such a thing, you have to convince others to join you in your effort and so they have to be convinced that it’s a sensible thing, that basically there’s some reasonable chance of success and if there is success, the reward will be commensurate with the effort involved. And so I think that’s it…getting people to believe in what you’re doing – and in you – is important.

In the beginning there will be few people who believe in you or in what you’re doing but then over time, as you make progress, the evidence will build and more and more people will believe in what you’re doing. So, I think it’s a good idea when creating a company to create…to have a demonstration or if it’s a product to have a good mark up or even if it’s software to have good demoware, or to be able to sketch something so people can really envision what it’s about. Try to get to that point as soon as possible. And then iterate to make it as real as possible, as fast as possible.  If that makes sense.
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Alison van Diggelen: So you’re CEO of two companies, you’re chairman of SolarCity. Talk about time management.  How on earth do you do this? Do you get any sleep?

Elon Musk: Sometimes, not enough. Sleep is really great. I find if I don’t get enough sleep then I’m quite grumpy. Obviously, I think most people are that way. And also, I try to figure out what’s the right amount of sleep, because I find I can drop below a certain threshold of sleep and although I’d be awake more hours and I could sustain it, I would get less done…my mental acuity would be affected. So I found generally, the right number for me is around six to six and a half hours on average per night.

Alison van Diggelen: And any other tips on managing to run two companies simultaneously?

Elon Musk: Having a smart phone is incredibly helpful because that means you can do email during interstitial periods, like if you’re in a car (he has a driver), you’re walking, in the bathroom, everywhere. You can do email practically when you’re awake and so that’s really helpful: to have email for SpaceX, and Tesla integrated on my phone. And then you have to apply a lot of hours to actual working.

Alison van Diggelen: And where do the boys fit in? You have five sons. Do they tag along?

Elon Musk: I do drag them along on a lot of things actually…they’re remarkably unimpressed. I wish they were more interested…the twins are eight the triplets are six. maybe they’ll get more interested later.

Alison van Diggelen: Do you see one day grooming one of them, or several of them, to take over your companies?

Elon Musk: If they’re really interested in working at Tesla or SpaceX then I’d help them do that. I’m not sure I’d necessarily try to insert them into the CEO role at some point. If the rest of the team and the board felt that they were the right person, then that would be fine but I wouldn’t want people to feel that I’d installed my kid there. I don’t think that would be good for either the company or the kid really.

I was of the school of thought that it’s best to give away 99% or more of one’s assets, the Buffett School of thought. I’m mostly inclined in that direction, but after seeing what happened with Ford, GM and Chrysler, where GM and Chrysler went bankrupt but Ford did not, and Ford seemed to make better long term choices…in part because of the influence of the Ford family. I thought, well OK, there may be some merit in having some longer term family ownership. At least a portion of it. It acts as a positive influence…in the longterm interest of the company…so the company does proper longterm things. Look at what happened also in Silicon Valley with Hewlett Packard. I think it’s quite sad. That to some degree is because there was much diminished influence by the Hewlett and Packard families. I think they should have prevailed…when they were opposed to the merger that took place at one point. I think they were right, actually.

Alison van Diggelen: And looking to the future for SpaceX…is there an IPO planned for this year?

Elon Musk: No, there’s no IPO planned. I must say, running a public company does have its drawbacks.

Alison van Diggelen: So you’re not in a hurry?

Elon Musk. No. In the case of Tesla and Solarcity…we had to raise capital and we had a kind of complex equity structure that had to be resolved by going public. So I thought we kind of needed to do that in those two cases. We don’t have to do that at SpaceX. I think there’s a good chance we will at some point in the future, but SpaceX’s objectives are super longterm and the market is not. So I’m a bit worried that if we did go public, certainly if we went public too soon, that the market pressure would force us to do short term things and abandon longterm projects…

Alison van Diggelen: Like going to Mars?

Elon Musk: Right! Going to Mars is very longterm.

Mars Landing, SpaceX

Alison van Diggelen:  You do have other projects on the back burner. You’ve talked about the Hyperloop: a way of people getting from downtown LA to downtown San Francisco in under half an hour. An electric supersonic airplane. Which of those two are bubbling up that we might hear more about in the near future?

Elon Musk: I did promise that I’d do some paper on the Hyperloop idea and things got a little hectic toward the end of last year because I’d committed to make these milestones at Tesla, to the public markets, and I had to stay true to that obligation, which required an insane level of work and attention. And then we also had the SolarCity IPO and it was a very difficult IPO to get done. That IPO occurred just by the skin of its teeth. It was such a tough one…

Alison van Diggelen: Were you just determined that it had to be in December?

Elon Musk: Well,if it wasn’t in December, it would mean pushing it out quite a bit and the problem is, we’d already pushed it out quite a bit. So if we didn’t go public, we’d have to do a private round and then…the whole thing wouldn’t feel right. It’s like you’re sitting at the altar, and you don’t do the wedding. It’s a bit awkward. So we really needed to do it and I think if we hadn’t done it, people would have looked at it as a failure. It wouldn’t have been good. There have just been too many failures…in the solar…not enough success, let’s say, in the solar arena. We need to chalk up success…

Alison van Diggelen: It was a rare piece of sunshine for the solar industry last year…

Elon Musk: Right. Exactly. Ironically…the solar industry doesn’t have a lot of that.

Alison van Diggelen: So it’s time, unfortunately, for the last question. You’ve come a long way since being that six year old little boy, breaking the rules. You turn 42 this year. What is on the cards…where do you see yourself in 10 years time, 20 years time…40 years time?

You famously said you want to die on Mars, just not on impact (laughter).

Elon Musk: Right. Exactly. Elon Musk interview with Alison van Diggelen

Alison van Diggelen: Tell us about that dream…

Elon Musk: Actually, I was asked by a journalist, ‘Do you want to die on Mars?’ and I said, ‘yes, but wait…not on impact. Just to be clear.’

That’s one of the possibilities… So I guess I’d like to be able to go to Mars while I’m still able to manage the journey reasonably well. I don’t want to be like 75 and go to Mars…

Alison van Diggelen: You don’t want to take your zimmer frame with you?

Elon Musk: Ha. Right, you know, at least in the beginning, it could be mildly arduous…I’d like to get there ideally in my 50’s. That would be kind of cool.

Alison van Diggelen: So you see that happening, in the next…?

Elon Musk: I aspire to make that happen, and I can see the potential for that happening. I’m not saying it will happen, but I think it can happen…I’ll try to make it happen.

Alison van Diggelen: Great. Ladies and gentlemen: Elon Musk.

(Applause)

Highland Cathedral music courtesy of Carol Stiglic, VP Programming, Computer History Museum

Want to continue reading the transcript?

Here are earlier transcripts:

Elon Musk: On South African Childhood, Iron Man and The Meaning of Life

Elon Musk: The Reluctant CEO of Tesla Motors

Elon Musk: On Obama, Climate Change and Government Regulations

Elon Musk: On Critics, Steve Jobs & Innovation

 

Check back soon for more transcript excerpts at Fresh Dialogues

Elon Musk: His Remarkable Story in His Own Words (Video)

Elon Musk: His Remarkable Story in His Own Words (Video)

By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues

For the first time, entrepreneur Elon Musk shared his whole life story in front of a live audience in Silicon Valley. He joined me in conversation at the Computer History Museum on January 22 and we explored: What makes a Revolutionary?

Musk takes us on a journey from the suburban streets of South Africa to the tech mecca of Silicon Valley…and beyond. He tells me about his teenage “existential crisis” and his bookish quest for the meaning of life; how the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle inspired his space transport startup SpaceX; and why he became the reluctant CEO of electric car company Tesla Motors.

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Interview highlights and key turning points in his career:

The Rebellious Child:  Musk grew up in South Africa. At age 6, he desperately wanted to attend his cousin’s birthday party, but was grounded for some long-forgotten transgression. How did he get there? (This was probably the first of his many rule-breaking adventures.)

“It was clear across town, 10 or 12 miles away, further than I realized actually, but I just started walking…I think it took me about four hours…My mother freaked out.”

The Iron Man Inspiration: He was a huge fan of comics and read Iron Man comics. Did he ever imagine he’d be the inspiration for Robert Downey Jr’s movie character, Tony Stark?

“I did not. I would have said zero percent chance…I wasn’t all that much of a loner…at least not willingly. I was very very bookish.”

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: How did the novel fire his imagination?

“I was around 12 or 15…I had an existential crisis, and I was reading various books on trying to figure out the meaning of life and what does it all mean? …I read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and it highlighted an important point which is that a lot of times the question is harder than the answer. And if you can properly phrase the question, then the answer is the easy part.   To the degree that we can better understand the universe, then we can better know what questions to ask. Then whatever the question is that most approximates: what’s the meaning of life? That’s the question we can ultimately get closer to understanding. And so I thought to the degree that we can expand the scope and scale of consciousness and knowledge, then that would be a good thing.”

Why was Silicon Valley his mecca at age 17? 

“Whenever I read about cool technology, it would tend to be in the United States…I wanted to be where the cutting edge technology was and of course, Silicon Valley is where the heart of things is…it sounded like some mythical place.”

Why did his startup X.com (the precursor to PayPal) come close to dying in 2000?

“The growth in the company was pretty crazy…by the end of the first four or five weeks we had a hundred thousand customers and it wasn’t all good…we had some bugs in the software…Various financial regulatory agencies were trying to shut us down, Visa and Mastercard were trying to shut us down, eBay…the FTC…there were a lot of battles there. (But) we had a really talented group of people at PayPal…It worked out better than we expected.”

After making over $150M from PayPal, why not just buy an island and relax?

“The idea of lying on a beach as my main thing sounds horrible to me…I would go bonkers. I’d have to be on serious drugs…I’d be super duper bored…I like high intensity.”

SpaceX's Falcon 9 launcher that carried Dragon to orbit, 2012. Fresh Dialogues interview

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launcher that carried Dragon to orbit, 2012. Fresh Dialogues interview

On the seeds of SpaceX

“I always thought that we’d make much more progress in space…and it just didn’t happen…it was really disappointing, so I was really quite bothered by it. So when we went to the moon, we were supposed to have a base on the moon, we were supposed to send people to Mars and that stuff just didn’t happen. We went backwards. I thought, well maybe it’s a question of there not being enough intention or ‘will’ to do this. This was a wrong assumption. That’s the reason for the greenhouse idea…if there could be a small philanthropic mission to Mars…a small greenhouse with seeds and dehydrated nutrients, you’d have this great shot of a little greenhouse with little green plants on a red background. I thought that would get people excited…you have to imagine the money shot. I thought this would result in a bigger budget for NASA and then we could resume the journey…”

On negotiations with the Russian military to buy two ICBMs

“They just thought I was crazy…I had three quite interesting trips to Russia to try to negotiate purchase of two Russian ICBMs…minus the nukes…I slightly got the feeling that was on the table, which was very alarming. Those were very weird meetings with the Russian military…’remarkably capitalist’ was my impression (of the Russians).”

Why he chose to create his own rocket company, SpaceX

“I came to the conclusion that my initial premise was wrong that in fact that there’s a great deal of will, there’s not such a shortage. But people don’t think there’s a way. And if people thought there was a way or something that wouldn’t break the federal budget, then people would support it. The United States is a distillation of the human spirit of exploration. People came here from other places…people need to believe that it’s possible, so I thought it’s a question of showing people that there’s a way…There wasn’t really a good reason for rockets to be so expensive. If one could make them reusable, like airplanes then the cost of rocketry (and space travel) would drop dramatically.”

Tesla Roadster, Fresh DialoguesHow did the vigils for the death of the EV 1 help inspire Tesla Motors?

“It’s crazy. When was the last time you heard about any company, customers holding a candlelight vigil for the demise of that product? Particularly a GM product? I mean, what bigger wake-up call do you need? Like hello, the customers are really upset about this…that kind of blew my mind.”

On being the reluctant CEO of Tesla Motors

“I tried really hard not to be the CEO of two startups at the same time…It’s not appealing and shouldn’t be appealing if anyone thinks that’s a good idea. It’s a terrible idea.”

On the idea for SolarCity

“Solar is the obvious primary means of sustainable energy generation…in fact, the earth is almost entirely solar powered today. The only reason we’re not a frozen ice-ball at 3 degrees Kelvin is because of the sun…”

Check back soon for more from Musk on:

where his inspiration strikes (hint: not just Burning Man)

how to build, motivate and retain an excellent team

time management advice

keeping it in the family

the likelihood of a SpaceX IPO this year

how the SolarCity IPO got done, “by the skin of its teeth”

why Musk wants to go to Mars before he’s ‘too old’

Here are transcripts of our conversation

Elon Musk: On South African Childhood, Iron Man and The Meaning of Life

Elon Musk: The Reluctant CEO of Tesla Motors

Elon Musk: On Obama, Climate Change and Government Regulations

Elon Musk: On Critics, Steve Jobs & Innovation

Elon Musk: On Team Building, Warren Buffett and Dying on Mars

Click here for more stories on Elon Musk and electric vehicles

More stories on clean energy

 

Elon Musk on SpaceX IPO, Environment & Flying Cars

Elon Musk on SpaceX IPO, Environment & Flying Cars

By Alison van Diggelen, host of Fresh Dialogues

Last night Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Motors joined me in conversation for the Revolutionaries Series at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. We explored his journey from South Africa to Silicon Valley and beyond and he was exceptionally candid about his entrepreneurial highs and lows. He also shared a fascinating glimpse into the future…flying cars, hyperloops and Mars, oh my! His eyes welled up as he spoke with deep emotion about Neil Armstrong, the need for space exploration and the impassioned vigils after the death of the EV1. But he also displayed a great sense of humor throughout the interview. Did you know he plans to die on Mars? Just not on impact.
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Here is the transcript of our conversation:

Here’s the podcast from KQED:

On the chances of a SpaceX IPO this year

Not likely. Elon explained that he’s not in a hurry to make SpaceX a public company because the short term desires of shareholders would conflict with the company’s longer term goals (which included manned space flights to Mars).

On flying cars

He anticipates the production of flying cars in the near future (and he wasn’t talking about the acceleration of Tesla’s Model S). In response to my question: will it be an Elon Musk production? he demurred. But when I asked, is someone going to do it? He replied: someone *is* doing it.

On the inspiration for Tesla Motors

Musk had the audience roaring with laughter when we discussed the wailing and gnashing of teeth that occurred after the forced recall of the EV1. He said, “How often do customers have candlelight vigils for the end of life of a product? Especially a GM product?”

On being an entrepreneur @38.0 on video

Remember that failure is the most likely outcome. Only do it, if you’re compelled to do it and are willing to eat glass and stare into the abyss.

“If you don’t eat glass you are not going to be successful,” Elon Musk

On the importance of sleep

Musk recommends getting a good night’s sleep, as you’ll be more productive. Despite running two companies and having five children, he averages 6 hours a night. Less than that and he admits to getting grumpy and achieving much less.

On the environment @55.0-1.00.00 on video

He says putting hydrocarbons into the atmosphere is “the world’s dumbest experiment“…We’re playing a lethal game of Russian roulette with the atmosphere and every year, we’re adding another bullet.

The hour long interview will appear on the Computer History Museum YouTube channel next week and  air on KQED TV in April. Check back soon for more photos and more details on inspiration, innovation and SolarCity. Check out #CHMElonMusk on Twitter for more audience reaction.

Click here for transcript excerpt: On How Elon Musk became the Reluctant CEO of Tesla Motors

Check out transcript for Elon Musk on Obama, Climate Change and Government Regulation