Elon vs. Jobs

I was talking to a fellow founder at a dinner about Elon and Jobs, and we had an insight on the difference in their philosophies.

Elon’s motivation comes from a place of net positive impact, it’s utilitarian. The desire to go to Mars, become a multiplanetary species, and improve human cognition comes is primarily driven by impact for hunanity. Occasionally, it’s driven by desperation — if don’t do this, humanity is doomed. When Sam Altman asked Elon how someone should figure out how to be most useful, Elon said, “figure out the the utility delta of what you’re building compared to the current state of the art times how many people it would effect”. Elon believes in the idea that we’re living in the simulation. The most important thing to do in the simulation is being useful (“if we don’t make stuff, there is no stuff”) and having fun (“the most entertaining outcome is the most likely”).

Jobs’s motivation to build products comes from a place of beauty. He believed that creating things of beauty is a moral obligation and a fundamentally important thing we all should do. He treated the process of creativity with reverence. He made parts of products that no one saw look beautiful. Jony Ive said about Steve, “he believed that there was a gravity, almost a sense of civic responsibility, to care way beyond any functional imperative.” Jobs believes that everything around you is made up by people no smarter than you and that you can mould it with your aesthetic judgement.

I’m sure there are many other motivations (power, money, notoriety, fame), but these are the main motivations I see.