What Founders Can Learn from the SpaceX IPO
Everyone is talking about the SpaceX IPO this week. Massive valuation. Leading the world in number of sattelites. It’s the largest IPO in history
But the most interesting thing about SpaceX isn’t the IPO. It’s how they got there.
I heard a story about Elon Musk trying to move rockets from Texas to Florida.
His team told him the only practical option was to ship them by barge. The trip would take months. Musk wasn’t satisfied with that answer. Speed is a habit and must be learned and practiced.
He told the team:
“Don’t tell me what is impossible. Explore what is possible. Physics are the only laws. Everything else is a suggestion.”
So the team started looking for alternatives. They explored driving the rockets
Good idea but it came with a problem with overpasses. It’s hard to get a rocket on a road and have it fit. They dug deeper and found routes using back rounds that didn’t have overpasses.
The next problem was electrical wires. They looked dead in the water. They one engineer suggested sending a crew ahead of the rocket with long poles to lift the wires manually as the convoy moved through.
Problem solved. Instead of months, the rockets could arrive in weeks.
Too many organizations are filled with people whose job has quietly become explaining why something won’t work.
“We don’t have enough budget.”
“We don’t have enough people.”
“We’ve never done it that way.”
“The market is too competitive.”
“The candidate would never join us.”
Those statements may be true. They’re also useless.
As a leader, it’s your job to be creative and think of ways to do things that have never been done before.
Do that and maybe you’ll be the next one to IPO.