Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal: Analyzing Elon Musk's Success

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STRATEGIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP:
JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT
The Journal - The Personal Journey
1

Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
First Personal Journal Entry Set......................................................................................................4
1. You..........................................................................................................................................4
2. Personality...............................................................................................................................4
3. Your Skills & Experience........................................................................................................4
Second Personal Journal Entry Set..................................................................................................5
1. Your Poster Entrepreneur........................................................................................................5
2. Reason for this selection..........................................................................................................8
Third Personal Journal Entry Set.....................................................................................................9
1. Poster Entrepreneurial Company.............................................................................................9
2. Reason for selection of Tesla Motors....................................................................................10
Forth Personal Journal Entry Set...................................................................................................11
Poster Company’s BMC............................................................................................................11
Using the SWOT........................................................................................................................11
Using Blue Ocean Strategy........................................................................................................12
Fifth Personal Journal Entry Set (Reflective Overview)...............................................................13
Knowledge gained.....................................................................................................................13
Changes occurred since Session 1 day 1...................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................16
Appendix........................................................................................................................................17
1.1 Business Model Canvas.......................................................................................................17
1.2 SWOT Analysis...................................................................................................................18
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Introduction
The whole assignment has been made in order to complete the journal entries related with my
personal physiognomies and a selected entrepreneur at present with his venture(s) to gain the
knowledge of the skills and achievements he/she has gained through his actions. The assignment
will be developed with the case of Elon Musk who is my role model and has gained tremendous
success in his actions and ventures like SpaceX, Tesla Motors, Zip2, PayPal etc. and is also
involved in the marking of effective and sustainable energy sources through his business
ventures for the benefits of all and solve the concerns of the people which are illustrated in
different sections of the report.
3

First Personal Journal Entry Set
1. You
2. Personality
3. Your Skills & Experience
4

Second Personal Journal Entry Set
1. Your Poster Entrepreneur
Profile Entrepreneur Selected: Elon Musk
Personal Physiognomies Elon Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa
on 28th June 1971. He has completed his
graduation in Canada and now has the
citizenship of South Africa, Canada and
America.
He is one of the most successful entrepreneurs
as he has successfully introduced Tesla,
SpaceX, Neuralink, PayPal and is still
proceeding to attain some unique benefits for
all.
With the involvement in the multiple high
technology ventures, he is a magnet for all and
has been listed among the Forbes richest
people with 54th position in 2017.
Musk is dedicated, determined, confident and
impulsive, ambitious and comical personality.
Background Born in South Africa and grew up with his
father who was an electromechanical engineer
Founded X.com (PayPal), SpaceX and Tesla
Motors
At the age of 12, after developing the
programming skills from his father he has
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developed a simple game and sold that to a US
magazine company in $500
Musk has learned the art of proceeding for
future with the ambitions and hence become a
multimillionaire in his 20’s after selling his
entrepreneurial venture Zip2 (Biography,
2019)
The innate traits from the electromechanical
engineer father and the privilege of having
knowledge from different universities, he has
gained great success in his life
Education, Experience and Skills After the age of 17, he has moved to Canada to
attend Queen’s University to avoid mandatory
military service to the army
He later completed the Bachelor degrees in
both physics and economics at the University
of Pennsylvania
Afterwards, he has earned his PhD degree from
Stanford University in energy physics
Ventures Tesla Motors - Automobile (electric vehicles)
company which earned $4 billion+ in Q2 2018
is the world's largest electric car company
Zip2 – Internet City guide system and Musk
received $22 million when he sold it which is
7% of total worth and it enables the best
content on the websites. (McGrath, 2018)
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PayPal – Online Payment Platform, help
people to transfer money securely. In the
selling of PayPal to eBay in 2002, Elon has
earned $165 million with his 11..7% share
SpaceX – space exploration business with
perception to launch missions and operations in
outer space (Mars). At present, after a big risky
business idea, SpaceX is the major carrier of
astronauts to international space stations
SolarCity – Energy, photovoltaic energy
production system in the US and has
statements that the company will expand by
building the single largest solar panel facilities
Management Style Elon is the CEO of 2 companies and has
limited time constraints. According to himself,
he works around 80-90 hours a week which is
almost double of a normal person to split the
time for the two companies. This way of
performing depicts his dedication and notion to
never stop also reflects his deep orientation.
He is focused to solve the problems the world
is facing which show his leadership and
management. He loves his staff with trust
which helps him to play and deploy a strategic
role in developing the core value and ethics.
This shows Musk is enthusiastic and positively
motivated towards the attainment of the needs
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(Junod, 2012).
Vision and Future Attitude Musk is a passionate personality towards the
technology and use of potential in order to
change the future of the humanities.
He has learned to pursue the actions with the
aim to succeed which is the reason for his great
success
Elon wants to solve the issues the current
people are facing which are one of the major
aspects which show his value and notion for
the future.
2. Reason for this selection
There are several examples of the successful leaders and I had chosen Elon Musk because of the
simple reason I am also very attracted and curious towards the introducing and developing new
technologies at present like online payments methods, electric cars, efficient energy systems etc.
The main reason for this selection is, Elon Musk has made a tremendous successful presence in
all these fields and become the role model of millions of people and I am one of them. The
characteristics of the Elon motivates me to keep on going for the future endeavours and serve
humanity with the best possible ways one can. In addition to this, he is a motivated, dedicated,
enthusiastic and operatively dynamic personality which also makes him my role model.
Moreover, another reason can be the way he manages the time and handles his different
businesses forces me to understand him more and follow his tracks.
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Third Personal Journal Entry Set
1. Poster Entrepreneurial Company
Tesla Motors is the world’s largest electric cars company founded in 2003 by a group of
engineers with the mission to provide no-compromise electric cars to the people around the
world (Tesla, 2019). At present, Tesla not only provides the high-end electric cars but also
involved in the development of the infinite scalable clean energy and storage products. Tesla has
several models in cars Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Roadster which are the leading models
of the company. Currently, the financial report of the company depicts that the company has
earned great value and resources for the benefits of all (Alvarez, 2018). In the Q3 of 2018, Tesla
has managed to gain revenue of over US$11.759 billion which is another record in the lane for
the Tesla (TESLA, INC. 2017).
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Mission – to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy and serve people with the
solutions for current concerns
Vision – To create the most persuasive and compelling car company of the 21st century by
driving the world’s transition to electric or sustainable energy vehicles
Products – Model S, Model X, Model 3, Roadster and energy solutions as Powerwall,
Powerpack and Solar Roof
Origins - Founded in 2003 by a group of engineers who wants to serve people with sustainable
car models with no compromise in quality and generally high-quality needs. Musk is involved in
this idea generation and development of the sustainable energy sources
Employee Relations and Culture – with the technology-driven approach of the company, the
leadership and management of the company is leaned towards the creation of a healthy and
efficient working environment for the staff members and create a valuable market value
2. Reason for selection of Tesla Motors
Tesla Motors is one of the fastest grown companies in the past two decades since its
establishment. The most prominent reason for the selection of this choice is that it is operating
under the leadership of Elon Musk who is my role model and another reason is the notion to
serve people with the future needs without any compromise. They create luxury cars and
sustainable energy systems which help them in creating several opportunities as this will be the
need of the future to bounce from the gasoline vehicles to some sustainable fuel system vehicles
by using effective and dynamic energy sources. The attracting force of the company is its on-
going research for the sustainability products by a lean dedicated workforce. The company is
acting to achieve the success that no one has eared in past with the moral and social cause
solutions. In order to emulate, I would like to take away the leadership of Elon Musk as I think
this is the main supporting force for the company that has made it the greatest success in this
consecutive decade in terms of both electric cars and energy sources.
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Forth Personal Journal Entry Set
Poster Company’s BMC
(Refer appendix 1.1)
Using the SWOT
Strengths – company is continuing its growth and profits since establishment and has established
the new records continuously. The company has potential strengths of technology, political and
government support, leadership and team spirit, monopoly and distribution channel systems. The
company has earned a significant value in the markets and is in the minds of all the people who
want sustainable luxury. The company has a mind-blowing car model that can easily attract a car
lover, sustainable energy development and research processes to attain the best possible solutions
to the concerns of the people. In addition to this, the company has also attained a tremendous
amount of financial revenues in the past years of operations that made it a leading competitor to
any other car manufacturer brand.
Weaknesses – the major weaknesses or shortcomings in bringing the technology is a major weakness
as they are completely reliable on the technology and its coming future demands. In addition to
this, the risk of disruption of the technologies is another and major aspect that can create some
future weaknesses for the company. Moreover, assuring people of a high level of quality is the
reason for high-level price ranges which can be significantly reduced for all the economic classes
for the benefits and protection of the environment. At last, the supply chain is a downfall of the
company which can be solved by creating new manufacturing sites at diverse locations and
developing countries.
Threats – at present, the share of the electric vehicle industry is quite low despite the future perceptions
and increasing high demands. Even with the manufacturing of electric cars on a very large scale,
companies are not able to promote them strategically in developing countries like India, Malaysia, Italy,
UK etc. In addition to this, many parts of the world the rate of growth of the industry is very slow which
setbacks the company. The dynamic market scenario of the there is a need to focus on many aspects of
the business which can hinder the tasks and hence may affect Tesla.
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Opportunities – the need of the utilisation of the renewable energy sources like electric vehicles has been
tremendously increased. The company’s products range is defined in the most sustainable future needs
and areas and hence this is a wide range of opportunities which the Tesla has in the future. The major
game-changing element of the global economies is the climate change and with the present sustainable
products, Tesla can attain several new opportunities.
Using Blue Ocean Strategy
According to the blue ocean strategy, Tesla has the potential to re-invent new technologies and
attain a new height in the markets and hence there are several strategies and directions that the
company can utilise in order to lead in the markets.
There are several aspects that are already involved in Tesla Motors and are illustrated below:
 Sustainable vehicles (electric cars) with charge station established
 Zero emission vehicles in the sports and luxury categories
 Vehicles with the range over 200 miles
 Use of effective energy over fossil fuels and traditional energy sources
 High investments in the risky as well as sustainable areas to develop some new
opportunities and attain the business objectives and goals
 Involvement of employee engagement, customer satisfaction and ethical culture
development practices
In addition to this, the company can attain additional benefits through Blue Ocean Strategy like:
 Have an appealing choice of the growing markets for the green markets and to create
more independent lives
 The company can also focus on new fuel systems in their vehicles to develop more
efficient transport systems
 The company can also focus on developing energy efficient motorbikes for all the
economy classes that can be transferred throughout the globe
 Alternate supercharging stations for the vehicles in order to enhance the reliability and
durability
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