NEW DELHI, India — Billionaire Elon Musk advised Indian entrepreneurs to avoid chasing money directly and instead concentrate on genuine value creation, speaking during an appearance on investor and entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath’s “People of WTF” podcast.
Calling himself a “big fan of anyone who wants to build,” the Tesla chief likened the pursuit of money to the futility of chasing happiness. “If you want to create something valuable financially, you don’t pursue that. You pursue providing useful products and services, and money will come as a natural consequence,” Musk said.
He compared financial rewards to happiness, both of which he said emerge from meaningful work, purpose, and strong relationships. Musk urged founders to orient themselves toward contributing more to society than they take from it.
“I think anyone who wants to make more than they take has my respect. Aim to make more than you take. Be a net contributor to society,” he said.
Musk added a practical warning about the entrepreneurial journey, advising founders to “expect to grind super hard” and acknowledge that “there’s some meaningful chance of failure.”
He also cautioned entrepreneurs to stay away from politics for as long as possible. “Founders don’t need politics to build something great until their company becomes too large to avoid it,” he said. “Not everything needs politics. Once you get to a certain scale, politics finds you. It’s quite unpleasant.”
Reflecting on his own experience, Musk described politics as “a blood sport,” saying, “When I get involved in politics, it ends up badly.”
The SpaceX founder also discussed the future of Starlink in India, describing the satellite internet program as a powerful solution for underserved regions. “SpaceX is doing great work with the Starlink program, providing low-cost, reliable internet throughout the world. We’d love to be operating in India,” he said.
Responding to Kamath’s question on whether Starlink could reshape urban connectivity in India, Musk clarified that the system is not designed to serve densely populated cities. “It’s not physically possible for Starlink to serve densely populated cities… maybe 1 per cent or 2 per cent, but it can be much more effective in rural areas,” he said. (Source: IANS)
