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“You need to have a combination of stubbornness and flexibility. Even though those two things seem at odds with one another, I don’t think they are. Because you can be stubborn on your vision but flexible on the details of how you get there.”

“I think it’s very helpful to cross-fertilize ideas from different industries. Tesla has borrowed ideas freely from SpaceX’s Falcon Rocket, including its extensive use of aluminum in both the body and chassis of the Model S, as well as drawing and casting techniques…This is critical to keeping the car as light as possible.”

“Ideas typically don’t just come to you. They happen because you’ve been talking about something and talking to a lot of people about it for a long period of time.”

“A leader must see external opportunities and the internal capability and culture—and all the connections among them—and respond to them before they become obvious parts of the conventional wisdom. The batting average for how well a leader does this is going to define his or her longevity in business.”

“I think the most important thing that I look for [when funding a project] is, really, who’s that champion? I think ideas come from everywhere. But I think all of the great products we’ve developed as being led by somebody who is incredibly passionate about the idea.”

“At the end of the day, you have to have people who are resourceful. Regardless of how high and how wide the wall, effective leaders are prepared to go above it, around it, or through it in order to get stuff done.”