Elon Musk founded SpaceX not because of its potential for big profits, but because its achievements could have one of the greatest impacts on humanity. Today, 24 years later, SpaceX is the most successful space company in the world.
βIt really wasn't from the perspective of what's the rank-ordered best way to make money, which is ok, but it was really what I think is going to most affect the future of humanity. So, that's the basis for SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity.
When I started SpaceX, initially, I thought that, 'Well, there's no way one could possibly start a rocket company,' I wasn't that crazy. So, I actually went to Russia 3 times to look at buying a refurbished ICBM. So, after my 3rd trip, I said, 'ok, well, what we need to do here is try to solve the space transport problem,' and started SpaceX. And this was against the advice af pretty much everyone I talked to. I think it was tough going there in the beginning because I'd never built anything physical...
And so we did all that and then failed 3 times. I was tough going... And we were able to eventually, with the 4th flight in 2008, to reach orbit. And that was also with the last bit of money that we had.β
Elon Musk
Video: Entrepreneursonig