WASHINGTON – A panel of entrepreneurs was asked during a recent technology panel whether they learned more from failure or success?
Two panelists were unequivocal, emphasizing that failure was the best teacher. The third, space entrepreneur, Tesla co-founder and PayPal originator Elon Musk, said he sees it differently. Success is the greatest teacher, asserted Musk, explaining that success allows the risk taker to “find the needle in the haystack.”
As head of the only commercial space company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, to send a spacecraft into orbit and return it to Earth in one piece, Musk can afford to be a bit cocky. The next challenge will be sending his Dragon spacecraft into orbit to dock with the International Space Station. The launch aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has been delayed several times, and is currently scheduled for May 7.
The successful Elon Musk says failure is overrated.