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Author claims founders 'aren't risking enough' and points to Elon Musk—who sold…

Brief

Ayman Abdul urges founders to take bigger risks, citing Elon Musk—who sold PayPal and then bet everything on Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity—as the model. He prescribes an annual 'Baseline Break': fly to a cheap beach town, sleep in a $30 shack for a few nights, write 1,500 words, and live simply to realize 'life would still be amazing' if you lost it all.

Why it matters

Author claims founders 'aren't risking enough' and points to Elon Musk—who sold PayPal and could have retired—choosing instead to bet everything on Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity.

Key details

  • Prescribed tactic: an annual 'Baseline Break' — fly to a cheap beach town, sleep in a $30 shack for a few nights, write 1,500 words, have bonfires/coffee/breakfast tacos — to realize 'if I lost it all tomorrow, life would still be amazing' and thereby take bigger risks.
Source evidence

You're not risking enough.

The founders that take the biggest leaps go the farthest.

Elon sold PayPal and could've spent the rest of his life on a yacht. Instead he bet everything on Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity.

He already knew he'd be fine without any of it.

How do you take bigger risks?

Realize they're not risks at all.

Once a year, every founder should fly to a cheap beach town. Sleep in a $30 shack for a few nights.

Just sun on your back, bonfires at night, 1,500 words, coffee, and breakfast tacos in the morning. That's it.

I call it The Baseline Break.

You realize pretty quickly: if I lost it all tomorrow, life would still be amazing.

That one thought will make you more dangerous than any business book.

Stay Dangerous Friends