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“The 4-Hour Workweek” author Tim Ferriss said he believes that one should only take advice from people who have done great things themselves. I totally agree with this statement and I am constantly searching for these tiny nuggets of wisdom by great people scattered all over the internet.

A few days ago I came across an interview with Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. He gave a few tips for entrepreneurs starting their own business and I would like to share them with you.

Have a high pain threshold

When you first start a company there is a lot of optimism, things are just great. You feel like you are starting on an amazing journey and that nothing can stop you. Naturally, happiness at first is high.

Then you encounter all sorts of issues and happiness will steadily decline. You will go through a whole world of hurt. Eventually, if you succeed, and in most cases you won’t, after a long time you finally get back to happiness.

Elon Musk lived through this emotional roller coaster with his company Tesla, which had its share of near-death experiences. According to the quite educational book “Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future” by Ashlee Vance, Tesla was a few times on the brink of bankruptcy.

This roller coaster of emotions is the reason why entrepreneurship is not for the fainthearted.

Whatever you are doing has to be a great product or service

It has to be really great. If you are a newcomer in an untapped market the standard is lower. But if you enter an already established market against large, entrenched competitors, then your product or service needs to be much better than theirs. It can’t be a little bit better, because if you put yourself in the shoes of the consumer you would always buy a trusted brand unless there is a big difference. A lot of times an entrepreneur comes with something that is only slightly better and this will not cut it.

No better recent example exists, at least in terms of consumer electronics than the Apple iPhone.

It simultaneously dislocated the entire cell phone market while setting a new standard. Few other modern products have been so disruptive while delivering such a leap in functionality. The high asking price wasn’t a stopper since the product was so much better than that of the competition.

Constantly seek criticism

A well thought out critique of what you are doing is as valuable as gold. You should seek that from anyone you can, but particularly your friends. Usually, your friends know what’s wrong but they won’t tell you because they don’t want to hurt you.

It doesn’t mean your friends are right but very often they are. At least, you should listen very carefully to what they have to say. You should always take the approach that you are wrong and your goal is to be less wrong.

Do not seek praise. Seek criticism. [..] If, instead of seeking approval, you ask, ‘What’s wrong with it? How can I make it better?’, you are more likely to get a truthful, critical answer. — Paul Arden

Although receiving compliments is far more satisfying for your ego, constructive criticism is much more valuable.