Thread by @TrungTPhan

1/ In 2004, Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos met for a meal to discuss space.

It was one of their few in-person interactions.

The conversation they had perfectly captures the different approaches they've taken to space exploration.

Here's the story 🧵

2/ For Bezos, the path to the meeting began in 1999 when he and famed sci-fi author Neal Stephenson watched the film "October Sky" (about NASA engineer Homer Hickam)

After the viewing, the Amazon founder told Stephenson he always wanted to start a space company...

3/..and Stephenson said "why don't you start today?"

Stephenson -- author of classics such as "Snow Crash" -- was hire #1 and put together a team of thinkers and engineers.

Bezos dropped in on the team one Saturday a month, mostly to discuss alternatives to chemical rockets.

4/ Bezos' space company Blue Origins was officially incorporated in Sept 2000.

Elon Musk wouldn't launch SpaceX until Mar 2002. He bankrolled it with 2 big tech exits:

• selling Zip2 to Compaq for $300m in 1999
• netting $180m after eBay bought PayPal for $1.5B in July 2002

5/ From the start, SpaceX was much more publicly visible.

Musk's attempts to win NASA contracts (competing w/ Boeing and Lockheed Martin) included wild stunts.

In Dec 2003, he rolled a SpaceX rocket down Independence Ave in DC and gave a speech at the Air & Space Museum

6/ While SpaceX had yet to launch a rocket into space, it was testing engines in Texas and Bezos wanted to pick Musk's brains.

When they met in 2004, Musk was not impressed by Bezos' progress:

7/ Like really unimpressed ("dude, we tried that")

8/ Why did Bezos ignore Musk's advice?

His history at Amazon clearly shows 3 things:
• vast patience
• trailblazing its own path
• constant experimentation

If Bezos was wrong, he wanted to find out on his own...and didn't mind if that would take some time.

9/ The Bezos strategy is enshrined in Blue Origin's motto and its coat of arms.

The motto is "Gradatim Ferociter" (step by step, ferociously) while the coat of arms has a pair of turtles (AKA the tortoise vs. the hare) heading to the stars.

Slow and steady wins it for Bezos.

10/ Conversely, SpaceX's motto is "Head down. Plow through the line" Musk's aim of creating a multi-planet species (eg Mars) requires urgency.

(Bezos is more focussed on creating a space economy for millions of people)

SpaceX's first successful launch came 4yrs after they met.

11/ Over the years, Blue Origin has aggressively hired top SpaceX talent, often 2x-ing their salary:

"I think it’s unnecessary and a bit rude,” Musk says of the practice.

Blue Origin's New Shepard would finally touch the edge of space in Apr 2015, nearly 7 years after SpaceX.

12/ With Bezos retiring from Amazon and focussing more on Blue Origin, the battle b/t the world's 2 richest people (each worth $160B+) may just be starting.

While SpaceX has the clear lead, Bezos is likely banking on Aesop's tortoise and hare fable to win the race.

13/ If you enjoy business stories like this (or dumb memes) SMASH that follow: @TrungTPhan

Excerpts from the great book "The Space Barons" by Christian Davenport.

Check this story about Elon Musk starting SpaceX with a legendary cold call:

https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan/status/1301168247790686208?s=20

14/ PS. Here's a funny video debunking Bezos' claim that Blue Origin made the first re-usable rocket:

15/ If the space beef between Musk and Bezos wasn’t enough.

Amazon-backed EV startup Rivian (maker of trucks and SUVs) is eyeing a $50B IPO this year.

Here’s how it’s truck stacks up to Tesla’s Cybertruck.

16/ PS: Link to "Space Barons" amazon.com/Space-Barons-B…

And a story I wrote about founding SpaceX team member, Jim Cantrell: thehustle.co/jim-cantrell-r…

17/ PPS: Here was a dumb meme that got the @elonmusk seal of approval

https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan/status/1343202533649612807