Assignment 3: Profile

1

Assignment 3: Profile

Assignment 3: Profile

Wenjia Zhang

Course: MFJS 2140

Instructor: Professor Deblina Chakraborty

Date: Feb 19, 2021

Profile: Elon Musk

In 1971, a child was born in South Africa. During his childhood, it was clear to his parents that this was not an ordinary child. He was so engrossed in his daydreams about inventions they even dido a medical test to check his brain. Even as his parents divorced when he was just ten10, this child’s passion for creations did not wither. He learned about computers, and by the time he was twelve12, he had learned how to program and created a game called Blastar. The child was Elon Musk. Although his name is synonymous with companies like Tesla, SpaceX, and PayPal, his entrepreneurial days started when he was just a little boy. Fast forward to 2021, one of Musk's companies is primed to play a massive role in the British government's decision to embrace electric cars and halt the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2030. Comment by Chakraborty, Deblina: See:AP style

According to Lewis (2020), the British government came up with a comprehensive plan for a ‘green industrial revolution’ late last year. The objective of the project is to embrace green energy, and reduce the country’s carbon footprint. (Lewis, 2020) One of the goals of this plan is for the government to stop selling out traditional internal combustion engine cars by 2030 and hybrid cars by 2035. Additionally, this plan aims to accelerate creating the necessary infrastructure to support electric vehicles across the country. The government will also offer grants to people purchasing electric cars to encourage more people to support the transition while making these cars more affordable to the public. Comment by Chakraborty, Deblina: Who is Lewis? Don’t forget your journalism-style attribution

Elon Musk is a household name when it comes to innovation. One of his most notable achievements is his efforts at Tesla Motors. This company focuses on manufacturing battery energy storage, electric cars, and other related services and products. By 2008, the company already had a vehicle that could travel 250 miles between charges. Though Musk’s efforts, Tesla has strategic relationships with Toyota and Daimler, which have propelled it to hold the number one position as America's most valuable carmaker ahead of General Motors.

Therefore, with the British Government’s move to full use of electric cars in the UK, Tesla will grow and make Musk’s name even more prominent in the entrepreneurial and innovation world. With such opportunities growing by the day, it is perhaps unsurprising that Musk has recently overtaken Jeff Bezos to be the richest man on the planet. At Tesla, Musk directly oversees the design, engineering, and product development of all products. His expertise stems from his rich educational background, which involves a degree in economics and a physics degree. Although Musk had enrolled for to pursue a Ph.D. in energy physics at Stanford, he dropped out after just two days to take part in the Internet boom. He founded Zip2 Corporation, which he later sold to Compaq, and used the money to create X. com, currently known as PayPal. Comment by Chakraborty, Deblina: source

The sale of PayPal allowed Musk to start SpaceX and Tesla, which he is presently well-known for.

Overall, Musk’s experiences reveal four key lessons. First, one should tackle obstacles head-on. Musk is not afraid to tackle any obstacle regardless of how difficult it may seem, which explains his success in the telecommunications, energy , and automotive industries. Comment by Chakraborty, Deblina: AP style

Second, failure should be treated as a lesson. Musk has failed in his efforts several times, most notably through his SpaceX program, which has consumed millions without being successful in its quest to facilitate interplanetary travels. Comment by Chakraborty, Deblina: But he’s had some successes right?

Third, one should continually try to be better. It is why Musk accepts feedback as a way of getting to know the truth and acknowledging weaknesses. Finally, one should prioritize learning. Must Musk is keen on learning and reads a lot of books each year. Overall, as a risk-taker, Musk appears to have a bright future and is likely to outdo his present success in the innovation world. Comment by Chakraborty, Deblina: This is basically opinion

This is mostly solid writing (just a few style errors), the main problem is that rather than being a journalistic profile, it’s more of a book report. The assignment was that the subject of the piece itself would be your main source. But this doesn’t appear to have any direct quotes so I’m assuming you did not interview him. Additionally, there’s no news hook here – and it would be very easy to have one b/c there’s been a fair bit of SpaceX and Tesla news lately. I do hope you choose to do a revision and give this one another try.

References

Lewis, M. (2020, November). This is the EV part of the UK’s ‘green industrial revolution’ plan. Electrek. https://electrek.co/2020/11/17/uk-green-industrial-revolution-plan-electric-vehicles/