First Principles Mindset

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Have you ever taken something apart to see how it works?

Growing up I would take apart everything to see how things worked. I took apart computers to explore what was inside and to see if I could put it back together.

I have the feeling most of you weren’t this peculiar growing up.

The idea of First Principles is basically using reverse engineering to solve a problem. To do this you have to break down the problem to its core then you can solve the problem by working backwards from there.

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Elon Musk is well known for his First Principles Mindset. So as an example let’s explore how Tesla used 1st Principles.

Teslas are cars, cars get you from Point A to Point B. Cars hold people typically 2-5 people. Cars have 4 wheels and drive on road in between lanes. Before Tesla most cars were powered by gasoline.

Elon saw another way. He figured you could power a car with electricity. Most RC cars are electric so why can’t regular cars be too? What would it take to make this change?

Elon got a sporty Lotus Elise and removed the drivetrain to replace with batteries and an electric motor. Where a typical car needs a motor, gas tank, and transmission an electric car just needed a motor and a battery pack. In fact the electric motor was far simpler than a gas motor with just a fraction of the moving parts.

He took a problem, looked at how things are currently done, knew where we wanted to go, and worked his way there

🧠 How to Solve Any Problem

There will be times where you don’t have the answer. Believe it or not the internet does not have every answer. So knowing how to solve tough problems can be an immensely valuable skill.

When you are feeling stuck remember to work backwards. Take your problem and break it down. As Simon Sinek says the way to under stand the cause and effect of any problem is to ask why five times. Break down the problem to its core level.

venture backed is not always the way to go

clip on first principles thinking applied to business