‘Be a net contributor to society’, Elon Musk’s message to Indian entrepreneurs on Nikhil Kamath’s podcast

Two days ago, Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath took social media by storm after releasing a teaser for the next episode of his popular WTF Podcast, hinting at an interview with Tesla chief Elon Musk.

Just a few hours ago, the conversation, which lasted nearly two hours, hit Nikhil Kamath’s YouTube channel titled ‘Elon Musk: A Different Conversation with Nikhil Kamath’. At the time of writing, the video had garnered over 1,53,750 views, 40,000+ likes and 3,850+ comments.

The statement promised “a long conversation with Elon Musk about work, consciousness, family, money, artificial intelligence and how the future may emerge.” Some of the issues discussed by the two businessmen are as follows:

What makes a company worth investing in?

Nikhil Kamath asked Elon Musk about his philosophy on investing and what makes him think a company is a good long-term bet. For this, the richest man in the world felt it was important to ask himself a few important questions.

“If it’s long-term for a company, then you can say: “Do you like that company’s products or services? Did you like the product roadmap? They seem to be making great products, and will they continue to make great products in the future?” If that’s the case, then I’d say this is probably a good company to invest in,” said Elon Musk.

He added, “I (also) think you want to believe in the team. So, if you say, ‘They’re a talented, hard-working team, they’re making good products today, they still seem motivated to do things in the future.’ Then I’d say it’s a good company to invest in.”

He thinks this is “the right way to invest in stocks” despite daily market fluctuations. “Because a company is just a group of people who come together to create products and services. So you have to say: ‘Well, how good are these products and services? Are they likely to continue to improve in the future?’ If so, then you should buy shares of that company and not worry too much about daily fluctuations,” said Elon Musk.

Which companies does Elon Musk invest in other than his own?

When asked if he would own stock in a company that doesn’t belong to him “to achieve a capitalist, not an altruistic, goal,” Elon Musk tried to steer clear of investing.

“Actually, I don’t buy stocks. I’m not like an investor, I’m not looking for things to invest in. I just try to build something. Then I have shares in the company I founded. But I don’t think, “Should I invest in this company?” I don’t have a portfolio or anything,” he said.

But it has invested in artificial intelligence and robotics in the broader industry, singling out Google and Nvidia in particular. “AI and robotics are going to be very important. Google is going to be very valuable in the future; they’ve laid the foundation to create a tremendous amount of value in terms of AI. (And) Nvidia is clear on that point,” he said.

Why these sectors? Elon Musk believes that companies interested in AI, robotics and perhaps spaceflight have “overwhelmingly all the value,” adding: “The output of goods and services from AI and robotics will be so high that it will dwarf everything else.”

Should children still go to college?

Nikhil Kamath, who recently came under fire for his comments calling 25-year-olds pursuing an MBA “idiots”, also asked Elon Musk for his opinion on young people who want to get a college degree. Thereupon, the technocrat said that his own children wanted to go to university.

He said: “If you want to go to university for social reasons. I think that’s one reason to go; to be with people your own age in a learning environment. Will those skills be necessary in the future? Probably not, because we’re going to be in a post-work society. But I think, if there’s something interesting, it’s okay to go and study it. You know, study arts and sciences.”

When asked if the university in its current form was too generalized, especially considering the changes ushered in by artificial intelligence, Elon Musk felt it was important to learn as much as possible.

“I actually think it’s good to take a wide variety of classes in college, if you’re going to go to college. I don’t think you have to go to college. But if you are going to go, try to learn as much as you can about a wide variety of subjects,” he said.

He adds: “But as I said, AI and robotics are a supersonic tsunami. So this is going to be the most radical change we’ve ever seen. When I talk to my older kids, they’re pretty tech-savvy. They also accept that AI in the future will probably make their skills redundant, but they still want to go to college.”

Is bad AI possible? So how do we regulate AI?

When asked about his concerns about artificial intelligence, looking at it through a dystopian lens, and concerns about where the world of artificial intelligence is heading, Elon Musk felt that there is always danger in creating powerful technology.

“When you create a powerful technology, there is a danger that it can be potentially disruptive. There are many dystopian novels, books and films based on artificial intelligence. So it is not guaranteed that we will have a positive future with artificial intelligence. I think we have to make sure of that,” he explained.

He added that the most important thing is to ensure that AI pursues truth, can appreciate beauty and is curious. “I think it’s very important for AI to pursue truth as the most important thing. And I think it’s also important for there to be some appreciation of beauty. Truth, beauty and curiosity. Those are the three most important things for AI,” he said.

Why these three? According to Elon Musk, believing lies can drive artificial intelligence crazy and also lead to bad consequences. Quoting Voltaire’s statement, “Those who can make you believe nonsense can move you to commit atrocities,” he warned that this could potentially happen with artificial intelligence.

“If you don’t strictly adhere to the truth and have the AI ​​learn based on the internet where there is a lot of propaganda, it will absorb a lot of lies. Then you will have difficulty reasoning because those lies are not compatible with reality,” he added.

Regarding appreciating beauty and being curious, Elon Musk added that these characteristics are important, so AI wants to help support humanity and work for the well-being and survival of humanity. “So if AI values ​​truth, beauty and curiosity, I think you will have a great future,” he believes.

Advice from Elon Musk to entrepreneurs in India

Nikhil Kamath also asked Elon Musk for a message to young entrepreneurs who want to build in India. His most important advice was: “Be a clear contributor to society.”

“It’s best to try to deliver useful products and services. If you do that, then money will come as a natural consequence of that, rather than chasing money directly. It sounds obvious… but if someone is trying to make a company work, they should expect to put in a lot of effort, accept that there is a meaningful chance of failure, but focus only on the output being more valuable than the input. You are a value creator – that’s what really matters. Making more than you take in,” he concluded.