In this Blox lies Elon Musk's first official startup, Zip2.

Below is a Manuscript Snippet of Yu-kai Chou's "10,000 Hour of Play":

Before the advent of the internet, human communication and knowledge transfer was limited to single-pathed speech and writings - a process akin to the inefficient “osmosis” process between cells. The advent of the Internet revolutionized this process. Suddenly, virtually all information and knowledge were instantly accessible by anyone, forging connections among people across the globe and exponentially increasing our collective capacity for grand endeavors.

This vision of the Internet was so important to Elon Musk’s idea of “human consciousness,” that  in 1995 Elon dropped out of Stanford University only after 2 days of attendance (in fact, Stanford University could only find records of his acceptance to their school but no records of attendance, which was provided to Ashley Vance as proof in his biography of Elon Musk.)

This decision officially transitioned Elon Musk’s Game from, “Strive for Greater Collective Enlightenment” to “Realize the transformative potential of the Internet to change the world,” as he hard commits from seeking scholarly knowledge to becoming a full-fledged entrepreneur pushing to pioneer the forefronts of internet innovation.

As a result of this Game Change, his Role (Step 3) also evolved from an Entrepreneurial Engineer to an Internet Entrepreneur.

Of course, these new series of Quests (Step 6) meant that they both needed to develop new Skills (Step 4).

Together they co-founded Zip2, a web software company, with little more than their savings, some family help, and a daring vision. The task was tough - to offer business directories and maps for newspapers’ websites during the dawn of the online revolution.

Some of the default Skills Elon Musk needed to level-up on were Software Engineering and Strategic Thinking. 

Thanks to the Skills (Step 4) he developed with his first mentor Peter Nicholson at Nova Scotia Bank and his Bachelor’s degree in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, he refined his Abilities in Finance, Economics, Negotiations and Public Relations to strive in the new Game Level. Those skills helped with Zip2 raising $3 Million from the venture capital (VC) firm Mohr Davidow Ventures. 

Elon’s Cold-Calling Skills also secured a mindblowing deal with the digital maps and directions company Navteq, namely Zip2 could use all their technology for free. He also developed his Visionary Leadership and Stoic Management Skills - something that he would rely on greatly in his future ventures.

This was extremely important for Musk’s Life Game progress, as he explains, “I had never really run a team of any sort before. I’d never been a sports captain or a captain of anything or managed a single person. I had to think, Okay, what are the things that affect how a team functions. The first obvious assumption would be that other people will behave like you. But that’s not true.” 

While his Stoic Management Skills were empowered by his Relentless Problem-Solving, Goal Obsession, and Emotional Resilience Attributes (Step 2), it also fed on his possible Attribute Weaknesses (often the other side of the coin for his Strengths) such as being extremely demanding, lacking empathy, and having a blunt communication style**.

**In 2021, During his appearance as a host on the renowned U.S. television show, Saturday Night Live, Elon Musk candidly disclosed that he has Asperger's syndrome, a condition that is part of the autism spectrum disorder, often characterized by difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication.

He would often speak so harshly to his team that he would make them feel humiliated and demoralized - something not very productive when being a manager. 

Luckily, and true to 10K HP ethos, Elon Musk had Allies (Step 5) to make up for his weaknesses. His brother Kimbal Musk was an extremely upbeat sales leader at the company and helped with improving the mood and culture of Zip2. According to one of their sales staff, Jeff Heilman, “Kimbal was the eternal optimist, and he was very, very uplifting. I had never met anyone quite like him.”

On top of that, Elon Musk also had an Ally in the form of cofounder and mentor named Greg Kouri. Greg Kouri became an Ally through Musk’s Alliance Building (Step 5) efforts while still in Canada. Kouri invested $6,000 and moved to California to join Zip2 as a cofounder in early 1996. 

Most importantly, being in his thirties and a higher level Businessman, Kouri moderated Elon Musk’s more impulsive behaviors and helped reduce the “toxicity” feeling in the work culture. Eventually, this helped Elon Musk become more patient and empathetic through his Stoic Management Skills. Later on he reflected back, “You have to put yourself in a position where you say, ‘Well, how would this sound to them, knowing what they know?’”

Eventually, all these Skills, hard work, and sleepless Quests led Zip2 to eventually sell to Compaq for $307 million dollars in 1999, with Elon making $22 Million ($16 Million after paying his taxes) at the age of 28.