I Don't Like the Word Product

Product product product. Talking to you, San Francisco.

How often do you hear Elon use the word product?

I hate the word product. It's not going to help you. Do something else. Live a little.

The word "product" has become a crutch for people who don't know what they're building. It's a placeholder for actual vision, actual purpose, actual meaning.

When you say you're building a "product," what you're really saying is that you're building something that you hope people will buy. You're not saying what it does, why it matters, or how it will change the world.

Elon doesn't talk about products. He talks about missions. He talks about changing the world. He talks about solving problems that matter.

SpaceX isn't a product-it's a mission to make humanity a multi-planetary species. Tesla isn't a product-it's a mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. Neuralink isn't a product-it's a mission to merge human consciousness with artificial intelligence.

These aren't products. They're movements. They're revolutions. They're attempts to change the fundamental nature of what it means to be human.

So stop building products. Start building missions. Start building movements. Start building things that matter.

Don't ask yourself what product you're building. Ask yourself what problem you're solving. Ask yourself what world you're trying to create. Ask yourself what legacy you want to leave.

Because in the end, the people who change the world aren't the ones who build the best products. They're the ones who build the best missions.

So do something else. Live a little. Build something that matters.

And stop calling it a product.