If you want to succeed at one of Elon Musk’s companies, you might try listening to Shaun Maguire.
As a partner at Sequoia Capital, Maguire has led investments in several of Musk’s companies, including The Boring Company, xAI, and SpaceX. He said that three key traits help people excel at Musk’s businesses on an episode of “Relentless,” which aired on November 17.
Anyone who works for Musk can volunteer to take on a task, said Maguire, who The Information has dubbed the “Musk Whisperer.” Continuously raising your hand and delivering will help you move up.
“Being extremely competent and being willing to bet on your own competence, and always delivering,” Maguire said on the podcast. “And knowing your limit.”
It’s OK, he said, to admit when you can’t do something, or when someone else might be better for the task.
“The next thing is very, very quickly learning that you need to go five levels deep,” Maguire said. “You need to be able to handle five levels of questions or so in anything.”
Lastly, Maguire said that loyalty is crucial — but that doesn’t mean “blind loyalty.” Instead, he said it’s about trusting the system and that Musk “sees things other people don’t see.”
Though Maguire said Musk as an individual is hugely impressive, he added that part of the billionaire’s strength lies in “Elon the collective.” He didn’t name the group, but said it includes around 20 people who have worked for Musk for years and built tremendous trust.
“They can almost read his mind, and they know what he would want to have done in some situation,” Maguire said of the group.
Beyond that inner circle, Maguire said Musk looks for certain traits in capital investors: being willing to work hard, not letting information slip, and being there through good and bad.
“Most investors are leaky,” Maguire said. “This is a very low bar, but just not leaking things.”
Musk is famous for his work ethic and warned Tesla engineers last year that they might have to sleep on the manufacturing line at the Texas factory.
In turn, Maguire said Musk is good at attracting investors through marquee events, like when Optimus robots took center stage at an event last year.
For all that sets him apart, Maguire said Musk has “a lot in common” with another tech leader: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Maguire said that he bought Nvidia stock in 1999 as a 13-year-old, but “underestimated” Huang at first.
“He’s really pushed his advantage in an incredible way, and he’s been so aggressive,” Maguire said. The podcast aired just one day before Nvidia reported blowout earnings.
Maguire came under fire earlier this year for comments he made calling New York City mayoral elect Zohran Mamdani an “Islamist.” Musk was among those who came to Maguire’s defense as other tech leaders criticized him.
