{"product_id":"insane-mode-isbn-9781101985960","title":"Insane Mode","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e New and Noteworthy Title\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“You’ll tell me if it ever starts getting genuinely insane, right?”—Elon Musk, TED interview\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Hamish McKenzie tells how a Silicon Valley start-up's wild dream came true. Tesla is a car company that stood up against not only the might of the government-backed Detroit car manufacturers but also the massive power of Big Oil and its benefactors, the infamous Koch brothers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The award-winning Tesla Model 3, a premium mass-market electric car that went on sale in 2018, has reconfigured the popular perception of Tesla and continues to transform the public's relationship with motor vehicles—much like Ford's Model T did nearly a century ago. At the same time, company CEO Elon Musk courts controversy and spars with critics through his Twitter account, just as Tesla's ever-increasing debt teeters on junk bond status....\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e As McKenzie's rigorously reported account shows, Tesla has triggered frenzied competition from newcomers and traditional automakers alike, but it retains an edge because of its expansive infrastructure and the stupendous battery factory it built in the Nevada desert. The popularity of electric cars is growing around the world, especially in China, and McKenzie interviews little-known titans who have the money and the market access to power a global electric car revolution quickly and decisively.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eInsane Mode\u003c\/i\u003e started off as a feature on the dual-motor Tesla Model S, which gave the car Ferrari-like acceleration, but it's also the perfect description of the operating cycle of a company that has sworn it won't rest until every car on the road is electric. Here is a story about the very best kind of American ingenuity and its history-making potential. Buckle up!\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eInsane Mode\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Interpret it as a business book about overcoming the odds, or as an introduction to the alternative energy revolution in the works, or a portrait of a fascinating, strange person, or a wicked cool book about cars—or all of these.”\u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003eLiterary Hub\u003c\/i\u003e, “Every Day is Earth Day: 365 Books to Start Your Climate Change Library.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A must-read for everyone interested in cars, entrepreneurship, alternative energy, and deeper insights into out-of-the-box thinking, working, and living.”\u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e“McKenzie has delivered a narrative that both fascinates and frustrates: Musk’s passion for a clean-energy future is contagious, but at the same time it’s painful to see the struggle of the electric-car industry to widen its market and win over more consumers. \u003ci\u003eInsane Mode\u003c\/i\u003e will leave you wondering how different our roads would look if we embraced a technology that almost seems inevitable, batteries included.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e--The Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “\u003ci\u003eInsane Mode\u003c\/i\u003e presents a bracing view of one of the most important stories of our time, while delivering a direct hit on those who stand in the way of a sustainable future.”\u003cbr\u003e --Naomi Oreskes, Harvard University, author of \u003ci\u003eMerchants of Doubt\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “\u003ci\u003eInsane Mode\u003c\/i\u003e heralds a historic revolution in transportation—one that may even save us from the worst effects of global warming. Elon Musk’s Tesla deserves all the credit it gets, but Hamish McKenzie’s deep reporting across three continents reveals the scope of the transformation now under way. It is a deeply hopeful and inspiring story. We need it.”\u003cbr\u003e  --Jonah Berger, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, author of \u003ci\u003eContagious\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eInvisible Influence\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e“McKenzie’s book works on two levels: it’s a detailed…look at how Musk brought the Tesla to market…And it’s a primer on electric car startups worldwide.”\u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Daily Beast\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“If you read the Ashlee Vance biography of Musk, or closely follow Musk and Tesla news, the first few chapters of \u003ci\u003eInsane Mode \u003c\/i\u003emight have you thinking, “I know this already,” but you should keep going.”\u003cbr\u003e--GeekWire\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “\u003ci\u003eInsane Mode\u003c\/i\u003e is a gripping account of how Elon Musk has used genius and tenacity to overcome a mind-boggling array of obstacles and transform the auto industry. Hamish McKenzie is uniquely qualified to present this compelling and comprehensive look at Tesla and the companies from California to China that are following its lead. For everyone from entrepreneurs to educators, this book is indispensable.” \u003cbr\u003e --Nir Eyal, bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eHooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"Destined to be the classic business book about how great entrepreneurs can overcome challenges and beat back naysayers to change entire industries. McKenzie tells the riveting tale of\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003ehow Elon Musk beat better capitalized incumbents, but McKenzie goes further and shows the rivals coming from China who were just like Musk a decade ago. McKenzie shows how Chinese entrepreneurs-- ambitious, backed by the Chinese state, and full of crazy dreams of innovation--are starting to rival Tesla in innovation in the electric and autonomous driving space. If there is one business book to read this year, McKenzie's \u003ci\u003eInsane Mode\u003c\/i\u003e is the one!\"\u003cbr\u003e --Shaun Rein, author of\u003ci\u003e The War for China's Wallet \u003c\/i\u003eand founder of the China Market Research Group \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Hamish McKenzie paints a compelling picture of Tesla’s wild ride with nuance, context, and deep research not always found in today’s news headlines. \u003ci\u003eInsane Mode\u003c\/i\u003e is a must-read for anyone interested in the profound, disruptive changes happening to the global automotive and energy industries.”\u003cbr\u003e --Erin Griffith, technology journalist \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"Filled with fascinating stories and intriguing insights, the book paints a portrait of a brilliant, combative, relentless man who will not stop until America’s roads are populated with electric cars and humans have colonized Mars.\"\u003cbr\u003e --Adam Penenberg, New York University journalism professor, author of \u003ci\u003eTragic Indifference \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eViral Loop\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Anyone fascinated with electric vehicles in general, and the Tesla story in particular, will enjoy \u003ci\u003eInsane Mode. \u003c\/i\u003eFor those curious about how dominant practices get supplanted by new technologies, \u003ci\u003eInsane Mode\u003c\/i\u003e may provide useful lessons that can be applied outside of transportation.\"\u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003eInsider Higher Ed\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eHamish McKenzie\u003c\/b\u003e is a writer from New Zealand who lives in San Francisco. He has worked in communications for Tesla and Kik and was previously a journalist whose primary interests were technology and social issues. He is the cofounder of Substack, a subscription publishing start‑up.1\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A Kiwi and a Black Swan Walk into a Rocket Factory . . .\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"He's so audacious, it seems limitless.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e As a child, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, was an avid      reader. At elementary school in South Africa, he worked his way      through all the books in the school library and had to resort to      reading the encyclopedia. \"I read everything I could get my hands      on, from when I woke up to when I went to sleep,\" he said. Musk      learned to appreciate the art of storytelling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Among the books he devoured were a few about Thomas Edison,      inventor of the phonograph and the practical light bulb. Musk      would come to admire him as a role model who set an example for      how to turn flights of fancy into workable technologies that      transformed society-all while making a profit.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Edison knew that the commercial viability of his inventions      depended on his ability to garner support from the public and      investors. By contrast, Nikola Tesla, arguably a more talented      inventor, frequently found himself short of funds and subsequently      saw his brilliant creations founder in the marketplace. Like Musk      more than a century later, Edison would woo the public and      investors with audacious claims about the transformative powers of      his technologies. In 1878, he promised a reporter from The New      York Sun that his just-conceived incandescent bulbs would, with      the help of up to twenty dynamos powered by a 500-horsepower steam      engine, light up the entire lower part of New York City in just a      few weeks. His electric light would replace gas lights, Edison      predicted, and the wires that carried the light would also be used      to transport power and heat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The electric power would run an elevator, sewing machines-anything      with a motor-and the heat would cook food and provide warmth in      winter. This fantastic electric network, in other words, would      facilitate nothing less than the creation of a new world. \"It was      an incredibly wild boast bordering on fantasy, yet the paper took      it seriously,\" wrote Maury Klein in The Power Makers. \"If nothing      else, it made good copy.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Edison failed to mention that his bulbs at that point could burn      for only a few hours and that the electrical infrastructure needed      for them to work at scale was as yet undeveloped. It took another      two years for him to discover that a carbonized bamboo filament      could burn for more than a thousand hours. What mattered most for      the promise, however, was the story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Today, Musk makes wild claims about a radically advanced future.      Electric vehicles will replace all other cars on the road, he      says. The sun will provide most of the world's power. By 2060,      there could be a million people living on Mars, which would in      turn create a \"strong economic forcing function\" to improve space      travel, leading almost certainly to the colonization of the rest      of the solar system. Musk's conception of the future is like      something out of an Isaac Asimov novel. However, now that his      companies have made reusable rockets that can land themselves on      the launch pad and have created award-winning electric sedans that      can outperform million-dollar supercars, the papers take him      seriously. If nothing else, it makes good copy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Like Edison, too, Musk is willing to combat opponents who would      undermine his vision. During a public relations crusade to      discredit alternating current, a form of electric power that posed      a commercial threat to his preferred direct current, Edison went      so far as to support the use of the electric chair for executing      criminals who had been sentenced to death, paying an engineer to      use alternating current for the task. Musk's arguments against      competing technologies have been less ruthless, but he has      nevertheless proven willing to disparage rivals, as evidenced by      his dismissal of the hydrogen fuel cells favored by Toyota as      \"fool cells.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Musk's combative streak was also on display in February 2013 when      the New York Times reporter John Broder wrote a withering review      of the Tesla Model S after it ran out of energy during a winter      road trip from Washington, DC, to Milford, Connecticut. Broder was      testing Tesla's new high-speed charging technology, Superchargers,      on the route. Unfamiliar with the technology and faced with what      he claimed was conflicting advice from Tesla officials, Broder      charged the car insufficiently and failed to make it to his      destination. His ensuing write-up featured a photo of the Model S      on a flatbed pickup truck. The piece ran under the headline      stalled out on tesla's electric highway.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Musk reacted furiously. He would later claim that the negative      review cost the company about $100 million in value, including      hundreds of canceled orders. To counter the bad press, he wrote a      blog post that referred to data logs showing how fast Broder had      driven, how long he charged at each stop, and to what extent he      had tinkered with the climate control settings. Musk accused      Broder of sabotaging the test drive so he could tell a salacious      story-but it was a misdemeanor Musk wasn't entirely innocent of      himself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e As a reporter working for a technology news site called      PandoDaily, I was unimpressed with the way Musk handled the      response to Broder's story. The crux of the critique I wrote was      encapsulated in the headline: elon musk should stop whining and      let his data do the talking.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Despite my critical reaction, I was becoming more and more      fascinated by Musk. I had first encountered him when my then boss,      Sarah Lacy, interviewed him for the PandoMonthly speaker series. I      was in China on a reporting trip at the time, but I watched the      video online. Musk distinguished himself from previous guests with      his scale of ambition and willingness to take on hard problems.      The sectors he had chosen to enter-space, automotive, and, through      his founding investment in SolarCity, energy-were as far removed      as possible from Silicon Valley's frivolities du jour, such as      photo-sharing apps or games like Flappy Bird. Each came with its      own entrenched, politically connected, and deep-pocketed      incumbents; each demanded intestine-inverting amounts of capital      for even peripheral participation; and each was in desperate need      of modernization.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Asked by Lacy if he would ever again start an Internet company,      Musk gave a response that was both understated and radical. \"I'm      trying to allocate my efforts to that which I think would most      affect the future of humanity in a positive way,\" he offered.      \"There's lots of entrepreneurial energy and financing heading      towards the Internet, whereas in certain sectors like automotive      and solar and space, you don't see new entrants.\" That's a      problem, he said, because it's new entrants more than anything      else that drive innovation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Not long after Musk's takedown of Broder, I attended a talk at the      South by Southwest technology conference given by Astro Teller,      head of Google's think-big department, Google X, which had      produced the company's self-driving cars and its Wi-Fi weather      balloons. \"Elon Musk is a national treasure,\" Teller told the      audience. He suggested that Musk isn't the smartest man in the      world, but that he has the creativity and courage to try things      that others regard as too far out. \"He's like a walking moonshot,\"      said Teller. \"He's so audacious, it seems limitless.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Musk was enjoying a hot streak. In May 2012, SpaceX became the      first private company to send a spacecraft to the International      Space Station. At only ten years old, it had enjoyed a steady      four-year run of success, launching satellites and cargo into      orbit for a fraction of the cost of its competitors. It was      profitable, too, worth about $2 billion. In November 2012, Motor      Trend magazine announced that the Tesla Model S had won its 2013      Car of the Year award-the first unanimous winner in the magazine's      history-emphatically legitimizing the electric car company. The      next month, SolarCity, for which Musk served as chairman of the      board, had a successful debut on the public market, its stock      ending the day at 47 percent above its initial offering price.      Tesla's stock also surged over the course of 2012, doubling in      price since its 2010 initial public offering to hit more than      thirty dollars a share and a market capitalization of $4 billion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Just four years earlier, both Tesla and SpaceX had been on the      verge of bankruptcy, the former struggling to weather the economic      crisis, the latter having seen its first three launch attempts end      in shrapnel. To cap it off, Musk was going through a divorce with      his first wife, Justine Wilson. Musk's audacity looked like it      would be rewarded only with ignominy. Now, though, he seemed      unstoppable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e At the time, the tech media were in search of a successor to Steve      Jobs, whose death in October 2011 had left a vacuum. The industry      was bereft of a star, a visionary leader who could inspire a new      generation of entrepreneurs and drive sales of magazines whose      covers carried his or her visage. Here, perhaps, was a man who      could take up the mantle. Musk's approach contrasted sharply with      many of his contemporaries-including Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg,      Amazon's Jeff Bezos, and Yahoo!'s Marissa Mayer-who were wrapped      up in more earthly enterprises, chasing advertising and retail      dollars rather than trying to nudge the needle of history. Musk      was more akin to Henry Ford, who pioneered mass manufacturing of      automobiles, or Howard Hughes, the filmmaker and aviation      innovator, or, indeed, Edison, whose commercially viable      inventions ushered in a new era of prosperity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In August 2013, when Musk released the plans for \"a fifth mode of      transport\" that he said would zip people from Los Angeles to San      Francisco in thirty minutes, his fame reached a new level. The      so-called \"Hyperloop\" hit the headlines of the national news      broadcasts, which hailed it as a high-tech thrill ride that could      change the way we think about public transport. Musk wasn't      promising to build the Hyperloop himself-he was merely publishing      the plans so that some enterprising souls with more time on their      hands might attempt to make it a reality. The skeptics were quick      to question whether the designs were feasible, technically or      economically or politically. No matter. Musk had taken another      step from eccentric CEO to fledgling folk hero.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I focused my ensuing write-up on Musk's planetary-scale thinking.      While America was still in search of \"the next Steve Jobs,\" here      was someone who was already operating on a different plane of      purpose. Musk's methods could spur other entrepreneurs and inspire      future generations of innovators. These contributions, coupled      with his companies' extraordinary goals, were more meaningful than      developing beautiful computing devices. I still feel that way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I shouldn't have merely contrasted him to Jobs. I should have      compared him to Edison. Like Musk, the self-taught Edison credited      books as the source of much of his knowledge. Like Musk, Edison      was a workaholic, devoting most of his waking hours to his      laboratory. Like Musk, Edison dreamed up grand visions and      communicated them in such a way as to inspire wonder. Like Musk,      Edison accelerated a technological revolution. Edison's was      electric light; Musk's was electric cars.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I was working out of my spare bedroom in Baltimore at the time. My      life consisted of waking up every morning, wondering what I was      going to write, and then, after a flurry of phone calls and      interviews, pounding out two stories a day for PandoDaily's      website. I often didn't shower until dinnertime. And then, a day      after my piece hailing Musk's audacity ran, a publisher proposed I      write a book about the man I had said was more important than      Steve Jobs. I was flattered but didn't want to get too excited. I      knew immediately that the biggest challenge would be getting Musk      to cooperate in such a venture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In doing the initial research, I called some of Musk's friends and      associates to ask them how I could maximize my chances of securing      his cooperation. One of his friends told me he was close with his      mother, Maye, and that I should try to reach her. I found that      Maye Musk had a website to promote her services as a model and      nutritionist, and she listed her e-mail address. I wrote to her      and asked if she'd be willing to have a conversation about the      best way to approach her son to discuss the book. She wrote back      promptly and said she'd check with Elon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Musk's assistant reached out to me. Maye had forwarded my e-mail      to Elon and he wanted to talk. Four months earlier, a public      relations woman at SpaceX had told me that Musk liked a story I      had written about a tech lobby group called FWD.us that had been      bankrolled by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. I didn't think      that necessarily meant much. But in early September, Musk called      me at my apartment and surprised me by saying he thought my      writing was \"awesome\" and \"insightful.\" He didn't have time to      work on a book with me, and he was planning to write his own, but      he asked if I would be interested in working \"at a place like      Tesla.\" He had been looking for a communications leader and found      that he had an \"allergic reaction\" to most public relations      people. At first, the idea seemed absurd. But I did think that, if      we met in person, I might be able to convince Musk to participate      in the book project. \"I'd be reluctant to leave journalism,\" I      told him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I paid for my own flights to Los Angeles so I could meet him at      the SpaceX headquarters on October 17, 2013. I showed up in the      lobby wearing a blue plaid shirt and jeans and carrying with me an      orange backpack. Our meeting was scheduled for 1:00 p.m., but Musk      was late. Eventually, his assistant emerged through double glass      doors and said he was stuck in a meeting but I could wait at his      desk, which was in a corner near the lobby.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Chest-high partitions separated Musk's corner from the rest of the      office, and the desk faced a window through which I could see the      front parking lot, a hedge, and the tops of cars rushing by on a      busy multilane commuter road. A large Apple monitor sat on the      desktop alongside a hardcover copy of evolutionary biologist      Richard Dawkins's An Appetite for Wonder, a pair of aviators, a      folded wad of bills, a Tesla Model S key fob, and a neat stack of      documents, one of which appeared to show a mock-up of a space suit      that didn't look too far removed from the superhero costume worn      by Robert Downey Jr. in the Iron Man movies. In a frame mounted on      one of the partitions was a certificate from the Dutch Party for      the Animals, recognizing the entrepreneur for his plans to      establish a vegetarian colony on Mars.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e I'd been sitting there for ten minutes when Musk, who's six foot      two, walked in and clasped my puny hand in an all-encompassing      grip. \"Hi, Hamish.\" He seemed in high spirits, having just emerged      from a discussion with his engineers about how to make SpaceX's      next rocket reusable. \"Is it going to work?\" I asked, expecting a      pat answer. He then dove into a detailed explanation about how      complicated it is to smooth the wobble of a cylinder that is      reentering Earth's atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. He spoke in a      soft South African accent that had been hybridized over the course      of twenty-five years in North America. While his vowels remained      flat and long, he would roll his r's on words like motor and car      to make himself understandable to Americans, a linguistic trick to      which I was highly attuned because, as a New Zealander, I did it      myself. He was wearing jeans and a short-sleeved shirt over a      black crew-neck T-shirt. He had dark, sleepy eyes and a mouth that      turned down at the sides but easily broke into a thin-lipped      smile. Then, leaning back in his office chair, he turned to      business.","brand":"Dutton","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304698368229,"sku":"NP9781101985960","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781101985960.jpg?v=1767730072","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/insane-mode-isbn-9781101985960","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}