Elon Musk Described SpaceX As A 'Scrappy Little Company' In The Early Days And Compared Himself To A Little Kid Fighting A Bunch Of Sumo Wrestlers, Said, 'I'm Probably Not The Guy People Would Bet On'

In 2012, when Elon Musk sat down for an interview with "60 Minutes", he wasn't the household name that he is today. Although the entrepreneur was already a substantial figure in the tech industry, SpaceX was still seen by many as a gamble, a long shot in the high-stakes game of space exploration. In the interview, Musk made a statement that captured the essence of his approach to business and life. He referred to SpaceX as a "scrappy little company."

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SpaceX's work environment was a fusion of youth and experience, largely made up of engineers in their 30s and a few industry veterans. For many of them, the appeal of working at SpaceX was akin to being part of a pioneering effort that could define an epoch. Former NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman described it as the "chance of a lifetime," likening it to the opportunity to work with aerospace engineer Howard Hughes during the dawn of commercial aviation.

The stakes were astronomically high. SpaceX's first three rocket tests had failed, putting the company on the brink of bankruptcy. Musk had invested $100 million into the venture and was running out of time and money. It was a do-or-die situation for the fledgling company. If they failed again, SpaceX would likely have closed its doors for good.

But Musk, as he expressed in his interview, said he was not going to go down without a fight. "I'm probably not the guy that most people would bet on," he said. "It's like a little kid fighting a bunch of sumo wrestlers. Usually, the sumo wrestlers win. We're a little scrappy company. Every now and again, those scrappy companies win, and I think this will be one of those times.”

The fourth rocket succeeded. It was the victory that SpaceX needed to prove that it could play in the big leagues. 

What followed SpaceX's initial successes was nothing short of revolutionary for the field of space exploration. The company didn't just launch rockets; it also succeeded in landing and reusing them, a feat that drastically reduces the cost of going to space. Its innovations caught the attention of major players, leading to a series of significant contracts. 

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SpaceX secured the Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA, enabling it to deliver essential cargo to the International Space Station (ISS). The Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule became staples of these missions, proving the company's technical prowess and reliability.

It continued to break new ground by participating in NASA's Commercial Crew Program, aimed at sending humans safely to and from the ISS. Its Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission in May 2020 was a historic success, marking the first time a privately owned spacecraft carried astronauts to the ISS. These accomplishments forever altered the narrative around space exploration, a domain previously reserved solely for government entities with massive budgets. 

Today, SpaceX is a leading force in the space industry, pioneering new technologies and inspiring a new generation of engineers, scientists and ordinary people to look to the stars. Its valuation stands at an estimated $150 billion, 32 times its annual revenue for 2022. Meanwhile, Musk has become one of the richest men in the world with a net worth of $248 billion. Every so often, the scrappy little company comes out on top, and the little kid beats the sumo wrestler. 

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