Why Every Entrepreneur Should Drive a Tesla
The only car for entrepreneurs
When I was becoming an entrepreneur, I thought the only way to flex was to have a nice house, a nice car or a nice watch.
After all, isn’t that how you show excessive disposable income?
So I made myself fall in love with driving machines as status symbols. Heck, I really loved my souped-up Audi.
Then I switched to Tesla and realized I’d been wrong for twenty years.
I am on my 3rd Tesla now, and the car has integrated into my life as an entrepreneur in ways I never expected. Meaning, the features “just work” and the car itself magically fades to the background and it lets me focus on whatever I am thinking about at that time.
Quick note: This article has nothing to do with Elon Musk. I’m talking about the Tesla and its impact on me as an entrepreneur. This has nothing to do with Elon and I’m merely focused on the benefits of what this car has done to help me become a better entrepreneur.
Here are the five reasons why:
1. “I need more time”
Entrepreneurs claim to value time but often design lives that waste it.
I am not just talking about the time wasted going to the gas station. I am referring to the precious commodity of attention.
For example, if you’re driving 15-20 hours per week, that’s 780-1,040 hours per year. In a traditional car, all that time demands your active attention. You’re managing speed, watching lanes, checking mirrors. Split attention isn’t the same as full attention.
You may say, “Of course Sharran, you are driving!”
Ummm, no.
The shift for me wasn’t just about reclaiming hours. It was about the car thinking ahead so I don’t have to.
The car does all the mundane things:
The car preheats itself.
Bluetooth connects automatically.
Automatic Route Mapping
Full voice control for everything
Near-collision warnings appear when I am getting aggressive.
Speed adjusts automatically.
The car is an awesome co-pilot.
Think about Top Gun. Just like Maverick has Goose watching the data, making micro-adjustments, covering blind spots while he focuses on the mission… I have my Tesla.
Also, the highway driving is like flying first class. It’s not tiring anymore. It’s actually stress-free, because the auto-pilot handles all the highway driving. Yes, I am talking about “Auto Steer” - the car drives itself. It was freaky at first, but I can’t ever imagine going back.
Now I can be present on calls, or in conversations with my children, or enjoying a podcast. Again, I am talking about the massive attention tax I don’t have to pay anymore.
Now I plug in at home each night. It takes just 5 seconds. In fact, I just realized that it’s been over 10 years since I have been to a gas station.
2. “I just need things to work”
My wife jokes that my Tesla is an iPad on wheels.
You want to control your house, your lights, your alarm system, your TV with your iPad. Heck, we choose things because they have an app. Why should our cars be any different?
I started asking:
Why does a car need a start button when it knows I’m there?
Why does it need climate controls when it already knows the temperature?
Why does it need 96 gauges when it can manage everything itself?
These are tiny decisions based on how cars used to work, not how they should work.
It’s so hard to explain if you have never experienced it, which is why I am trying so hard to explain the “out of the box” features:
I walk up and the car unlocks.
I do not have a key, which is a game changer
I get in and it starts.
It pre-conditions the climate.
If I’m not looking at the road, it gives me notifications.
It automatically routes me to Superchargers.
Side note: I now use the yoke steering. Race car drivers use it. Pilots use it. Why should we drive with a big ass steering wheel when there is a significantly better option for maneuverability?
It was hard getting used to the yoke for about 2 days. Now I can’t go back.
Here is something crazy that happened. Just 6 months after switching, I borrowed my wife’s Mercedes. I drove to the store, parked, and walked inside. Twenty minutes later, I realized I’d forgotten to turn it off and lock the door because I’d forgotten that shutting down a car was something I had to do.
3. “I need someone smart to talk to”
If there’s only one reason to drive a Tesla, it’s having full native integration with Grok without any other clutter.
I was thinking about one of my upcoming keynotes, and I just started talking to Grok about my ideas. In a short 20 minute drive, I had built an entire keynote while driving by talking to Grok.
There were no voice issues
There was no lag
And when I got back to my laptop, my entire chat was saved in Grok.
The integration is badass.
In fact, when I’m stuck, I go for a drive and talk about my ideas with Grok. In the mornings, I use Grok to plan my day. At night when I’m tired, I use Grok as a therapist.
I also told my therapist IRL that I use Grok as my daily therapist.
She approves of Mr. Grok.
Over the last few months, I have started to prep for meetings on my drive or recap things I need to work on. I even discuss technical topics about my health, flying planes, financial markets and the Anaheim Ducks. My children and I often play AI-based quiz games together.
You can’t do that anywhere else.
Every entrepreneur needs this because an entrepreneur cannot turn it off. You used to listen to a podcast because that was the next best option. Now you have your personally curated conversation about exactly what you need to think through right now.
4. “I need a great place to think”
The car used to be dead time. Now it’s where I do some of my best thinking.
In the office, you’re wired to execute. The environment makes you work.
At home, you switch off. You want to be present with your family and your personal life.
But in the car, you’re in between. That’s where you actually think.
The problem is most cars don’t let you think.
I was actively driving, barely focused on calls, and acutely splitting my attention. And then sometimes the bluetooth wouldn’t sync, so I’d grab an external headset that had to be wired and charged.
Ugh.
What seems like small irritations are actually big irritations when you realize they shouldn’t be irritations at all. It’s like a paper cut, it’s really not a big deal. But when it happens all the time, its freaking irritating. Meaning, the car was demanding attention I needed for thinking.
If the car is your place to think, imagine if that space was curated with all the tools you need: Distraction-free environment, voice-activated tech for anything you need, and with a all-knowing thought partner (Ai) always available.
My Tesla created that space for me.
I can be productive at home. I can be productive at work. I can think clearly in my car.
It minimizes all the mechanically needed things of being a car and gives you an environment that is simple, convenient, sentient, and clutter-free.
I honestly like driving now more than I ever have before.
5. “What does this say about me?”
The Tesla is the modern-day pickup truck.
People either got a fancy car (Porsche, Ferrari, Mercedes) or they said, “I’m going to drive a souped-up pickup truck because no one can judge me for that.”
People got the pickup truck only because they didn’t have access to a Tesla (outside of the utility of a pickup) back then.
No one’s going to look down on you for driving a Model S. It actually gives you status and sophistication. The only performance you’re sacrificing is nostalgia.
The car goes faster than every other car.
It’s handling has gotten me out of the toughest spots.
As an entrepreneur, it gives me my attention back.
It’s an iPad on wheels.
It shows I’m progressive and technologically-centric.
While this is cringey for me to say, I will do it to make a point: I can afford a fancy Rolex, but I wear an Apple Watch. I choose to wear it.
Similarly, I choose to have the Tesla because it gives me performance combined with style, efficiency, and sleekness without demanding I prove anything.
Just sayin’
If there was ever a list of the five things every entrepreneur must do, driving a Tesla would be one of them.
I would go as far as calling it “self-care for entrepreneurs.”
You sound like an early adopter. I wonder how you handle renting cars when you travel. Are you rigid or flexible. Can you adapt to change well. Like all technology waves as things evolve our expectations rise. Will you still feel this way in ten years. I wonder.
This is great. Coming from a behavioral design perspective, it shows how great design reduces friction, lowers cognitive load, and supports your desired behavior 🤯❤️