Naveen Jain - Moonshots: Creating a World of Abundance

Learn how curiosity, imagination, and exponential innovation are creating life without limits

Naveen Jain is leading disruptions today that will reshape the worldand beyond. From redefining civilian space exploration to creating a path to free energy to disrupting healthcare and education, Jain is at the forefront of the exponential technology developments that will forever change how we live and work. In Moonshots, Jain reveals the secrets of the super entrepreneur mindsetthe catalyst for creating an exciting and abundant future. He then walks readers through the application of these powerful concepts in three moonshot initiatives that he is leading todayone of which is Moon Express, a private lunar venture that promises to open up the moons vast resources for the betterment of humanity. In Jains world, the term moonshot is meant both literally and figuratively! Journey with Jain through these illuminating pages and awaken your own moonshot potential. Its a discovery that will change your lifeand quite possibly the world.

NAVEEN JAIN is the Chairman and founder of Moon Express, the founder of inome, Intelius, TalentWise, InfoSpace, and Viome. Together, his experiences tell the story of a man who, with hard work, creativity, and a little luck and good timing, became a multi-award-winning top entrepreneur whose passion lies in creating successful business ventures for the good of all. Jain is a trustee of the board at the XPRIZE Foundation, a director of the board of Singularity University, and a director on the board of several startup companies. His awards and honors range from the Albert Einstein Technology Medal to being named one of the Six People Who Will Change the Internet to leading a business that earned a place on the Puget Sound Business Journals Top Three Best Workplaces list. Jains wife and children share his commitment to improving the lives of others through philanthropic activities centered on innovation, education, and positive youth development.

JOHN SCHROETER is publisher of the iconic Popular Electronics, Mechanix Illustrated, and Popular Astronomy magazines at TechnicaCuriosa.com, and executive director of TheStartupStudy.com. His deep industry experience spans semiconductors to high-performance computing to advanced automotive technologies. His patented work in defining e-pedigree solutions for pharmaceutical serialization (using RFID to eliminate counterfeit drugs from the supply chain) was recognized with Frost & Sullivans Technology Innovation Award. He continues to consult in the advanced semiconductor and high-performance computing fields, with an emphasis on machine learning applications in defense and healthcare. Schroeter is also the author of several books, including the Prentice Hall classic, Surviving the ASIC Experience, on the design of custom integrated circuits.

Copyright 2018 by Naveen Jain & John Schroeter

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Moonshots Press, an imprint of John August Media, LLC.

www.moonshotspress.com

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please refer all pertinent questions to the publisher.

Moonshots Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at:

John August Media, PO Box 10174, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 or email

Book and cover design by Ed Rother, ER Graphics

Printed in the USA

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN:978-0-9997364-0-1 (Print)

978-0-9997364-1-8 (eBook)

LCCN: 2017964189

Entrepreneurship | Technological innovations | Strategic planning | New business enterprises

First Edition

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Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities.

Aristotle

P EOPLE OFTEN ASK ME how to go about becoming a millionaire. By now most people know my smart-ass answer: Start as a billionaire and launch a new airline!

What most people dont get from this little rejoinder is the suggestion that theyre actually asking the wrong question. Rather than asking successful people about how to get rich, they ought to ask them about how to do things that are meaningful. Now that would be a good question! And its one question that my good friend Naveen Jain sets out to answer in this fun book.

My life has never been about anything to do with material wealth. The fact is Ive always had just one mission in life, and that is to make peoples lives better. Sometimes the efforts fail and flounder, but other times theyre wildly successful. Sometimes theyre surprisingly easy; other times theyre a real moonshot. In all cases, though, across all the Virgin companies, its our custom to work with crazy ideas and see just how far we can take them. Its an ethos that has taken me from selling vinyl records out of the boot of my car to making commercial space travel as accessible as commercial aviation.

As diverse as the Virgin companies are, theres still one thing that grounds even the craziest of ideas weve pursued: theres no point in starting a business if its not going to make a dramatic, positive difference in other peoples lives.

You make a difference in the world by solving problems, and entrepreneurs are the worlds best problem-solvers. To that endand to whats truly exciting and amazing about all of thisthere are no rules. If there were, you can be sure we would be breaking every one of them. Im so thankful I never learned all the conventional dos and donts of starting and running a business. Its actually been a tremendous advantage for me (as I often say, you dont learn to walk by following rulesyou learn by doing and by falling over). Its also the reason weve been able to go in and shake up entire industries. Its because we are virgins in every market we take on that we bring a very different mindset to the problems and challenges there. Indeed, we do things very differently. Consequently, industries are changed simply because we have entered them. And that experience has become a great passion in its own rightI cant stop doing it!

I believe there is no greater thing you can do with your life and work than to follow your passionsbut in a way that has a purpose beyond profit. And if the object of your pursuit is a massively transformative purpose, then believe me, youll never have to worry about the rewardsthey will follow in turn. I can also tell you that working in this way requires a different kind of mindan inquisitive, curious, questioning, and imaginative mindthe kind of mind that puts wind in the entrepreneurs sails. Fortune indeed favors those whose mindsetand creative optimismdrives them to work to make a massive difference in the world. Its a mindset that is equally essential to preparing you for any of the many