白痴指数

Of Elon's strategy is a metric he devised known as the idiot index. This approach emerged from his early attempts to buy refurbished ICBMs from the Russians, but found their asking price of 8 million for one too much. Since then, he scrutinized every aspect of production, from the build to the assembly to the launch of the rocket. The term idiot index compares the cost of a rocket component to the cost of its raw materials. If an engine part costs 1000 dollars but the raw material costs 100 the idiot index would be 10 to one, indicating inefficiency, Elon captured the essence of the index this way in a conversation with Walter Isaac I if the ratio is high, you're an idiot this concept was put to the test in a memorable encounter with Lucas Hughes, the financial analyst in charge of overseeing the costs of the raptor engine that powers starship, the vehicle SpaceX is relying on. For its mission to Mars, as recounted in isaacson's book, Elon asked Lucas, what are the best parts in raptor as judged by the idiot index Lucas responded, I'm not sure Elon, shoot him out. You better be fff. Think sure in the future you know these things off the top of your head. If you ever come into a meeting and do not know what are the idiot parts, then your resignation will be accepted immediately. How can you effing not know what the best and worst parts are Lucas replied, I know the cost chart down to the smallest part, I just don't know the cost of the raw materials of those parts Elon then asked, what are the worst five parts when Lucas looked at his computer to see if he could calculate an answer, Elon said no, don't look at your screen, just name one, you should know the problematic parts Lucas said there's the half nozzle jacket, I think it costs 13000. Elon responded, it's made of a single piece of steel. How much does that material cost Lucas replied, I think a few 0 dollars Elon knew the right answer and said, no, it's just steel. It's about 200 bucks. You have very badly failed. If you don't improve, your resignation will be accepted. This meeting is over done the following day Lucas was back and this time he was prepared. He presented the 20 worst idiot index parts for Elon and noticed there was a theme. The worst parts were those that required a lot of high precision machining like pumps and fairings. When Lucas concluded we need to cut out as much of the machining as possible Elon smiled. He was impressed. The meeting ended with an ambitious plan to get the cost of the raptor engine from 2 million down to two hundred zero in one year.