Elon Musk’s Advice to Indian Entrepreneurs: “Make More Than You Take” — Practical Lessons and Next Steps
Elon Musk’s short, sharp message to aspiring founders in India — “make more than you take” — has reignited a practical conversation about company purpose, value creation and long-term thinking. The remark came during his recent interview on Nikhil Kamath’s People by WTF podcast, and it’s resonating because it’s less about slogans and more about a measurable mindset: be a net contributor to society.
Below is a compact, actionable breakdown of what that advice means for Indian entrepreneurs today — and how to put it to work.
What Elon Musk actually said (and where he said it)
Context: a podcast conversation that reached millions
On Nikhil Kamath’s People by WTF podcast, Elon Musk told Indian founders he respects “anyone who wants to make more than they take.” He urged entrepreneurs to build useful products and services first — the money, he said, will follow as a natural consequence of creating value. Musk also warned that success requires grinding hard, accepting risk, and being prepared for failure along the way.
Why “make more than you take” matters for startups
A reminder to measure output vs input
At its core, “make more than you take” is about economics and ethics: your company’s output (value delivered to customers, employees, society) should exceed the inputs (resources consumed, externalities created). That’s a durable framework for sustainable growth — and for avoiding short-termism that prioritizes extraction over creation.
Practical consequence: design KPIs that capture customer value (retention, NPS, time saved, money saved) in addition to revenue.
Four practical ways Indian founders can apply Musk’s advice
1. Build a value-first product roadmap
Start with the problem, not the logo. Map the tangible benefit your product gives a customer in measurable terms: minutes saved, cost reduced, errors prevented, or extra revenue enabled. If a feature doesn’t increase measurable customer value, deprioritize it.
(Why this matters) Investors and customers reward products that demonstrably improve users’ lives — and that’s what Musk was underscoring.
2. Aim to be a net contributor to the local economy
Hiring, supplier choices, and partnerships matter. Early-stage companies can lock in long-term advantage by training local talent, paying fair wages, and building supply chains that create jobs. That increases the positive multiplier effect — you literally “make more” into the local economy than you consume.
3. Measure externalities and reduce waste
Count energy, materials, and negative side effects as part of input cost. For tech startups this might be data storage costs and compute waste; for manufacturing, it’s raw materials and emissions. Reducing these inputs improves your output-to-input ratio — and can become a competitive differentiator.
4. Build for durability, not just virality
Short-term growth hacks can inflate metrics but often don’t increase true value. Choose product decisions that improve lifetime customer value (LTV) instead of fast, one-time user spikes. Durable value compounds — which is exactly what Musk means when he says money follows utility.
Operational checklist: 10 things to do this quarter
Quick, practical moves you can make in 90 days
- Run a “value-mapping” workshop with product and sales to define 3 metrics customers care about.
- Add one sustainability or waste KPI to your weekly dashboard.
- Run exit interviews with 10 customers to clarify real outcomes you’re creating.
- Adjust compensation to reward long-term customer retention.
- Audit supplier contracts for local sourcing opportunities.
- Build an “impact” slide for investor decks showing societal contribution.
- Institute a small-skills training program for junior hires.
- Reprioritize roadmap items that increase measurable customer benefit.
- Run an experiment to reduce compute/storage waste by 10%.
- Publicize one case study that proves your product’s economic value.
Common misunderstandings — and how to avoid them
“Make more than you take” is not anti-profit
Musk didn’t say don’t make money. He said don’t pursue money as the primary aim. Profit is the signal that you’re adding value; chasing profit without value creation is fragile and often unsustainable.
It’s not about virtue-signalling
This is a pragmatic, not moralistic, instruction. Net contribution tends to create stronger brands, lower churn, and better access to talent and capital.
Examples from India: what to emulate
Local companies that already follow the principle
Several Indian startups across fintech, healthcare and clean energy are making more than they take by solving high-friction problems at scale — think low-cost diagnostics, last-mile logistics efficiencies, or cheap renewable solutions. Use those case studies to shape your business model: find the largest, unserved pain point and make a measurable dent.
(For founders) benchmark against similar regional startups — what metrics do they report? How durable is their customer base?
Toward the long run: policy, talent and globalisation
Musk on immigration, talent and the global brain
In the same conversation, Musk noted that the U.S. has benefited from Indian talent and discussed H-1B dynamics — a reminder that talent mobility matters for scale and learning. For Indian founders, the takeaway is two-fold: build talent pipelines locally, and prepare your team to interact with global markets and regulations.
Final takeaway: convert the slogan into a KPI
Turn “make more than you take” into a boardroom metric
Translate the phrase into a numeric target that the company reviews monthly. Example: “Increase customer LTV to CAC ratio from 2.3 to 3.5 within 12 months while cutting material waste by 15%.” When that becomes part of performance reviews and investor conversations, Musk’s advice stops being a motto and becomes competitive advantage.
