I like this idea on interconnected businesses.

It is nothing more than vertical or horizontal integration, but your can easily see how efficiencies can grow.

You can own other businesses up and down your supply chain – producing your inputs or buying your outputs.

Or, you can buy a competitor.

I remember reading that when Musk bought Twitter, Telsa programmers took control of the code after signing paperwork.

Understand: One success makes the next one that much easier.

What’s more, SolarCity is a key part of what can be thought of as the unified field theory of Musk. Each one of his businesses is interconnected in the short term and the long term. Tesla makes battery packs that SolarCity can then sell to end customers. SolarCity supplies Tesla’s charging stations with solar panels, helping Tesla to provide free recharging to its drivers. Newly minted Model S owners regularly opt to begin living the Musk Lifestyle and outfit their homes with solar panels. Tesla and SpaceX help each other as well. They exchange knowledge around materials, manufacturing techniques, and the intricacies of operating factories that build so much stuff from the ground up.

-Ashley Vance, Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (Amazon)