December 6, 2008, was Musk’s darkest hour. At that time, both Tesla and SpaceX were on the brink of bankruptcy, with their cash flow on the verge of collapse. He humbly sought investment everywhere, enduring cold shoulders and humiliation from investors. Without new funding, neither company would survive until the next month. Musk had come to deliver a speech on SpaceX’s future development, but his greater hope was to secure investment from influential figures—so that both of his companies could survive. Yet, in the midst of the financial crisis tearing through the markets, securing new funding from outside sources seemed impossible. But perseverance was rewarded: after relentless effort, just three days before Tesla’s impending bankruptcy, investors committed to a new funding round, allowing Tesla to weather this darkest period.