Elon Musk bought Twitter in order to save the world from the tyranny that would inevitably follow a loss of free speech online. At least, that’s Elon’s narrative. And regardless of whether or not it’s true, it’s useful (for reasons I’ll get into below).

Here is the classic Elon Musk playbook: Articulate a simple but enormous noble mission where the entire future of civilization is at stake, and then use that noble mission to attract investors, talented employees, and brand evangelists who aren’t as price, wage, or quality-critical as they would be in the absence of the noble mission.

It’s a brilliant strategy that reduces financing, employment, recruiting, and marketing costs for his companies. And it’s formulaic (which means you can copy it). Here are examples of how Elon structured the noble mission narrative for his various companies:

• Tesla: Our mission is to accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation & energy before civilization self-destructs by running out of resources and poisoning the very air we breath and environment we live in. We will do this through mass-market products accessible to everyone.
• SpaceX: Our mission is to make human civilization multi-planetary so that we can avoid otherwise inevitable extinction.
• Starlink: Our mission is to provide high-speed, low-latency internet to every person on Earth, no matter where or who they are, so that every human has the opportunity to communicate with, learn from, and participate in our global civilization.
• Boring Company: Our mission is to eliminate soul-destroying & lung-poisoning traffic, which plagues every major city on Earth and wastes tens of billions of hours of human life every single year.
• OpenAI: Our mission is to ensure that artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity rather than destroying human civilization and driving humans to extinction.
• Neuralink: Our mission is to co-evolve humans with AI and robots, improving the lives of literally infinite current and future humans by expanding human abilities and solving paralysis.
• Twitter: Our mission is to protect free speech, the bedrock of democracy, at any cost so that human civilization does not collapse into tyranny.

It’s actually not that hard to copy this formula for a lot of different businesses. I’m going to Muskify the missions of three seemingly ordinary companies for you.

Noble Rebrand Example #1: Pacific Life

Pacific Life (a life insurance company) currently advertises the following mission on their website:

“Our mission is to provide financial security through products and services that stand the test of time.”

Are you inspired? Neither am I.

Let’s melt that mission down, add some existential concern, and then reforge it into something much stronger. How about:

“Our mission is to protect every family from financial ruin, and ensure every child gets a good education, no matter what happens to a family’s provider.”

Or maybe:

“Our mission is to eliminate child poverty by providing affordable financial security to every family, no matter what happens.”

Those are much better, right? Let’s try another one.

Noble Rebrand Example #2: Levi

Levi (the jeans company) has this mission statement:

“To sustain responsible commercial success as a global marketing company of branded apparel.”

That’s one of the worst mission statements I’ve ever read. It doesn’t inspire customers, it doesn’t inspire employees, and it doesn’t inspire investors. It’s so bland that you can literally read it and then forget all of the words 2 seconds later. It accomplishes absolutely nothing for the company. Let’s try something with higher stakes:

“Our mission is to clothe every human with durable, high-quality products that last for a lifetime, so that people can focus on accomplishing more and living more instead of on trying to fix an environment contaminated by cheap consumer product waste.”

Noble Rebrand Example #3: Motorola

Motorola is a company most people forget even still exists (probably because its mission doesn’t inspire anyone to talk about it):

“Motorola exists to design, create, and deliver purposeful innovations to people across the globe so they transform the way they discover, share, and connect with the world around them.”

A “purposeful innovation” could mean an artificial liver, a more water efficient toilet, or a more ergonomic desk. In this case, it means none of those things, which is why the phrase is nearly meaningless.

Also, what does it mean for people to “connect with the world around them”? It could mean learning about native plants, taking Alicia Keys’ masterclass on music titled “Connect to the World Around You”, posting on social media, or deleting social media to refocus on attending local events. But again, Motorola doesn’t mean any of those things, which is why “connect with the world around them” is another terrible choice of phrase that doesn’t elicit any clear, inspiring mental imagery or emotions.

What Motorola actually does is make and sell smartphones (like the new Razr), baby monitors, security cameras, modems, routers, and miscellaneous other consumer and business electronics. The common thread is affordable technology. With that in mind, here’s an idea for how Motorola might revamp its mission statement:

“Our mission is to prevent the bifurcation of human civilization into haves and have-nots by creating the highest bang-for-your buck technology in existence so that every human can maximally realize their own potential.”

How to Successfully Use a Noble Mission in Your Business

There are three very important things that you must do in order for your business to benefit from a noble mission:

1. DO define your mission early. Frame it the right way from the beginning, because it’s hard to change a narrative once it exists. For example, when Musk impregnated an employee, it could have been a PR disaster, but instead, he immediately responded that he was on a mission to save the world from depopulation.
2. DON’T contradict your mission, or else you’ll be branded a hypocrite. And if you’re late to the noble mission party, then choose a mission that’s not too inconsistent with your past behavior unless you publicly & convincingly repent of your past actions. For example, a food company that purports to be on a mission to save the planet from unsustainable food practices would be crucified if they started using palm oil in their products.
3. DON’T choose a mission that is in fundamental conflict with the business owners(s). This can occur if the mission uses vague, emotionally-charged words like “fair” to describe trade-offs between the business owner(s) and other parties. For example, if you create a wholesale marketplace for farmers with the mission “to rebuild America’s food system into one that is infinitely sustainable and fair to both consumers and farmers”, then you’re doomed because no matter how generously you define “fair”, some consumer or farmer will always disagree and demand more. Eventually, you’ll either have to draw a line (and be labeled a hypocrite by those on the other side) or go bankrupt from giving everything away until you’re unprofitable.

Now go define your company’s noble mission.

If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the Axiom Alpha newsletter where our mission is to permanently increase the rate of global innovation & human development by teaching unapologetic capitalists how to build unstoppable businesses that grow as fast as the laws of physics allow.

Appendix: Examples of Noble Missions for Small Businesses

Whether you run a high-growth startup or a small business, you can benefit from a noble mission (most notably because it widens the pool of talent willing to work for you and lowers the cost to hire them). Here are some example starting points to get you thinking about how to add nobility to the mission of a startup or small business:

• Recruiting company — “Our mission is to help every individual realize their maximum potential” or perhaps “Our mission is to save the millions of companies that die each year because they can’t find the right people to work with.”
• Home Insurance company — “Our mission is to protect the home of every family, no matter what happens in the world.”
• Farm — “Our mission is to feed America with the healthiest food possible, and to do that so efficiently that we outcompete low quality food companies that are slowly poisoning humanity with microplastics and nutrient-deficient produce.”
• Plastic surgery center — “Our mission is to help every human achieve the body they want and can be proud of.”
• Real estate brokerage — “Our mission is to help every American own home, before an affordability crisis destroys democracy. We will do this by ruthlessly eliminating excessive fees, helping every person take advantage of every government subsidy and special lender program that they qualify for, and coaching people through creative dealmaking (e.g. duplex rent-hacking, Airbnb rent-hacking, owner financing, etc).”