Words

1.cutting-edge

Myriad other people and organizations have performed much of their manufacturing and cutting-edge experimentation in and around Los Angeles.

释义：an advantage over other people or things:
 例：The team are relying on Gregg to give them a cutting edge.
—ˈcutting-edge adjective: cutting-edge scientific discoveries

2.hit it off

When the meeting finally took place, Musk and Cantrell hit it off.

释义：to get along well : become friends
    例：They hit it off immediately

造句：They hit it off for the first time.

3.sit on

While Musk sat on $20 million, which he hoped would be enough to buy three ICBMs that could be retooled to go to space.

释义：If you say that someone is sitting on something, you mean that they are delaying dealing with it.
例：I sent my application about six weeks ago and they’ve just been sitting on it.

4.deflate

Griffin and Cantrell had downed a couple of drinks by this time and were too deflated to entertain a fantasy.

 释义：to make someone feel less important or less confident:原意是给气球，轮胎放气，用到人身上，就是泄气了，灰心了。
  例：She was deflated when Fen made no comment on her achievement.

down： to drink or eat something quickly:

5.ins and outs

Musk knew he had found someone who really knew the ins and outs of making rockets.

释义：all the exact details of a complicated situation, problem, system etc
例：I don’t really know all the ins and outs of the matter.

Thoughts

为了实现自己的航天梦，Musk搬去了洛杉矶，因为这里是航天城，有大量的牛人。和该领域的牛人接触学习交流，是迅速了解一个行业并且找到学习的绝佳方法。这一点在Peak里也提到过，像某领域的高手学习是效率最高的学习方法之一。

While Musk didn't know exactly what he wanted to do in space, he realized that just by being in Los Angeles he would be surrounded by the world's top aeronautics thinker. They could help him refine any ideas, and there would be plenty of recruits to join his next venture.

后来去俄罗斯购买低价火箭的计划失败，可他并没有放弃。而是继续学习火箭的相关知识，提出了一个另辟蹊径的降本方法，做一个modest-sized的火箭。

According to Musk's calculations, he could undercut existing launch companies by building a modest-sized rocket that would carter to a part of the market that specialized in carrying smaller satellites and research payloads to space.

当一条路走不通时，是不是可以根据自己的现有条件开辟另一条路？《跃迁》一本书里在谈到高手战略时的其中一条就是差异化优势。就像罗振宇靠每天一条60秒的语音信息在公众号中脱颖而出一样。