Astro Teller

Dr. Astro Teller, known as the "Captain of Moonshots," is a scientist, entrepreneur, and author who currently oversees X (formerly Google X), Alphabet's moonshot factory. He is the co-author of Sacred Cows, a business book that challenges the conventional wisdom of marriage and divorce in the workplace context, and the author of the novel Exegesis. Teller’s work sits at the intersection of radical innovation and practical application. He is tasked with overseeing projects that aim to solve huge problems with breakthrough technology, such as self-driving cars (Waymo) and internet-beaming balloons (Loon).\n\nTeller comes from a lineage of scientific giants; he is the grandson of Nobelist Paul Dirac and physicist Edward Teller. However, Astro has carved his own path by championing a culture where failure is celebrated as a necessary step toward success. In his writing and speaking, he emphasizes the importance of "tackling the monkey first"—meaning one should solve the hardest part of a problem before worrying about the easy parts. His philosophy on innovation is deeply humanistic; he believes that technology should work for people, not the other way around. Teller’s voice is one of optimistic realism, guiding leaders to embrace the messiness of the creative process in order to achieve the impossible.