How I got into Elon Musk’s event without an invitation

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Chloé CONSIGNY

10.22.2026

How I got into Elon Musk’s event without an invitation

Automatically generated translation

At 21, Hippolyte du Pac (E 28) interviews the big names in tech and AI for an audience of 70,000 followers. In mid-October, without an invitation, he managed to work his way into the unveiling of Elon Musk’s first flying car. He tells the story.

Monday, a message on Instagram

It all starts with a message. Nathan Pissaro, an entrepreneur, has come across my interviews with Yann LeCun and the founders of Snowflake and Hugging Face, and offers me a partnership. The next day comes a more unexpected text: ‘We’re off to Texas to see Elon with Éric Larchevêque, co-founder of Ledger. He’s got a ticket. But we don’t have one for you.’

I’m in San Francisco for a term. No invitation, no plan. Just one certainty: slipping into events where nobody is expecting me has more or less become my speciality. Heart beating a little too fast, I reply: ‘I’m coming.’

Twenty-four hours later, I land in Dallas.

The microphone as an open sesame

On the day itself, I email and phone every communications, marketing and events team that SpaceX and Tesla have. Radio silence.

I need a ticket, whatever it takes. I know one thing: some guests are allowed to bring a companion. And I know how to do one thing: approach strangers and interview them. So I set myself up in front of the meeting point, four hours before the doors open, and stop everyone who walks past. A few questions on camera, then, as we part, the only one that really matters: ‘You wouldn’t happen to have a plus-one spot, would you?’

People are happy to answer my questions. The last one, much less so. After three hours, I haven’t had a single yes.

An hour before the start, the staff make an announcement that changes everything: guests can change the name of their companion. I run up to every ticket holder. The fear of rejection has left the room; I have nothing left to lose. One no follows another, until Joost, a crypto enthusiast whose companion has dropped out. It’s 3.30pm. He says yes.

That leaves security. My name isn’t on any list. They check, they call back, the minutes drag on. Five minutes before kick-off, I walk through the doors.

Elon Musk a few metres away

Inside, the atmosphere is electric. Around me are fortunes I never imagined I would cross paths with, guests from all over the world, and, a few metres away, Elon Musk. The evening is broadcast on every platform, watched by hundreds of millions of people. Then the first flying car appears, and for a few seconds, nobody says a word.

I was officially the youngest person at the event. And I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy.

Twelve hours later, my videos of the evening had passed 100 million views on Instagram.

Three months earlier

Three months ago, I knew nothing about content creation and not much about tech. Today, I make a living from it in the land of Uncle Sam.

After preparatory classes in economics at Franklin, I joined ESSEC in 2024. There I discovered what really excites me: meeting people and having new experiences. I did my first internship at Bpifrance, as a financial analyst. I loved the institution, but I soon realised I wasn’t cut out to spend my days on Excel. What drives me is human contact.

So I started filming executives and CEOs. Nicolas Dufourcq, Jean-Charles Samuelian of Alan, Pascal Gauthier of Ledger, Thomas Wolf of Hugging Face, Yann LeCun. The videos quickly took off: several million views in a few weeks.

Interviewing these tech leaders, I noticed they all told me the same thing: their lives are split between Paris and San Francisco. At the end of August, on a whim, I decided to go there for three months. To experience tech from the inside, meet as many people as possible, and finally understand what is at stake in Silicon Valley, the global frontier of tech and AI. Since then, Benoit Dageville of Snowflake, the CEOs of DocuSign and Supabase and dozens of others have sat in front of my camera. In three months, I have interviewed founders of more than 30 unicorns, publishing almost every day.

What Dallas taught me

Access has to be worked for. Nobody holds the door open for you. You ask, you get turned down, and you look for another way in. That day, it took dozens of noes to land the one yes that counted.

Consistency pays off in the end. What we call going viral is often weeks of invisible work finally finding its audience.

You make your own luck. When Nathan wrote to me, nothing was ready. I said yes anyway.

I’m staying in San Francisco until December. When I left, I was aiming for a sales role at an AI company. Today, content has become my job.

Thanks to Aurélien De Nunzio, Nathan Pissaro and Éric Larchevêque for this trip, and to Joost, without whom I’d have been left out on the pavement.

A once-in-a-lifetime experience, and this is only the beginning :)

Hippolyte du Pac (ESSEC Grande École, class of 2028) publishes his interviews on Instagram and LinkedIn:

How I got into Elon Musk’s event without an invitation

2026-10-22 13:14:00

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2026-10-22 16:03:22

2026-10-22 13:19:44

Chloé CONSIGNY

Automatically generated translationAt 21, Hippolyte du Pac (E 28) interviews the big names in tech and AI for an audience of 70,000 followers. In mid-October, without an invitation, he managed to work his way into the unveiling of Elon Musk’s first flying car. He tells the story.Monday, a message on InstagramIt all starts with a message. Nathan Pissaro, an entrepreneur, has come across my interviews with Yann LeCun and the founders of Snowflake and Hugging Face, and offers me a partnership. The next day comes a more unexpected text: ‘We’re off to Texas to see Elon with Éric Larchevêque, co-founder of Ledger. He’s got a ticket. But we don’t have one for you.’I’m in San Francisco for a term. No invitation, no plan. Just one certainty: slipping into events where nobody is expecting me has more or less become my speciality. Heart beating a little too fast, I reply: ‘I’m coming.’Twenty-four hours later, I land in Dallas.The microphone as an open sesameOn the day itself, I email and phone every communications, marketing and events team that SpaceX and Tesla have. Radio silence.I need a ticket, whatever it takes. I know one thing: some guests are allowed to bring a companion. And I know how to do one thing: approach strangers and interview them. So I set myself up in front of the meeting point, four hours before the doors open, and stop everyone who walks past. A few questions on camera, then, as we part, the only one that really matters: ‘You wouldn’t happen to have a plus-one spot, would you?’People are happy to answer my questions. The last one, much less so. After three hours, I haven’t had a single yes.An hour before the start, the staff make an announcement that changes everything: guests can change the name of their companion. I run up to every ticket holder. The fear of rejection has left the room; I have nothing left to lose. One no follows another, until Joost, a crypto enthusiast whose companion has dropped out. It’s 3.30pm. He says yes.That leaves security. My name isn’t on any list. They check, they call back, the minutes drag on. Five minutes before kick-off, I walk through the doors.Elon Musk a few metres awayInside, the atmosphere is electric. Around me are fortunes I never imagined I would cross paths with, guests from all over the world, and, a few metres away, Elon Musk. The evening is broadcast on every platform, watched by hundreds of millions of people. Then the first flying car appears, and for a few seconds, nobody says a word.I was officially the youngest person at the event. And I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy.Twelve hours later, my videos of the evening had passed 100 million views on Instagram.Three months earlierThree months ago, I knew nothing about content creation and not much about tech. Today, I make a living from it in the land of Uncle Sam.After preparatory classes in economics at Franklin, I joined ESSEC in 2024. There I discovered what really excites me: meeting people and having new experiences. I did my first internship at Bpifrance, as a financial analyst. I loved the institution, but I soon realised I wasn’t cut out to spend my days on Excel. What drives me is human contact.So I started filming executives and CEOs. Nicolas Dufourcq, Jean-Charles Samuelian of Alan, Pascal Gauthier of Ledger, Thomas Wolf of Hugging Face, Yann LeCun. The videos quickly took off: several million views in a few weeks.Interviewing these tech leaders, I noticed they all told me the same thing: their lives are split between Paris and San Francisco. At the end of August, on a whim, I decided to go there for three months. To experience tech from the inside, meet as many people as possible, and finally understand what is at stake in Silicon Valley, the global frontier of tech and AI. Since then, Benoit Dageville of Snowflake, the CEOs of DocuSign and Supabase and dozens of others have sat in front of my camera. In three months, I have interviewed founders of more than 30 unicorns, publishing almost every day.What Dallas taught meAccess has to be worked for. Nobody holds the door open for you. You ask, you get turned down, and you look for another way in. That day, it took dozens of noes to land the one yes that counted.Consistency pays off in the end. What we call going viral is often weeks of invisible work finally finding its audience.You make your own luck. When Nathan wrote to me, nothing was ready. I said yes anyway.I’m staying in San Francisco until December. When I left, I was aiming for a sales role at an AI company. Today, content has become my job.Thanks to Aurélien De Nunzio, Nathan Pissaro and Éric Larchevêque for this trip, and to Joost, without whom I’d have been left out on the pavement.A once-in-a-lifetime experience, and this is only the beginning :)Hippolyte du Pac (ESSEC Grande École, class of 2028) publishes his interviews on Instagram and LinkedIn: 