6 ms·

Essentially, he's egotistical, but if someone forces him to back down, he's also mature enough to handle it.

chiefalchemist 8y ago
Perhaps it's more accurate to say he's driven, no nonsense and shrewd? Yeah. Of course he wears his ego proudly. You don't rise to that level without above average chutzpah. But I think that's more a side show than the featured event.
CJefferson 8y ago
You mean like how he has doubled down twice on accusing a random diver of being a paedophile?
- radiorental 8y ago
  Not a random diver, it was someone who was a domain expert and dared to critique the proposed engineering solution from Musk. You can draw a very short dotted line to all the automation they eventually had to rip out of the Model 3 production line. On the plus side he's a visionary with a lot of cash. The downside is that his ego wont let him take advice from people he doesn't agree with. The latter character flaw is a recipe for disaster if left unchecked over the long term. This move is good for Tesla.
  - JoshCole 8y ago
    > critique Elon Musk should not have said what he did, but advocating for sodomy is not critique. Some cultures have the death penalty for sodomy whereas the acceptance of critique is celebrated as wise in most cultures. The character flaw of the news is that in cases like this, it does not seek to create a peaceful resolution between the two parties, but instead blows up their differences as much as possible. Both of these men tried to save the lives of kids. I agree that Twitter censure is likely to be of benefit to Tesla. Starving the news of Elon Musk content is a good thing. It will hurt the profits of attention-derived news. Plus, the doom of the ICE industry is rearing its head. So they can talk breathlessly about that and criticize the existing auto manufacturers for not seeing the writing on the wall once they figure out a new strategy to maximize their attention derived profits. I'm cynical enough that I figure this story shift will probably happen around the time that Tesla starts taking out television ads.
    - 9935c101ab17a66 8y ago
      Wu... wut? "Advocating for sodomy is not a critique" ??? What Elon did: > Elon Musk has escalated his baseless attacks against a British diver, claiming without evidence that the man who helped rescue children from a cave in Thailand was a “child rapist” in an email to a reporter. [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/04/elon-musk-claims-diver-in-thai-cave-rescue-is-child-rapist-without-evidence https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/04/elon-musk...]
      - JoshCole 8y ago
        Yeah, the news doesn't really bother giving the full story with much subtlety. You can go look up what the guy actually said. There is a video of it. Basically, he figured that Elon Musk was trying to help just to look good with no substance behind the action. So he told Elon Musk he should shove the submarine that they (SpaceX team) built up Elon's ass. Pretty poor showing all around. Makes for a great story though. Much outrage. The madder you are, the more irrational you have become? The better. Many clicks. Much profit. Much circus. Totally get why the reporter violated the principle of off the record conversations in order to earn themselves money and create drama. People make money, because you just linked this article. That is how this works. This is how social media generated news tends to make its money. If the story didn't outrage you enough for you to share that link with me? They failed. But don't let them delude you into thinking its in the best interest of either party being reported on to be known for their worst moments. Nor for the public opinion of both people to be shaped by these moments. Both of these people tried to save the lives of children. The character of both people are very likely to be somewhat congruent with that. I presume innocence until shown otherwise with regard to the accusations leveled. It isn't a story of interest to me without evidence which backs it. I refuse to join either mob.
        JoshCole 8y ago
        A corollary of this is for-pay news cares more for its readers than free news. You ought to pay for your information, if you want to incentivize getting good information.
        8y ago
  - rorykoehler 8y ago
    Tesla wouldn't exist if Musk took "advice from people he doesn't agree with". It's easy to point to model 3 production but what about all the other instances he has proved the nay sayers wrong? Entrepreneurs are generally not people who take advice from people saying it can't be done, instead they prove it to themselves.
    - radiorental 8y ago
      That's fine when your a startup but as the business matures you're approach much reflect the shift.
  - ben_w 8y ago
    > You can draw a very short dotted line to all the automation they eventually had to rip out of the Model 3 production line. Given his large-scale visions, I suspect the attempt at extreme automation was intended as a proof of concept about fully automated manufacturing for off-planet use.
Fnoord 8y ago
Yes, that's the gist I got out of his behaviour at X.com when they merged with Cofinity as well (from the book The PayPal Wars). He wanted to turn it into a full Microsoft shop, and and he wanted to change the name to X. To sum it up: people disagreed, and there were setbacks after setbacks with the former. When he put through the latter, there was a small internal struggle and Peter Thiel become interim CEO.

Perhaps it's more accurate to say he's driven, no nonsense and shrewd? Yeah. Of course he wears his ego proudly. You don't rise to that level without above average chutzpah. But I think that's more a side show than the featured event.

CJefferson 8y ago

You mean like how he has doubled down twice on accusing a random diver of being a paedophile?

radiorental 8y ago
Not a random diver, it was someone who was a domain expert and dared to critique the proposed engineering solution from Musk. You can draw a very short dotted line to all the automation they eventually had to rip out of the Model 3 production line. On the plus side he's a visionary with a lot of cash. The downside is that his ego wont let him take advice from people he doesn't agree with. The latter character flaw is a recipe for disaster if left unchecked over the long term. This move is good for Tesla.
- JoshCole 8y ago
  > critique Elon Musk should not have said what he did, but advocating for sodomy is not critique. Some cultures have the death penalty for sodomy whereas the acceptance of critique is celebrated as wise in most cultures. The character flaw of the news is that in cases like this, it does not seek to create a peaceful resolution between the two parties, but instead blows up their differences as much as possible. Both of these men tried to save the lives of kids. I agree that Twitter censure is likely to be of benefit to Tesla. Starving the news of Elon Musk content is a good thing. It will hurt the profits of attention-derived news. Plus, the doom of the ICE industry is rearing its head. So they can talk breathlessly about that and criticize the existing auto manufacturers for not seeing the writing on the wall once they figure out a new strategy to maximize their attention derived profits. I'm cynical enough that I figure this story shift will probably happen around the time that Tesla starts taking out television ads.
  - 9935c101ab17a66 8y ago
    Wu... wut? "Advocating for sodomy is not a critique" ??? What Elon did: > Elon Musk has escalated his baseless attacks against a British diver, claiming without evidence that the man who helped rescue children from a cave in Thailand was a “child rapist” in an email to a reporter. [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/04/elon-musk-claims-diver-in-thai-cave-rescue-is-child-rapist-without-evidence https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/04/elon-musk...]
    - JoshCole 8y ago
      Yeah, the news doesn't really bother giving the full story with much subtlety. You can go look up what the guy actually said. There is a video of it. Basically, he figured that Elon Musk was trying to help just to look good with no substance behind the action. So he told Elon Musk he should shove the submarine that they (SpaceX team) built up Elon's ass. Pretty poor showing all around. Makes for a great story though. Much outrage. The madder you are, the more irrational you have become? The better. Many clicks. Much profit. Much circus. Totally get why the reporter violated the principle of off the record conversations in order to earn themselves money and create drama. People make money, because you just linked this article. That is how this works. This is how social media generated news tends to make its money. If the story didn't outrage you enough for you to share that link with me? They failed. But don't let them delude you into thinking its in the best interest of either party being reported on to be known for their worst moments. Nor for the public opinion of both people to be shaped by these moments. Both of these people tried to save the lives of children. The character of both people are very likely to be somewhat congruent with that. I presume innocence until shown otherwise with regard to the accusations leveled. It isn't a story of interest to me without evidence which backs it. I refuse to join either mob.
      - JoshCole 8y ago
        A corollary of this is for-pay news cares more for its readers than free news. You ought to pay for your information, if you want to incentivize getting good information.
      - 8y ago
- rorykoehler 8y ago
  Tesla wouldn't exist if Musk took "advice from people he doesn't agree with". It's easy to point to model 3 production but what about all the other instances he has proved the nay sayers wrong? Entrepreneurs are generally not people who take advice from people saying it can't be done, instead they prove it to themselves.
  - radiorental 8y ago
    That's fine when your a startup but as the business matures you're approach much reflect the shift.
- ben_w 8y ago
  > You can draw a very short dotted line to all the automation they eventually had to rip out of the Model 3 production line. Given his large-scale visions, I suspect the attempt at extreme automation was intended as a proof of concept about fully automated manufacturing for off-planet use.

Fnoord 8y ago

Yes, that's the gist I got out of his behaviour at X.com when they merged with Cofinity as well (from the book The PayPal Wars). He wanted to turn it into a full Microsoft shop, and and he wanted to change the name to X. To sum it up: people disagreed, and there were setbacks after setbacks with the former. When he put through the latter, there was a small internal struggle and Peter Thiel become interim CEO.