4 ms·

Dr. Elon and Mr. Musk: Life Inside Tesla's Production Hell

15 points by SirLJ 8y ago

SirLJ 8y ago
"The young Tesla engineer was excited. Ecstatic, in fact. It was a Saturday in October 2017, and he was working at the Gigafactory, Tesla’s enormous battery manufacturing plant in Nevada. Over the previous year, he had been living out of a suitcase, putting in 13-hour days, seven days a week. This was his first real job. And now a colleague had tracked him down to say that Elon Musk—Elon Musk!—needed his personal help..."
jppope 8y ago
Editor: "Looks like Telsa stock is doing a little too well... We Need another negative Telsa piece, who has any ideas?" Staff Writer: "How about Elon Musk kicks babies at factory?" Editor: "I like it! But kicking babies has been fine since trump started doing it..." Staff Writer: "What if we change 'babies' to something else? a fluffy animal? or like a kid or something?" Editor: "Perfect. Go with the kid! Make him a talented engineer, fresh out of Stanford or MIT... they must have one of those hanging around... Good Work!"
woodandsteel 8y ago
Funny the story left out that at the same time SpaceX was going from triumph to triumph, and Musk also launched the Boring company. Also, if the story has any truth, then it would seem that Musk is suffering from emotional problems, and should get some professional help.
- Apocryphon 8y ago
  It's possible that not all companies run by the same person suffers from the same extent of problems. Square is doing quite well and has had a good reputation, unlike Twitter, despite both having been founded by Jack Dorsey. Apple has a culture of intense secrecy, occasionally broken by leaked rumors of authoritarian severity, while Pixar does not, despite both having been led by Steve Jobs in one way or another.
jiveturkey 8y ago
can confirm, once removed. i know 2 former and one current tesla software engineers. i’d never work there based on the small sample i’ve polled.
Traster 8y ago
Every story I hear about Musk just makes me think: avoid him at all costs. Work for him? Be miserable, underpaid, likely get fired and never share in the success. Invest in him? Your money becomes his, whether it's questionable mergers subsidizing his other ventures, SEC violations sending the stock crazy, or just continual unrealistic timelines on deliverables. Buy his products? They probably have significant short-comings compared to the competitors and you'll be giving up every iota of control - after you've shelled out thousands of dollars it's still up to Tesla to decide whether you get the car's basic safety updates. Even just happen to work on a project that Musk has decided he wants to work on and you're liable to get publicly smeared as a pedofile. I think it's possible Elon Musk pushes forward technology in some material ways (I think there are also good arguments he doesn't). But fuck me, he seems to do it at the cost of literally everyone around him.
jiveturkey 8y ago
the facts of the article are interesting. the opining is not. one of the lead statements is how the flush popout door handles are a signature tesla bit and that musk foresaw their importance. LOL! like the falcon doors, they are stupid. many cars have flush handles, or even no handles. (e.g. corvette) i think i saw it reported, but it may have been word of mouth, that engineering hated the handles. they ended up having to ship broken ones. the second gen are just buttons that are decorated as handles. like many other cars. for the article to state that the handles are something that ultimately worked (they didn't) and that are a critically defining part of the car (they aren't) demonstrates the author's lack of deep understanding of what he is reporting on. the falcon doors are stupid because of the extra cost (design and manufacture) and reduced functionality. it excludes the possibility of a roof box or roof rails, which is important for an SUV. On the plus side, back to facts or maybe anecdotes, I did love the quote "We have to stop hitting ourselves in the head". Musk using the royal we. It's too rich.

15 points by SirLJ 8y ago

"The young Tesla engineer was excited. Ecstatic, in fact. It was a Saturday in October 2017, and he was working at the Gigafactory, Tesla’s enormous battery manufacturing plant in Nevada. Over the previous year, he had been living out of a suitcase, putting in 13-hour days, seven days a week. This was his first real job. And now a colleague had tracked him down to say that Elon Musk—Elon Musk!—needed his personal help..."

jppope 8y ago

Editor: "Looks like Telsa stock is doing a little too well... We Need another negative Telsa piece, who has any ideas?" Staff Writer: "How about Elon Musk kicks babies at factory?" Editor: "I like it! But kicking babies has been fine since trump started doing it..." Staff Writer: "What if we change 'babies' to something else? a fluffy animal? or like a kid or something?" Editor: "Perfect. Go with the kid! Make him a talented engineer, fresh out of Stanford or MIT... they must have one of those hanging around... Good Work!"

woodandsteel 8y ago

Funny the story left out that at the same time SpaceX was going from triumph to triumph, and Musk also launched the Boring company. Also, if the story has any truth, then it would seem that Musk is suffering from emotional problems, and should get some professional help.

Apocryphon 8y ago
It's possible that not all companies run by the same person suffers from the same extent of problems. Square is doing quite well and has had a good reputation, unlike Twitter, despite both having been founded by Jack Dorsey. Apple has a culture of intense secrecy, occasionally broken by leaked rumors of authoritarian severity, while Pixar does not, despite both having been led by Steve Jobs in one way or another.

jiveturkey 8y ago

can confirm, once removed. i know 2 former and one current tesla software engineers. i’d never work there based on the small sample i’ve polled.

Traster 8y ago

Every story I hear about Musk just makes me think: avoid him at all costs. Work for him? Be miserable, underpaid, likely get fired and never share in the success. Invest in him? Your money becomes his, whether it's questionable mergers subsidizing his other ventures, SEC violations sending the stock crazy, or just continual unrealistic timelines on deliverables. Buy his products? They probably have significant short-comings compared to the competitors and you'll be giving up every iota of control - after you've shelled out thousands of dollars it's still up to Tesla to decide whether you get the car's basic safety updates. Even just happen to work on a project that Musk has decided he wants to work on and you're liable to get publicly smeared as a pedofile. I think it's possible Elon Musk pushes forward technology in some material ways (I think there are also good arguments he doesn't). But fuck me, he seems to do it at the cost of literally everyone around him.

jiveturkey 8y ago

the facts of the article are interesting. the opining is not. one of the lead statements is how the flush popout door handles are a signature tesla bit and that musk foresaw their importance. LOL! like the falcon doors, they are stupid. many cars have flush handles, or even no handles. (e.g. corvette) i think i saw it reported, but it may have been word of mouth, that engineering hated the handles. they ended up having to ship broken ones. the second gen are just buttons that are decorated as handles. like many other cars. for the article to state that the handles are something that ultimately worked (they didn't) and that are a critically defining part of the car (they aren't) demonstrates the author's lack of deep understanding of what he is reporting on. the falcon doors are stupid because of the extra cost (design and manufacture) and reduced functionality. it excludes the possibility of a roof box or roof rails, which is important for an SUV. On the plus side, back to facts or maybe anecdotes, I did love the quote "We have to stop hitting ourselves in the head". Musk using the royal we. It's too rich.