5 ms·

There's a saying that pets look like their masters and I think the same is true for entrepreneurs and their cities. Musk is the perfect embodiment of LA flim-fl

There's a saying that pets look like their masters and I think the same is true for entrepreneurs and their cities. Musk is the perfect embodiment of LA flim-flam.

prestonh 8y ago
I get that Musk is a controversial figure and that this event was a debacle, but I dont know how you can ignore SpaceX and Tesla, both arguably the most successful companies in their fields right now by some metrics.
- stonogo 8y ago
  SpaceX is fine, although it's running at leaner margins than competitors; as long as it can scale well and beef that up, it'll be about average for an aerospace company. Tesla is a terrible mess, and only by Silicon Valley standards can it be considered successful at all. It is not even close to being "the most" successful car company. This is why Musk is a controversial figure; he's a Valley-style startup hype man operating in the wider world. Whether that approach is sustainable is what the fighting is about.
  - kevin_thibedeau 8y ago
    Tesla is the most successful EV car company. Everybody else was making toys with 50Mi range, 25MPH top speed, or chasing hydrogen fuel cells.
    - nradov 8y ago
      Nissan is the most successful EV car company.
    - eropple 8y ago
      The operative word here is was. Everybody else was making toys. They aren't now. Tesla might be the most impactful EV company, in that you can make an argument that what Tesla did (and, to be frank, what they talked about before they did it) changed was to is, but Nissan, GM, and Hyundai are all making EVs that are decidedly not "toys" and Tesla's advantages in the EV space (not necessarily the creature-comforts space, but a big reason why I won't buy a Tesla and am buying a Hyundai Kona EV is because I don't want a giant tablet screen as my instrument panel) are shrinking.
    - rsynnott 8y ago
      You realise that the Nissan Leaf predates the Model S? Before the Leaf, yes, everyone was making toys. The two most compelling were the electric Smart car and the Tesla roadster, but both were terribly impractical.
markdown 8y ago
Sure his outbursts and the drama around it on social media were a farce, but how exactly is it anything less than praiseworthy that a bunch of engineers on the other side of the world attempted to solve a problem that had the potential to save a dozen lives? In practical terms, Must and his team did an order of magnitude more than you and I for the boys, and I don't understand why you have nothing but hate for him and the effort. The biggest argument against I've read was that the online drama took attention and resources away from the people in the cave. I find that absolutely absurd. The rescue team weren't checking their social media or waiting on Musk, or distracted in any way by the online drama. As far as I can tell, Musk's efforts did no material damage to the rescue effort, and could potentially have saved a dozen lives if he'd been given the correct parameters to begin with. Further, the solution the engineering came up with has the potential to work for future rescue attempts. Are you perchance suffering from tall-poppy syndrome?
- dx7tnt 8y ago
  I think publicly calling one of the rescuers a paedophile without grounds sunk Musk permanently on this one, regardless of the excellent but unusable engineering solution provided by his nootropicly charged ego.
  - markdown 8y ago
    It was a horrible choice of insult, but to be fair, the rescuer was a real asshole to him for no good reason (this isn't a defence of the insult, just saying that Musk was justifiably furious). Why would you attack some guy trying to help you achieve your goal of rescuing the trapped boys, and call him names on international tv.
    - maxerickson 8y ago
      It's really not clear at all that Musk did anything other than get in the way. Trying to help and getting in the way instead isn't praiseworthy.
      - 8y ago

There's a saying that pets look like their masters and I think the same is true for entrepreneurs and their cities. Musk is the perfect embodiment of LA flim-flam.

prestonh 8y ago

I get that Musk is a controversial figure and that this event was a debacle, but I dont know how you can ignore SpaceX and Tesla, both arguably the most successful companies in their fields right now by some metrics.

stonogo 8y ago
SpaceX is fine, although it's running at leaner margins than competitors; as long as it can scale well and beef that up, it'll be about average for an aerospace company. Tesla is a terrible mess, and only by Silicon Valley standards can it be considered successful at all. It is not even close to being "the most" successful car company. This is why Musk is a controversial figure; he's a Valley-style startup hype man operating in the wider world. Whether that approach is sustainable is what the fighting is about.
- kevin_thibedeau 8y ago
  Tesla is the most successful EV car company. Everybody else was making toys with 50Mi range, 25MPH top speed, or chasing hydrogen fuel cells.
  - nradov 8y ago
    Nissan is the most successful EV car company.
  - eropple 8y ago
    The operative word here is was. Everybody else was making toys. They aren't now. Tesla might be the most impactful EV company, in that you can make an argument that what Tesla did (and, to be frank, what they talked about before they did it) changed was to is, but Nissan, GM, and Hyundai are all making EVs that are decidedly not "toys" and Tesla's advantages in the EV space (not necessarily the creature-comforts space, but a big reason why I won't buy a Tesla and am buying a Hyundai Kona EV is because I don't want a giant tablet screen as my instrument panel) are shrinking.
  - rsynnott 8y ago
    You realise that the Nissan Leaf predates the Model S? Before the Leaf, yes, everyone was making toys. The two most compelling were the electric Smart car and the Tesla roadster, but both were terribly impractical.

markdown 8y ago

Sure his outbursts and the drama around it on social media were a farce, but how exactly is it anything less than praiseworthy that a bunch of engineers on the other side of the world attempted to solve a problem that had the potential to save a dozen lives? In practical terms, Must and his team did an order of magnitude more than you and I for the boys, and I don't understand why you have nothing but hate for him and the effort. The biggest argument against I've read was that the online drama took attention and resources away from the people in the cave. I find that absolutely absurd. The rescue team weren't checking their social media or waiting on Musk, or distracted in any way by the online drama. As far as I can tell, Musk's efforts did no material damage to the rescue effort, and could potentially have saved a dozen lives if he'd been given the correct parameters to begin with. Further, the solution the engineering came up with has the potential to work for future rescue attempts. Are you perchance suffering from tall-poppy syndrome?

dx7tnt 8y ago
I think publicly calling one of the rescuers a paedophile without grounds sunk Musk permanently on this one, regardless of the excellent but unusable engineering solution provided by his nootropicly charged ego.
- markdown 8y ago
  It was a horrible choice of insult, but to be fair, the rescuer was a real asshole to him for no good reason (this isn't a defence of the insult, just saying that Musk was justifiably furious). Why would you attack some guy trying to help you achieve your goal of rescuing the trapped boys, and call him names on international tv.
  - maxerickson 8y ago
    It's really not clear at all that Musk did anything other than get in the way. Trying to help and getting in the way instead isn't praiseworthy.
    - 8y ago