5 ms·

Incredible. Also Tesla seems to be extremely focused on r&d. How does Elon Musk push and run his organisations so differently that he seems to be one of the o

by toshk 6y ago

Incredible. Also Tesla seems to be extremely focused on r&d. How does Elon Musk push and run his organisations so differently that he seems to be one of the only few, if not only one, capable of running big organisations that are able to accomplish this extreme level of innovation paired with tangible results?

arminiusreturns 6y ago
I think of it like this. It requires massive amounts of money to do the types of things we are talking about, but when the other big players have gotten so used to suckling at the teet of the military industrial complex and it's wars, and comfortable in that utterly corrupt cycle, Musk was a man with a narrow focus to "get shit done" much more than "line the C's and boards pockets" .
jeffdavis 6y ago
You only do new things if you believe you will fail if you don't. Established companies have an expectation of success if they just keep doing what they are doing, so anything new is an unacceptable risk.
- toshk 6y ago
  At the same time "startups" are also not able to reach any of the tangible results musk is producing. He seems to be able to benefit from the resources of a big company, while at the same time keep the fresh mindset of a relatively small company.
  - TeMPOraL 6y ago
    He has a goal he wants to accomplish with this company, and unlike almost anyone else, his goal isn't to enrich himself and spend it on luxuries. He really wants people to colonize space. An actual non-monetary goal is what's missing, IMO, for most companies.
    - jeffdavis 6y ago
      It's about having any specific goal, really. Money is more of a general goal, like happiness. Hard to stay focused.
tomp 6y ago
My extremely naive interpretation: he’s at a sweet spot crossroads of a few favourable features: - he’s technical enough so that he actually understands what he’s doing (unlike a “non-technical cofounder”) - working on actually inspiring projects (unlike “let’s sell ads” Google, “let’s make rich people richer” finance, “no innovation” Boeing or “Instagram for dogs” bullshit startups) - he’s rich enough to be able to start his own company with extremely capable people, with less need to please the investors (at least in the short term) - he’s actually driven, not just money/power-hungry like 99% of billionaires who use their wealth to buy goodwill/influence/art.
- heavenlyblue 6y ago
  Elon Musk did not start SpaceX, Tesla or any of the other companies.
  - cameronbrown 6y ago
    He did start SpaceX, not Tesla.
- chasd00 6y ago
  an ex gf of mine says Musk is an alien and needs humans to help him develop tech to get back home.
tenpies 6y ago
> Also Tesla seems to be extremely focused on r&d. How so? Tesla spends a tiny bit of revenue on R&D and a solid chunk of that is on "research" grants that get converted to manufacturing grants (e.g. the NY plant). See: https://ir.tesla.com/static-files/bbc6e137-897a-4543-857a-59c5c2dbeadc https://ir.tesla.com/static-files/bbc6e137-897a-4543-857a-59... Don't get me wrong, I guess there could be research spending elsewhere since Tesla is notoriously bad at financial reporting (e.g. the only company in history to double its factory count without increasing OpEx, or the only company in history to build a factory with zero CapEx spending), but I'm curious what the "extremely focused" claim is backed by.

by toshk 6y ago

arminiusreturns 6y ago

I think of it like this. It requires massive amounts of money to do the types of things we are talking about, but when the other big players have gotten so used to suckling at the teet of the military industrial complex and it's wars, and comfortable in that utterly corrupt cycle, Musk was a man with a narrow focus to "get shit done" much more than "line the C's and boards pockets" .

jeffdavis 6y ago

You only do new things if you believe you will fail if you don't. Established companies have an expectation of success if they just keep doing what they are doing, so anything new is an unacceptable risk.

toshk 6y ago
At the same time "startups" are also not able to reach any of the tangible results musk is producing. He seems to be able to benefit from the resources of a big company, while at the same time keep the fresh mindset of a relatively small company.
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  He has a goal he wants to accomplish with this company, and unlike almost anyone else, his goal isn't to enrich himself and spend it on luxuries. He really wants people to colonize space. An actual non-monetary goal is what's missing, IMO, for most companies.
  - jeffdavis 6y ago
    It's about having any specific goal, really. Money is more of a general goal, like happiness. Hard to stay focused.

tomp 6y ago

My extremely naive interpretation: he’s at a sweet spot crossroads of a few favourable features: - he’s technical enough so that he actually understands what he’s doing (unlike a “non-technical cofounder”) - working on actually inspiring projects (unlike “let’s sell ads” Google, “let’s make rich people richer” finance, “no innovation” Boeing or “Instagram for dogs” bullshit startups) - he’s rich enough to be able to start his own company with extremely capable people, with less need to please the investors (at least in the short term) - he’s actually driven, not just money/power-hungry like 99% of billionaires who use their wealth to buy goodwill/influence/art.

heavenlyblue 6y ago
Elon Musk did not start SpaceX, Tesla or any of the other companies.
- cameronbrown 6y ago
  He did start SpaceX, not Tesla.
chasd00 6y ago
an ex gf of mine says Musk is an alien and needs humans to help him develop tech to get back home.

tenpies 6y ago

> Also Tesla seems to be extremely focused on r&d. How so? Tesla spends a tiny bit of revenue on R&D and a solid chunk of that is on "research" grants that get converted to manufacturing grants (e.g. the NY plant). See: https://ir.tesla.com/static-files/bbc6e137-897a-4543-857a-59c5c2dbeadc https://ir.tesla.com/static-files/bbc6e137-897a-4543-857a-59... Don't get me wrong, I guess there could be research spending elsewhere since Tesla is notoriously bad at financial reporting (e.g. the only company in history to double its factory count without increasing OpEx, or the only company in history to build a factory with zero CapEx spending), but I'm curious what the "extremely focused" claim is backed by.