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Most founders keep to themselves because they don't want to overpromise. Musk does the total opposite, by tweeting all the random thoughts in his brain and I su

Most founders keep to themselves because they don't want to overpromise. Musk does the total opposite, by tweeting all the random thoughts in his brain and I suspect it mirrors his thinking and the thinking of other founders (Zuck, Page, etc..) closely. The latter are just much quieter. Anyone would look stupid with their unfiltered thoughts broadcast to millions, but it's one of the things that people like about the dude.

camjohnson26 6y ago
People say the same thing about Trump. I say when you’re a billionaire and have millions of followers it’s important that you self-filter and choose your words carefully. Quite literally people may die if you don’t.
- radu_floricica 6y ago
  > Quite literally people may die if you don’t. I never liked this argument. Partly because if you take it to its logical conclusion, any sufficiently successful individual would be paralized - which is an obviously wrong conclusion. The more successful you are, the freer you should be. The solution is to also look at gains, not just losses. Billionaires can kill people with a tweet, but they can also inspire and, yes, save lives with a tweet.
  - camjohnson26 6y ago
    If you agree the words are powerful I would hope you agree they should be used carefully.
  - CarbyAu 6y ago
    ?!? Your last sentence seems to demonstrate exactly why they should self-filter and choose their words carefully. You can be incredibly successful and not be famous. That's fine. But if your success includes fame then... I like my social leaders to be nice to their own social group and not kill them very much.
  - D-Coder 6y ago
    > The solution is to also look at gains, not just losses. Billionaires can kill people with a tweet, but they can also inspire and, yes, save lives with a tweet. If I save six lives, I can then kill six people?
- DaniloDias 6y ago
  I say that there are a lot of countries on the planet where you don’t have the option to speak your mind honestly. I’d rather live in the one that is rewarding Elon.
  - camjohnson26 6y ago
    Freedom of speech isn’t the issue. He can be allowed to say what he does, but that doesn’t exempt him from the public consequences of lies and abuse. It’s admirable that a company can reach a $200 billion valuation in the USA weeks after the CEO tells the SEC to suck his cock. The issue is with investors who aren’t questioning if that’s a sign of lack of ethics.
    - DaniloDias 6y ago
      What’s the ethical failure here? I would agree that it doesn’t look like good judgement- but shorts are literally betting against him and his company. It’s not obvious to me where that behavior (crowing against his adversaries) crosses a line into being wrong or evil.
- AbrahamParangi 6y ago
  Would Tesla or SpaceX be what they are if not for the extreme reputational risk of saying "we're going to do X"? Maybe. But it's hard not to see the parallel between massive risks taken and massive progress made.

camjohnson26 6y ago

People say the same thing about Trump. I say when you’re a billionaire and have millions of followers it’s important that you self-filter and choose your words carefully. Quite literally people may die if you don’t.

radu_floricica 6y ago
> Quite literally people may die if you don’t. I never liked this argument. Partly because if you take it to its logical conclusion, any sufficiently successful individual would be paralized - which is an obviously wrong conclusion. The more successful you are, the freer you should be. The solution is to also look at gains, not just losses. Billionaires can kill people with a tweet, but they can also inspire and, yes, save lives with a tweet.
- camjohnson26 6y ago
  If you agree the words are powerful I would hope you agree they should be used carefully.
- CarbyAu 6y ago
  ?!? Your last sentence seems to demonstrate exactly why they should self-filter and choose their words carefully. You can be incredibly successful and not be famous. That's fine. But if your success includes fame then... I like my social leaders to be nice to their own social group and not kill them very much.
- D-Coder 6y ago
  > The solution is to also look at gains, not just losses. Billionaires can kill people with a tweet, but they can also inspire and, yes, save lives with a tweet. If I save six lives, I can then kill six people?
DaniloDias 6y ago
I say that there are a lot of countries on the planet where you don’t have the option to speak your mind honestly. I’d rather live in the one that is rewarding Elon.
- camjohnson26 6y ago
  Freedom of speech isn’t the issue. He can be allowed to say what he does, but that doesn’t exempt him from the public consequences of lies and abuse. It’s admirable that a company can reach a $200 billion valuation in the USA weeks after the CEO tells the SEC to suck his cock. The issue is with investors who aren’t questioning if that’s a sign of lack of ethics.
  - DaniloDias 6y ago
    What’s the ethical failure here? I would agree that it doesn’t look like good judgement- but shorts are literally betting against him and his company. It’s not obvious to me where that behavior (crowing against his adversaries) crosses a line into being wrong or evil.
AbrahamParangi 6y ago
Would Tesla or SpaceX be what they are if not for the extreme reputational risk of saying "we're going to do X"? Maybe. But it's hard not to see the parallel between massive risks taken and massive progress made.