5 ms·

Elon Musk leaves a trail of destruction with the early employees of his companies but the results are tremendous and have huge implications for humanity. I'll g

by ponker 6y ago

Elon Musk leaves a trail of destruction with the early employees of his companies but the results are tremendous and have huge implications for humanity. I'll give Musk the benefit of the doubt at this point.

Ar-Curunir 6y ago
It’s not Elon musk that’s doing the work, it’s the actual workers. Sure, maybe Musk has the capital and audacity to try these things, but that does not mean he’s the one putting in the skilled work required for this
- Jackson12 6y ago
  That's like saying aerospace engineers don't deserve credit for building rockets because they don't physically build them. Doing what Musk does is a skill, and a pretty scare one at that.
  - sidlls 6y ago
    No, it's like saying the owners of aerospace engineering companies don't deserve credit for the designs the aerospace engineers working at them produce. It's not a statement I agree 100% with, but it's definitely the case these days that individual workers are not given enough credit. It's also the case that the owners, executives, and other high-ranking management types are given far too much credit for successes and far too little blame for the failures.
    - ponker 6y ago
      Without any of the founders and Elon Musk there would be no Tesla Model Y. Doubt there are very many engineers about whom the same could be said. In totality the individual contributors are more important but Elon Musk is the person without whom the enterprise is dead on arrival.
Robotbeat 6y ago
I’m not sure that the high churn rate at the high end is really in Musk’s interest, but it MIGHT be in society’s interest. Instead of sucking up a bunch of highly skilled and driven people indefinitely, the few who are able to work well in that environment stay and are able to get stuff done while the others leave and spread the knowledge elsewhere, perhaps starting up competing efforts that either complement Musk’s efforts or give Musk a run for his money. This is a strong argument against Non-Competes.
- ecpottinger 6y ago
  Good example is the person who left Tesla and is now starting a Lithium battery recycling company.
- ponker 6y ago
  It probably is in Musk's interest too. Musk has earned the benefit of the doubt in trusting his decision as to "should Very Smart Person X be employed by Neuralink" or not. There's a lot more to making a company successful than being competent and as much as I find Musk personally distasteful there is nobody with his track record at building transformative private sector companies.

by ponker 6y ago

Ar-Curunir 6y ago

It’s not Elon musk that’s doing the work, it’s the actual workers. Sure, maybe Musk has the capital and audacity to try these things, but that does not mean he’s the one putting in the skilled work required for this

Jackson12 6y ago
That's like saying aerospace engineers don't deserve credit for building rockets because they don't physically build them. Doing what Musk does is a skill, and a pretty scare one at that.
- sidlls 6y ago
  No, it's like saying the owners of aerospace engineering companies don't deserve credit for the designs the aerospace engineers working at them produce. It's not a statement I agree 100% with, but it's definitely the case these days that individual workers are not given enough credit. It's also the case that the owners, executives, and other high-ranking management types are given far too much credit for successes and far too little blame for the failures.
  - ponker 6y ago
    Without any of the founders and Elon Musk there would be no Tesla Model Y. Doubt there are very many engineers about whom the same could be said. In totality the individual contributors are more important but Elon Musk is the person without whom the enterprise is dead on arrival.

Robotbeat 6y ago

I’m not sure that the high churn rate at the high end is really in Musk’s interest, but it MIGHT be in society’s interest. Instead of sucking up a bunch of highly skilled and driven people indefinitely, the few who are able to work well in that environment stay and are able to get stuff done while the others leave and spread the knowledge elsewhere, perhaps starting up competing efforts that either complement Musk’s efforts or give Musk a run for his money. This is a strong argument against Non-Competes.

ecpottinger 6y ago
Good example is the person who left Tesla and is now starting a Lithium battery recycling company.
ponker 6y ago
It probably is in Musk's interest too. Musk has earned the benefit of the doubt in trusting his decision as to "should Very Smart Person X be employed by Neuralink" or not. There's a lot more to making a company successful than being competent and as much as I find Musk personally distasteful there is nobody with his track record at building transformative private sector companies.