4 ms·

I still admire him, I just don't idolize him. The guy knows how to hire smart people and keep them around, that in an of itself is rare these days and worth ad

by jpgvm 5y ago

I still admire him, I just don't idolize him. The guy knows how to hire smart people and keep them around, that in an of itself is rare these days and worth admiration. I can't think of many living CEOs as effective as him in this regard. I wouldn't say my admiration extends outside of areas he is an expert in though, usually when he starts talking about anything else he talks out of his ass.

Bilal_io 5y ago
I can agree with this take.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
mbesto 5y ago
> The guy knows how to hire smart people and keep them around I mean he's clearly doing something right. But the people at the top are most definitely not staying around. https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-executives-who-report-elon-musk-high-turnover-rate-2019-8 https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-executives-who-report-...
- jpgvm 5y ago
  Executives != smart people, some of them are but revolving door of executives speaks more to how hard it is to find good executives and just how cutthroat of an environment Tesla is performance wise. I know for a fact the good engineers are sticking around because I know a bunch of them personally. I wouldn't say all of them are staying because of Elon alone but it generally factors into the calculation (along with massively appreciated stock options ofcourse...)
  - HWR_14 5y ago
    > along with massively appreciated stock options ofcourse Give someone a massive retention bonus (in this case structured as an RSU) to get them to stay doesn't seem like unique genius to me
    - jpgvm 5y ago
      People stayed even with the stock was getting crapped on by Wall Street, he was clearly able to convince everyone that the company would succeed and opinions of the companies future would turn around. Going to Tesla a few years ago was a hard choice, they paid below market (substantially) but offered pretty generous stock grants. The stock hadn't really appreciated in-line with the companies growth because of the enormous risk of the Model 3 project. This represented massive risk overhang that until cleared didn't allow the stock to really take off. 2020 (over?) corrected for that however so now the employees that have put in the years are sitting on massive unrealized gains.
      - HWR_14 5y ago
        He's a good salesman in getting people to invest money or (in this case) time. But the discussion was talking about retention. And that's just because people are about to clear huge paydays.
        jpgvm 5y ago
        That argument is only valid for the last 2 years is my point. He has retained (and attracted away from places like Apple) really high quality talent for over a decade.
  - mbesto 5y ago
    > Executives != smart people Ok, so by that very definition, what does that make Elon Musk as a Chief EXECUTIVE Officer...
  - Cookingboy 5y ago
    >Executives != smart people You are saying Elon hired a bunch of dumb people to be executives for his companies. Not sure that's what you want to imply.
    - jpgvm 5y ago
      I'm saying just because some executives left doesn't mean all the smart people left.

by jpgvm 5y ago

Bilal_io 5y ago

I can agree with this take.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

mbesto 5y ago

> The guy knows how to hire smart people and keep them around I mean he's clearly doing something right. But the people at the top are most definitely not staying around. https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-executives-who-report-elon-musk-high-turnover-rate-2019-8 https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-executives-who-report-...

jpgvm 5y ago
Executives != smart people, some of them are but revolving door of executives speaks more to how hard it is to find good executives and just how cutthroat of an environment Tesla is performance wise. I know for a fact the good engineers are sticking around because I know a bunch of them personally. I wouldn't say all of them are staying because of Elon alone but it generally factors into the calculation (along with massively appreciated stock options ofcourse...)
- HWR_14 5y ago
  > along with massively appreciated stock options ofcourse Give someone a massive retention bonus (in this case structured as an RSU) to get them to stay doesn't seem like unique genius to me
  - jpgvm 5y ago
    People stayed even with the stock was getting crapped on by Wall Street, he was clearly able to convince everyone that the company would succeed and opinions of the companies future would turn around. Going to Tesla a few years ago was a hard choice, they paid below market (substantially) but offered pretty generous stock grants. The stock hadn't really appreciated in-line with the companies growth because of the enormous risk of the Model 3 project. This represented massive risk overhang that until cleared didn't allow the stock to really take off. 2020 (over?) corrected for that however so now the employees that have put in the years are sitting on massive unrealized gains.
    - HWR_14 5y ago
      He's a good salesman in getting people to invest money or (in this case) time. But the discussion was talking about retention. And that's just because people are about to clear huge paydays.
      - jpgvm 5y ago
        That argument is only valid for the last 2 years is my point. He has retained (and attracted away from places like Apple) really high quality talent for over a decade.
- mbesto 5y ago
  > Executives != smart people Ok, so by that very definition, what does that make Elon Musk as a Chief EXECUTIVE Officer...
- Cookingboy 5y ago
  >Executives != smart people You are saying Elon hired a bunch of dumb people to be executives for his companies. Not sure that's what you want to imply.
  - jpgvm 5y ago
    I'm saying just because some executives left doesn't mean all the smart people left.