6 ms·

Can we now, at long last, kill the myth that Elon Musk is a business genius?

by cbtacy 4y ago

aliswe 4y ago
Not just yet.
_oqj3 4y ago
[flagged]
- ctvo 4y ago
  I wouldn’t call it communism to say a business person who made a bad deal by overpaying 3x the price for something is incompetent.
  - forgetfulness 4y ago
    And then races to lay off half the workforce days after coming in, based on napkin calculations that suspiciously work out to cut costs to cover the loans he took with the company as collateral ahead of time. After trying to fight off in court the completion of this impulse buy. If Mr. Musk turns this around after so much fumbling around, that would be the display of business acumen that his admirers expect of him, so far trying to say that these moves make sense amounts to saying that these are the tactics of a genius beyond mortal ken, because they simply don't look good.
  - wolfram74 4y ago
    Don't forget TSLA is down ~63% of it's price since april 14th compared with S&P500 drop to ~86% in the same time frame, impossible to say what's causally linked, but musk is not just out ~40+billion from this whole ordeal.
Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago
I realized Elon wasn't a scientist or engineer a long time ago. But a good businessman I thought he was and I think it's too early to say in this case whether that holds true. One issue is that since the company is now private, we most likley will not get to see it's profit. All we will have is what employees or musk says. So I still think it's too soon to make conclusions.
- lottamus 4y ago
  Sure, but I’m really interested to see what he does with http://x.com http://x.com
  - tapoxi 4y ago
    He wants to make a WeChat, but WeChat can only happen because Apple allows WeChat to bend the rules so it can access the Chinese market.
- rdtwo 4y ago
  He’s just a young Donald trump
  - qeternity 4y ago
    I’m don’t fall into one camp or the other: I think the guy is human, like everyone else, and riddled with faults. But one guy has put humans into space, and the other sold steaks on infomercials.
    - kevinh 4y ago
      That's quite the slanted framing. An alternate framing: one was president of the United States and one got pushed down a flight of stairs for making fun of a kid because his father committed suicide.
      - forgetfulness 4y ago
        But as a businessman, Musk has done far more for society with SpaceX and Starlink than Trump ever did as a sketchy real estate developer, or media personality. Let's give that to Musk, not withstanding his dubious personal choices, polarizing public persona, or this questionable decision of buying and then gutting an unprofitable social network.
      - qeternity 4y ago
        I framed it this way because GP was make a pejorative comparison.
ajmurmann 4y ago
I have very strong, very mixed feelings about Musk and am not sure if he is a great businessmen or not. However, I did appreciate DHH's blog post about Job's returning to Apple. Massive layoffs and Jobs admitted that mistakes will be made, but at least decisions are being made. Short worthwhile read: https://world.hey.com/dhh/apple-fired-4-100-when-steve-jobs-returned-in-1997-57ed6bc6 https://world.hey.com/dhh/apple-fired-4-100-when-steve-jobs-... Edit: auto-correct typo
pessimizer 4y ago
I wish the Elon anti-fans would wait for Elon fans to say something, then respond to them, rather than posting 900 comments picking fights with people who haven't even posted yet. This obsession with adoring or condemning love-hate branded celebrities as quickly and loudly as possible is unbelievably grating.
Am4TIfIsER0ppos 4y ago
I thought the hyperloop was that moment but in fairness he managed to get investment for that shit.

Can we now, at long last, kill the myth that Elon Musk is a business genius?

by cbtacy 4y ago

Can we now, at long last, kill the myth that Elon Musk is a business genius?

aliswe 4y ago

Not just yet.

_oqj3 4y ago

[flagged]

ctvo 4y ago
I wouldn’t call it communism to say a business person who made a bad deal by overpaying 3x the price for something is incompetent.
- forgetfulness 4y ago
  And then races to lay off half the workforce days after coming in, based on napkin calculations that suspiciously work out to cut costs to cover the loans he took with the company as collateral ahead of time. After trying to fight off in court the completion of this impulse buy. If Mr. Musk turns this around after so much fumbling around, that would be the display of business acumen that his admirers expect of him, so far trying to say that these moves make sense amounts to saying that these are the tactics of a genius beyond mortal ken, because they simply don't look good.
- wolfram74 4y ago
  Don't forget TSLA is down ~63% of it's price since april 14th compared with S&P500 drop to ~86% in the same time frame, impossible to say what's causally linked, but musk is not just out ~40+billion from this whole ordeal.

Vt71fcAqt7 4y ago

I realized Elon wasn't a scientist or engineer a long time ago. But a good businessman I thought he was and I think it's too early to say in this case whether that holds true. One issue is that since the company is now private, we most likley will not get to see it's profit. All we will have is what employees or musk says. So I still think it's too soon to make conclusions.

lottamus 4y ago
Sure, but I’m really interested to see what he does with http://x.com http://x.com
- tapoxi 4y ago
  He wants to make a WeChat, but WeChat can only happen because Apple allows WeChat to bend the rules so it can access the Chinese market.
rdtwo 4y ago
He’s just a young Donald trump
- qeternity 4y ago
  I’m don’t fall into one camp or the other: I think the guy is human, like everyone else, and riddled with faults. But one guy has put humans into space, and the other sold steaks on infomercials.
  - kevinh 4y ago
    That's quite the slanted framing. An alternate framing: one was president of the United States and one got pushed down a flight of stairs for making fun of a kid because his father committed suicide.
    - forgetfulness 4y ago
      But as a businessman, Musk has done far more for society with SpaceX and Starlink than Trump ever did as a sketchy real estate developer, or media personality. Let's give that to Musk, not withstanding his dubious personal choices, polarizing public persona, or this questionable decision of buying and then gutting an unprofitable social network.
    - qeternity 4y ago
      I framed it this way because GP was make a pejorative comparison.

ajmurmann 4y ago

I have very strong, very mixed feelings about Musk and am not sure if he is a great businessmen or not. However, I did appreciate DHH's blog post about Job's returning to Apple. Massive layoffs and Jobs admitted that mistakes will be made, but at least decisions are being made. Short worthwhile read: https://world.hey.com/dhh/apple-fired-4-100-when-steve-jobs-returned-in-1997-57ed6bc6 https://world.hey.com/dhh/apple-fired-4-100-when-steve-jobs-... Edit: auto-correct typo

pessimizer 4y ago

I wish the Elon anti-fans would wait for Elon fans to say something, then respond to them, rather than posting 900 comments picking fights with people who haven't even posted yet. This obsession with adoring or condemning love-hate branded celebrities as quickly and loudly as possible is unbelievably grating.

Am4TIfIsER0ppos 4y ago

I thought the hyperloop was that moment but in fairness he managed to get investment for that shit.