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Paul Graham and some of the YC partners have been surprisingly defensive of Musk's actions. It's been massively disappointing to watch since Musk's behaviour h

Paul Graham and some of the YC partners have been surprisingly defensive of Musk's actions. It's been massively disappointing to watch since Musk's behaviour has been abhorrent and has resulted in a lot of unnecessary hurt and despair for innocent employees. The same employees who may end up running future startups.

dbmkn 4y ago
Lol one of his tweets aged well, https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1592852796185128961?s=20&t=M3uW2cmtw-GavJgKEC5E6g https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1592852796185128961?s=20&t=...
- zone411 4y ago
  Huh? You have no evidence either way yet.
  - enumjorge 4y ago
    Well we know that after an ultimatum, enough employees quit that Musk is now asking some of them to come back. The number of employees leaving is also so high, that they're shutting down access to offices. There's also been reports of features like 2FA not working anymore after the first round of layoffs. Not exactly the results I'd expect from someone who really knows how to run a company. If one of Musk's middle managers had messed up this badly, Musk would have fired them already. But Elon deserves the continued benefit of the doubt for some reason.
    - zone411 4y ago
      All that you've mentioned may or may not matter eventually but it's not any sort of evidence of how Twitter did. The only things that matter are revenue, expenses, and growth. This tweet was made two days ago and nothing has happened since to provide any sort of evidence of how these actually important factors will unfold. To say that this tweet has "aged badly" is just nonsense.
      - wildrhythms 4y ago
        > The only things that matter are revenue, expenses, and growth. So... not the general operability of the service?
- everly 4y ago
  Sheesh. First of all, we already know that because people have already died due to Tesla software not working right. And second of all, he thinks Twitter can’t lead to deaths? Let’s say the Iranian government was given unfettered access to DMs and metadata for all Iranian citizens with an account. Not hard to imagine scenarios that end in death.
- enumjorge 4y ago
  At first I thought paulg must have posted that weeks ago, but no, it's from yesterday. I wouldn't expect such a vote of confidence on Musk after all the data points we've received since he took over the company. I'm not even sure what paulg's point is. Are people actually claiming they'd do a better job than Musk, or are they simply commenting on the missteps and bizarre behavior. You don't need to have run a successful tech company to know that spending your time as a CEO antagonizing your employees on social media, and then threatening your remaining employees with an ultimatum is not a good idea.
- FiberBundle 4y ago
  What's really weird is that he even pushes Musk's conspiracy theory that leftist activist groups are the reason advertisers are jumping off: https://mobile.twitter.com/paulg/status/1593297818420236288 https://mobile.twitter.com/paulg/status/1593297818420236288
- smcl 4y ago
  "This Tweet is unavailable" - what did it (roughly) say?
  - wildrhythms 4y ago
    I was able to view it in Incognito. Why- I don't know, it's been happening with many linked tweets lately as well.
  - politelemon 4y ago
    > It's remarkable how many people who've never run any kind of company think they know how to run a tech company better than someone who's run Tesla and SpaceX. Then the next tweet says > In both those companies, people die if the software doesn't work right. Do you really think he's not up to managing a social network?
    - smcl 4y ago
      Thanks!
- thrwyoilarticle 4y ago
  It's remarkable that someone who's never run Twitter thinks he knows how to run Twitter better than the people who run Twitter.
- brohee 4y ago
  It was a nice r/agedlikemilk candidate but they now have a no Musk rule (https://www.reddit.com/r/agedlikemilk/comments/yqclex/rule_1_edit_elon_musk/ https://www.reddit.com/r/agedlikemilk/comments/yqclex/rule_1...)
the_cat_kittles 4y ago
when you spend your whole life acting like a genius because you made a bunch of money, then a richer guy shows how incorrect that is, you are going to squirm.
- badpun 4y ago
  There were already dozens of Russian oligarchs with net worth exceeding PG's. I don't think anyone is conflating wealth with genius or wisdom.
  - mrguyorama 4y ago
    Half this comment section is people going "Nonono elon couldn't be dumb, there must be some angle to this". It's the american way to call a rich person smart and a smart person a threat.
matwood 4y ago
> Paul Graham and some of the YC partners have been surprisingly defensive of Musk's actions. Thing is, I agree that Twitter needed to be shaken up. But, Musk has made the wrong choices every step of the way. It's like he's giving a masterclass on how to be a terrible leader. It's amazing the miscalculations Musk has made. First, his longest tenure, most experience employees likely just got a huge payday on their stock/options - so of course they will peace out. Second, his antics are driving up the price of hiring new employees. Third, Musk still had a lot of goodwill before taking ownership that he's now squandered. I could go on... The only thing I can think is he looked hard at the financials and the debt load he saddled the company with and panicked.

dbmkn 4y ago

Lol one of his tweets aged well, https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1592852796185128961?s=20&t=M3uW2cmtw-GavJgKEC5E6g https://twitter.com/paulg/status/1592852796185128961?s=20&t=...

zone411 4y ago
Huh? You have no evidence either way yet.
- enumjorge 4y ago
  Well we know that after an ultimatum, enough employees quit that Musk is now asking some of them to come back. The number of employees leaving is also so high, that they're shutting down access to offices. There's also been reports of features like 2FA not working anymore after the first round of layoffs. Not exactly the results I'd expect from someone who really knows how to run a company. If one of Musk's middle managers had messed up this badly, Musk would have fired them already. But Elon deserves the continued benefit of the doubt for some reason.
  - zone411 4y ago
    All that you've mentioned may or may not matter eventually but it's not any sort of evidence of how Twitter did. The only things that matter are revenue, expenses, and growth. This tweet was made two days ago and nothing has happened since to provide any sort of evidence of how these actually important factors will unfold. To say that this tweet has "aged badly" is just nonsense.
    - wildrhythms 4y ago
      > The only things that matter are revenue, expenses, and growth. So... not the general operability of the service?
everly 4y ago
Sheesh. First of all, we already know that because people have already died due to Tesla software not working right. And second of all, he thinks Twitter can’t lead to deaths? Let’s say the Iranian government was given unfettered access to DMs and metadata for all Iranian citizens with an account. Not hard to imagine scenarios that end in death.
enumjorge 4y ago
At first I thought paulg must have posted that weeks ago, but no, it's from yesterday. I wouldn't expect such a vote of confidence on Musk after all the data points we've received since he took over the company. I'm not even sure what paulg's point is. Are people actually claiming they'd do a better job than Musk, or are they simply commenting on the missteps and bizarre behavior. You don't need to have run a successful tech company to know that spending your time as a CEO antagonizing your employees on social media, and then threatening your remaining employees with an ultimatum is not a good idea.
FiberBundle 4y ago
What's really weird is that he even pushes Musk's conspiracy theory that leftist activist groups are the reason advertisers are jumping off: https://mobile.twitter.com/paulg/status/1593297818420236288 https://mobile.twitter.com/paulg/status/1593297818420236288
smcl 4y ago
"This Tweet is unavailable" - what did it (roughly) say?
- wildrhythms 4y ago
  I was able to view it in Incognito. Why- I don't know, it's been happening with many linked tweets lately as well.
- politelemon 4y ago
  > It's remarkable how many people who've never run any kind of company think they know how to run a tech company better than someone who's run Tesla and SpaceX. Then the next tweet says > In both those companies, people die if the software doesn't work right. Do you really think he's not up to managing a social network?
  - smcl 4y ago
    Thanks!
thrwyoilarticle 4y ago
It's remarkable that someone who's never run Twitter thinks he knows how to run Twitter better than the people who run Twitter.
brohee 4y ago
It was a nice r/agedlikemilk candidate but they now have a no Musk rule (https://www.reddit.com/r/agedlikemilk/comments/yqclex/rule_1_edit_elon_musk/ https://www.reddit.com/r/agedlikemilk/comments/yqclex/rule_1...)

the_cat_kittles 4y ago

when you spend your whole life acting like a genius because you made a bunch of money, then a richer guy shows how incorrect that is, you are going to squirm.

badpun 4y ago
There were already dozens of Russian oligarchs with net worth exceeding PG's. I don't think anyone is conflating wealth with genius or wisdom.
- mrguyorama 4y ago
  Half this comment section is people going "Nonono elon couldn't be dumb, there must be some angle to this". It's the american way to call a rich person smart and a smart person a threat.

matwood 4y ago

> Paul Graham and some of the YC partners have been surprisingly defensive of Musk's actions. Thing is, I agree that Twitter needed to be shaken up. But, Musk has made the wrong choices every step of the way. It's like he's giving a masterclass on how to be a terrible leader. It's amazing the miscalculations Musk has made. First, his longest tenure, most experience employees likely just got a huge payday on their stock/options - so of course they will peace out. Second, his antics are driving up the price of hiring new employees. Third, Musk still had a lot of goodwill before taking ownership that he's now squandered. I could go on... The only thing I can think is he looked hard at the financials and the debt load he saddled the company with and panicked.