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Honestly, It's surprising how someone who managed to get a car and rockets company up and running can cause so much chaos. This looks so unprofessional, errati

Honestly, It's surprising how someone who managed to get a car and rockets company up and running can cause so much chaos. This looks so unprofessional, erratic and unnecessary even if you want to cut down headcount and have a political motivation behind the take over, that it shocks me, honestly. I guess that when someone is that wealthy you can duck-tape mistakes with money and move on. I've complained many times about the effects of the so called "woke" ideology has, particularly outside of the US, but I don't think this is the way to do it. If EM thinks this is a way of helping free speech and turn the volume down on some deranged ideologies, I don't think this is moving towards that goal.

TruthIsHeresy 4y ago
qbasic_forever 4y ago
He didnt start Tesla, be bought them: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tesla,_Inc https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tesla,_Inc. Similar story for pay pal.
- Gud 4y ago
  When he bought Tesla it was run out of a garage more or less.
- ergocoder 4y ago
  It is justified that he is credited with the success of Tesla. The only reason this is even slightly controversial is because people hate Musk too much.
negamax 4y ago
I think we all invested in him as he's nerdy and chasing moonshots. I bought TSLA stock at IPO and held through all the fail years. Musk enjoys unparalleled fandome and respect in many circles. But of course, Elon thinks it's all him. He's a genius, a savior and nothing can come between his view of reality. Imo, Elon is past his expiry date. Time for capitalism to fix him
- cmsj 4y ago
  I think it would be fair to say he's able to see a bet that's worth calling early, and building hype for it. Those two together means that the engineers who are similarly early, want to come work for you. In a world with no electric car market, if that's what you really want to work on, Tesla is a beacon to you. It's served him well in several industries now, but I really don't see how that can apply to this new mission of trying to make something of a relevant-but-kinda-failing social network.
msie 4y ago
Apparently he was managed by others at his other companies. https://twitter.com/rob_sheridan/status/1595319316249186304?s=46&t=kMUaYxCTA4R6GoBZACZ8mQ https://twitter.com/rob_sheridan/status/1595319316249186304?...
hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
I am interested to know people's thoughts about Musk for those that have known him for a long time. For example, I definitely always got the sense that pg had a negative assessment of him from some of pg's writings about PayPal's early days. But I'll say I always admired Musk for his sheer tenacity and ability to work extremely hard (and his ability to convince other people to work extremely hard). I'd say my opinion about him started to change right when he started bizarrely libeling that guy in Thailand as "pedo-guy". So I guess my question is whether he's always been a collosal asshole, or whether that just grew over time as his wealth and power removed any constraints on his ego.
- papito 4y ago
  He's always been like this. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/business/elon-musk-interview-tesla.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/business/elon-musk-interv... A lot of people "work hard" but they do not work smart. Musk in an extreme version of this. Unless he is not working himself and everyone else into the ground, he is not content. Everything has to be a crisis, and if there isn't one, create it.
- spaniard89277 4y ago
  Unless people close to him is willing to talk openly about it, I guess we'll never know. He has to be good at something, maybe at taking bets and convincing people to give him money, like other HNr suggests. Who knows.
  - hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
    > maybe at taking bets and convincing people to give him money, like other HNr suggests. This line of thought always comes across as "ego defending rationalization" to me. That is, we don't like to believe that someone who is such an ass clown can be so successful, so we just chalk it up to his family's wealth or luck or something. But it's clear to me from Musk's communications that: 1. He is extremely intelligent, at least in his ability to understand topics across a wide range of areas (business, technical, finance). 2. He is extremely driven. He could have easily put his feet up after PayPal but he chose to get involved in immensely difficult, grand projects. 3. He works extremely hard (at least when he isn't tweet trolling). I don't think anyone questions his long work hours and sleeping at the office during the Model 3 production ramp up. 4. At least until recently, he was able to get other extremely smart and driven people to follow his lead. I guess it's really number 4 that seems like the biggest change in the past couple years in my opinion. I mean, I've got to believe a lot of smart people at Tesla and SpaceX are looking on thinking "WTF is Musk on??"
butMebbe 4y ago
Financial math is just arithmetic with a footnote about remembering to add a dozen zeroes. Same as we were taught in school; keep the numbers you work with day to day by using a simple noticing. Add 1 to 3.654 x 10^11, another billionaire appears! Their wealth is mathematical inference. None of them have Scrooge McDuck Vaults full of real money. Tangentially, Paul G Tweeted a few weeks ago about America being “fake”; American cheese was one thing he called out specifically. No one Tweeted back “billionaire wealth.” I had del’d my Twitter years ago, did not seem worth making a new one.
- butMebbe 4y ago
  Keep numbers you work with day to day simple by using a simpler notation, is what I meant to type. Thumb band aid is messing with autocorrect by creating the wrong string to begin with

TruthIsHeresy 4y ago

qbasic_forever 4y ago

He didnt start Tesla, be bought them: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tesla,_Inc https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tesla,_Inc. Similar story for pay pal.

Gud 4y ago
When he bought Tesla it was run out of a garage more or less.
ergocoder 4y ago
It is justified that he is credited with the success of Tesla. The only reason this is even slightly controversial is because people hate Musk too much.

negamax 4y ago

I think we all invested in him as he's nerdy and chasing moonshots. I bought TSLA stock at IPO and held through all the fail years. Musk enjoys unparalleled fandome and respect in many circles. But of course, Elon thinks it's all him. He's a genius, a savior and nothing can come between his view of reality. Imo, Elon is past his expiry date. Time for capitalism to fix him

cmsj 4y ago
I think it would be fair to say he's able to see a bet that's worth calling early, and building hype for it. Those two together means that the engineers who are similarly early, want to come work for you. In a world with no electric car market, if that's what you really want to work on, Tesla is a beacon to you. It's served him well in several industries now, but I really don't see how that can apply to this new mission of trying to make something of a relevant-but-kinda-failing social network.

msie 4y ago

Apparently he was managed by others at his other companies. https://twitter.com/rob_sheridan/status/1595319316249186304?s=46&t=kMUaYxCTA4R6GoBZACZ8mQ https://twitter.com/rob_sheridan/status/1595319316249186304?...

hn_throwaway_99 4y ago

I am interested to know people's thoughts about Musk for those that have known him for a long time. For example, I definitely always got the sense that pg had a negative assessment of him from some of pg's writings about PayPal's early days. But I'll say I always admired Musk for his sheer tenacity and ability to work extremely hard (and his ability to convince other people to work extremely hard). I'd say my opinion about him started to change right when he started bizarrely libeling that guy in Thailand as "pedo-guy". So I guess my question is whether he's always been a collosal asshole, or whether that just grew over time as his wealth and power removed any constraints on his ego.

papito 4y ago
He's always been like this. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/business/elon-musk-interview-tesla.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/business/elon-musk-interv... A lot of people "work hard" but they do not work smart. Musk in an extreme version of this. Unless he is not working himself and everyone else into the ground, he is not content. Everything has to be a crisis, and if there isn't one, create it.
spaniard89277 4y ago
Unless people close to him is willing to talk openly about it, I guess we'll never know. He has to be good at something, maybe at taking bets and convincing people to give him money, like other HNr suggests. Who knows.
- hn_throwaway_99 4y ago
  > maybe at taking bets and convincing people to give him money, like other HNr suggests. This line of thought always comes across as "ego defending rationalization" to me. That is, we don't like to believe that someone who is such an ass clown can be so successful, so we just chalk it up to his family's wealth or luck or something. But it's clear to me from Musk's communications that: 1. He is extremely intelligent, at least in his ability to understand topics across a wide range of areas (business, technical, finance). 2. He is extremely driven. He could have easily put his feet up after PayPal but he chose to get involved in immensely difficult, grand projects. 3. He works extremely hard (at least when he isn't tweet trolling). I don't think anyone questions his long work hours and sleeping at the office during the Model 3 production ramp up. 4. At least until recently, he was able to get other extremely smart and driven people to follow his lead. I guess it's really number 4 that seems like the biggest change in the past couple years in my opinion. I mean, I've got to believe a lot of smart people at Tesla and SpaceX are looking on thinking "WTF is Musk on??"

butMebbe 4y ago

Financial math is just arithmetic with a footnote about remembering to add a dozen zeroes. Same as we were taught in school; keep the numbers you work with day to day by using a simple noticing. Add 1 to 3.654 x 10^11, another billionaire appears! Their wealth is mathematical inference. None of them have Scrooge McDuck Vaults full of real money. Tangentially, Paul G Tweeted a few weeks ago about America being “fake”; American cheese was one thing he called out specifically. No one Tweeted back “billionaire wealth.” I had del’d my Twitter years ago, did not seem worth making a new one.

butMebbe 4y ago
Keep numbers you work with day to day simple by using a simpler notation, is what I meant to type. Thumb band aid is messing with autocorrect by creating the wrong string to begin with