4 ms·

Musk and SpaceX parting ways would be great, imo.

by meepmorp 4y ago

TaylorAlexander 4y ago
Agree. Shotwell at the helm would be fantastic.
- panick21_ 4y ago
  Based on what? Do you just hold everything else constant and remove Musk. Is there any evidence that this would be the case? Seems to me that all evidence points in the opposite direction, and all companies not led by Musk are not nearly as ambitious, goals oriented and successful. If Musk had left the company in 2014, do you think Starship and Starlink would be what they are now? Because I think that is pretty unlikely.
  - mlindner 4y ago
    Indeed if you go back in history at any point of SpaceX's past and simply pluck out Elon, lots of things that SpaceX does now simply wouldn't have happened.
  - TaylorAlexander 4y ago
    To be clear I have not yet perfected my time machine. I am not suggesting Musk be replaced in 2014, but now. Starship has all the momentum it needs and I have plenty of confidence in Shotwell to stabilize that program and ensure its success. She seems equally committed to getting humanity to Mars but she might be a better face for the company, and is certainly competent.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - panick21_ 4y ago
      But what about the next thing. There will always be the next big challenge. There are many big challenges left to actually make Mars happen. And even if the Mars thing happens, what's next? One could have made the argument that Musk should have gone after the Falcon 9 was reusable as well. Shotwell is certainty competent and would likely do a good job as you suggest. But the best thing is if they just continue to work together as they have, that seems to have worked the best and I wouldn't want to mess with it.
- wongarsu 4y ago
  Isn't it basically Shotwell at he helm right now? Sure, Elon is the one giving factory tours, being visionary and playing a big role in R&D, but internally Shotwell seems to do everything you would expect from a CEO. Maybe you could argue who's more in charge of strategic direction at SpaceX, but on the other hand SpaceX seems to be doing great in that division.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - mlindner 4y ago
    You should check out her own words on this from 2021. https://archive.ph/p4Nkz https://archive.ph/p4Nkz > Shotwell: The way Elon and I share the load, he focuses on development. He's still very highly engaged in the day-to-day operations, but his focus is on development. He was the lead on Starlink, and I started shifting my focus to Starlink around late spring, early summer of last year. Elon’s focus in that time was moving to Starship, that is his primary focus at SpaceX. It doesn't mean he's not thinking about the company on a day-to-day basis, but his emphasis is to get the Starship program to orbit. This of course is slightly old because Shotwell has done another shift and has taken (at least temporary) control of Starship. Generally if it's something interacting with the US government, Shotwell handles it.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
LarryMullins 4y ago
Don't fix it if it ain't broke. Despite Elon Musk behaving stupidly in many other aspects and areas, SpaceX is still working well. Whatever dynamic Musk and Shotwell have between them, it's obviously working out well. So don't "fix" it if it ain't broke.
mlindner 4y ago
That would be horrible for the future of SpaceX. Shotwell would run it well but she doesn't do pushing boundaries of things like Elon. SpaceX would indeed be very successful under Shotwell but you could forget them ever landing humans on Mars under her leadership, at least not without going hand in hand with some eventual NASA plan in the 2050s or something (by which point she might have retired anyway as she's 8 years older than Elon). Also maybe it's simply being a good corporate leader, but I've seen her stick her neck out and defend Elon many times against criticism. They obviously like each other and get along with each other. They're both needed.

Musk and SpaceX parting ways would be great, imo.

TaylorAlexander 4y ago

Agree. Shotwell at the helm would be fantastic.

panick21_ 4y ago
Based on what? Do you just hold everything else constant and remove Musk. Is there any evidence that this would be the case? Seems to me that all evidence points in the opposite direction, and all companies not led by Musk are not nearly as ambitious, goals oriented and successful. If Musk had left the company in 2014, do you think Starship and Starlink would be what they are now? Because I think that is pretty unlikely.
- mlindner 4y ago
  Indeed if you go back in history at any point of SpaceX's past and simply pluck out Elon, lots of things that SpaceX does now simply wouldn't have happened.
- TaylorAlexander 4y ago
  To be clear I have not yet perfected my time machine. I am not suggesting Musk be replaced in 2014, but now. Starship has all the momentum it needs and I have plenty of confidence in Shotwell to stabilize that program and ensure its success. She seems equally committed to getting humanity to Mars but she might be a better face for the company, and is certainly competent.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - panick21_ 4y ago
    But what about the next thing. There will always be the next big challenge. There are many big challenges left to actually make Mars happen. And even if the Mars thing happens, what's next? One could have made the argument that Musk should have gone after the Falcon 9 was reusable as well. Shotwell is certainty competent and would likely do a good job as you suggest. But the best thing is if they just continue to work together as they have, that seems to have worked the best and I wouldn't want to mess with it.
wongarsu 4y ago
Isn't it basically Shotwell at he helm right now? Sure, Elon is the one giving factory tours, being visionary and playing a big role in R&D, but internally Shotwell seems to do everything you would expect from a CEO. Maybe you could argue who's more in charge of strategic direction at SpaceX, but on the other hand SpaceX seems to be doing great in that division.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- mlindner 4y ago
  You should check out her own words on this from 2021. https://archive.ph/p4Nkz https://archive.ph/p4Nkz > Shotwell: The way Elon and I share the load, he focuses on development. He's still very highly engaged in the day-to-day operations, but his focus is on development. He was the lead on Starlink, and I started shifting my focus to Starlink around late spring, early summer of last year. Elon’s focus in that time was moving to Starship, that is his primary focus at SpaceX. It doesn't mean he's not thinking about the company on a day-to-day basis, but his emphasis is to get the Starship program to orbit. This of course is slightly old because Shotwell has done another shift and has taken (at least temporary) control of Starship. Generally if it's something interacting with the US government, Shotwell handles it.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

LarryMullins 4y ago

Don't fix it if it ain't broke. Despite Elon Musk behaving stupidly in many other aspects and areas, SpaceX is still working well. Whatever dynamic Musk and Shotwell have between them, it's obviously working out well. So don't "fix" it if it ain't broke.

mlindner 4y ago

That would be horrible for the future of SpaceX. Shotwell would run it well but she doesn't do pushing boundaries of things like Elon. SpaceX would indeed be very successful under Shotwell but you could forget them ever landing humans on Mars under her leadership, at least not without going hand in hand with some eventual NASA plan in the 2050s or something (by which point she might have retired anyway as she's 8 years older than Elon). Also maybe it's simply being a good corporate leader, but I've seen her stick her neck out and defend Elon many times against criticism. They obviously like each other and get along with each other. They're both needed.