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If you (still) work at Twitter and you can code, head to the HQ now

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Re: If you (still) work at Twitter and you can code, head to the HQ now

#511

Post by dont__panic »

wittycardio wrote: post #458
bcrosby95 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All personal accounts I've heard of from people that work there are yes, he does know about engineering and is incredibly smart. But that doesn't mean you know how to run a social media company, and trying to pivot Twitter's work culture on a dime is going to be chaotic. FWIW I think he's a toxic asshole, but that doesn't mean he's an idiot.

He might not be an idiot but that doesn't mean he knows how software works either

Smart and idiot might not be mutually exclusive. I've known a lot of smart people who can act idiotic in certain circumstances. Elon could be very smart when it comes to engineering... but idiotic when it comes to running Twitter.

Re: If you (still) work at Twitter and you can code, head to the HQ now

#512

Post by fknorangesite »

chasd00 wrote: post #100
buildbot wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This shows how out of touch he is - fly, right now, possibly across the country, just to please me. He has no concept or care of how much that might cost or disrupt someones life.

i'm sure everyone has a corporate card or at least a process for re-imbursement ( assuming that department still exists)

> i'm sure

Why?

Re: If you (still) work at Twitter and you can code, head to the HQ now

#513

Post by rich_sasha »

bcrosby95 wrote: post #148
rich_sasha wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's simple, Elon Musk has no clue what he is doing. Can he code.to save his life? Does he know anything about engineering from Tesla or SpaceX, beyond catchphrases?

All personal accounts I've heard of from people that work there are yes, he does know about engineering and is incredibly smart. But that doesn't mean you know how to run a social media company, and trying to pivot Twitter's work culture on a dime is going to be chaotic. FWIW I think he's a toxic asshole, but that doesn't mean he's an idiot.

OK, so how do I square that up with a request to document programming prowess with screenshots?

Re: If you (still) work at Twitter and you can code, head to the HQ now

#514

Post by dont__panic »

m_ke wrote: post #406
Balgair wrote: post #340

Now he's saying that he wants people to fly in to present their code to him by midnight. On the Friday before Thanksgiving. Into one of United's big hubs. With 14 hours notice. And a lot of cold fronts over the eastern seaboard. Likely more like 10 hours with travel times and the line of potential people that are presenting. I'm honestly gobsmacked. Look, if you're on of those engineers and are unfortunate enough to…

He's really asking all 5 of the remaining engineers to come meet him at his office.

Really taking that two-pizza team idea to the extreme!

Re: If you (still) work at Twitter and you can code, head to the HQ now

#515

Post by toofy »

nemo44x wrote: post #296
softwaredoug wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For one, there's more thoughtful ways of joining a company and remaking the culture that aren't a shitshow. Instead of starting with 50% layoffs, you could have started with the ultimatum to stay for 'hardcore twitter' or not. Then you have a loyal set of employees AND reduced headcount.

The problem with that is you're skipping a step. You need to drop the dead weight so-to-speak before locating the people that can ship code and are loyal. He has been very aggressive to be sure, but the media is following this unlike any other reorg because Twitter is their livlihood.

> ... but the media is following this unlike any other reorg because Twitter is their livlihood.

i think this is a strange read on the importance of twitter for the media. twitter itself, as a technology just doesn't matter. it isn't the tech that creates the network of value, its the people. and we know from centuries of history, people will just shift to the next spot over--the bar that was popular last week is just... empty.

the media, like general society, doesn't care which platform they're swarming around. it was myspace for a while, digg for a while, facebook... etc... we just move to the whichever captures a critical mass. the media will just simply move to wherever we all go.

i suspect they're just covering it so much because hes like a jester--that weirdo kid in the hall screaming "look at me. look at me. LOOK AT ME! im a contrarian. im being contrarian! honestly i hate attention. quit staring at me. but LOOK AT ME!" and we all love watching jesters and contrarians fall over. even if they accidentally reach their destination. we still can't help but watch them fumble.

Re: If you (still) work at Twitter and you can code, head to the HQ now

#516

Post by dont__panic »

errantmind wrote: post #223

I'm no Elon fan, but why does essentially everyone in these threads automatically assume he is wrong? Has no one here worked at companies where there was more dead weight than talent? Where 80% of the work being done is by 20% of the people, and there are whole teams that do almost nothing? What if there is no clean, efficient way to discover who should be fired and so Elon's fallback plan is to test for who really w…

A good question to ask.

I think you're spot on about most tech companies. But I don't believe this kind of behavior will incentivize high performers to stick around. In fact, I would guess that the best employees have already left. With this kind of uncertainty and the threat of working long hours and then being fired on a whim if you disagree with Musk... ask yourself, who would stick around?

The only people I can imagine are the Musk cult worshippers and those with no other speedy alternative -- H1B holders and other similarly "stuck" people.

So basically Musk is trying to kick everyone out of the company except for his cultists (who will worship him no matter what) and the people who can't leave otherwise.

Open to alternative explanations... but even if I truly believed in a leader, I don't think I would stick around for this kind of abuse. Perhaps I'm just not "hardcore" enough to work at a social network, though.

Re: If you (still) work at Twitter and you can code, head to the HQ now

#517

Post by user3939382 »

Tronno wrote: post #502
user3939382 wrote: post #378

When you’re the richest guy in the world you have big enemies and friends, whose tentacles of power reach far and wide and can move populations for or against you. I have enough executive experience to be 100% sure that none of us have a complete picture of what’s going on behind the scenes, with his political or business relationships. It’s been fascinating to see how pliable public opinion is with the influence of…

By what means should be people be judged, if not by their public words and actions? Any other factors are, by definition, unknowable. Musk's words and actions have been very public indeed. What additional context can we gain by speculating about his private thoughts and back-room dealings?

I try to resist the urge to judge, and remind myself that I shouldn’t be drawing conclusions about things I’m not (or can’t be) informed about.

There’s this big social pressure, not just to agree with the prevailing opinions, but in general to have these confident positions on everything. I think the world would be a better place with more “I dont know”s.

Re: If you (still) work at Twitter and you can code, head to the HQ now

#518

Post by dont__panic »

ProjectArcturis wrote: post #448
CrypticShift wrote: post #220

IMHO (my first and I hope last Elon comment), at a higher level of cognition, Elon is just playing two simple games: maximum buzz (media game), and maximum control (politics game). All his public persona, including all that pre-acquisition drama, is just for maximum buzz (Who cares about a few hundred millions ?) All this post-acquisition drama is just for maximum control (over Twitter and ?). If this is the case, so…

I wouldn't give him credit for doing all this intentionally. Elon being incredibly impulsive seems to explain everything pretty parsimoniously.

Quick question: is that proper usage of "parsimoniously"? I've only seen it used as a synonym for "stingy," which is close, but not quite the same as the "succinctly" synonym usage here. But I'm aware that regions and time periods drift in word usage, so you aren't necessarily wrong.

Re: If you (still) work at Twitter and you can code, head to the HQ now

#519

Post by kilolima »

googlryas wrote: post #408
karaterobot wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a really good question, and much more interesting to me than just commenting on an ongoing train wreck. I suppose that we would need to first decide whether (in this scenario where he succeeded) Elon had actually fixed Twitter , or whether he tore it down to the studs and built a different company out of it, one which happened to be called Twitter, but did something completely different, with new people and ne…

Isn't Twitter about sending short messages to the world or to people who are listening to you? How different are you envisioning Twitter could be? I really just want to make sure this isn't a cop out in the chances his stunts succeed(ie yeah it's successful now but it's different!)

If that was the purpose of Twitter it would still function with JavaScript disabled.
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