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An Update from Elon Musk

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61–70 of 119 posts

Re: An Update from Elon Musk

#61

I'm a huge Elon Musk/Tesla/SpaceX fan, and have often felt it would be the ultimate opportunity to work at either company (Tesla would be my first choice, as automotive interface tech is one of my passions). However, doing a quick bit of research earlier today, a search for "Tesla working environment" turned up more than a handful of reports by former and current employees that hint at an unpleasant company culture.…

Sounds a lot like Apple.

Re: An Update from Elon Musk

#62

I'm a huge Elon Musk/Tesla/SpaceX fan, and have often felt it would be the ultimate opportunity to work at either company (Tesla would be my first choice, as automotive interface tech is one of my passions). However, doing a quick bit of research earlier today, a search for "Tesla working environment" turned up more than a handful of reports by former and current employees that hint at an unpleasant company culture.…

I know nothing of Tesla/SpaceX, but be aware that how glamorous/hip a company/industry/etc is, often correlates negatively with how well they treat employees by objective measures, i.e. working hours, salary, etc. Just read some posts about the gaming industry. It's supply and demand, really.

Re: An Update from Elon Musk

#63
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing wrong with working hard, but the "below average compensation" is something to look at a bit more closely.

Stock options plan would be another thing to look at a bit more closely.

Agreed, with their disappointing stock performance from the beginning of the year on, stock options would definitely be one thing to really examine and determine if they would be worth anything at all.

Re: An Update from Elon Musk

#64
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, even though i am generally pro tesla and like musk, in order to prevent this from becoming a total worshipfest i will provide some facts that elon is not sharing. It is true that tesla has made all their payments under the doe loan agreement. But they were not in total compliance with said agreement. The agreement required that tesla keep certain financial ratios up to certain levels, and tesla failed to do that.…

Oh definitely so. But his statements have no sense of any of that, one would never suspect anything is being withheld, they come across perfectly sincere and warm and from him and not from some lawyer, it's masterful. Yeah, there's some dodgy stuff, a lot of information about these cars, such as the reality about their batteries and how much energy they really use to go from A to B over time has high spin when I star…

I feel it too. His statements are so nice and logical, the truth becomes secondary. That's one talented advocate. Let's instead condemn reality for lacking truth and beauty.

Re: An Update from Elon Musk

#65

I'm a huge Elon Musk/Tesla/SpaceX fan, and have often felt it would be the ultimate opportunity to work at either company (Tesla would be my first choice, as automotive interface tech is one of my passions). However, doing a quick bit of research earlier today, a search for "Tesla working environment" turned up more than a handful of reports by former and current employees that hint at an unpleasant company culture.…

I'm pretty sure Elon Musk himself said that he works his Tesla employees hard - he asks for people who are passionate about their mission, and that they know that they will be taking a pay cut, as they are a startup, in exchange for being worked to the bone.

It's not that he created a bad culture, I think he just hired people who were willing to take a risk with Tesla, and they work hard to produce a successful company.

Re: An Update from Elon Musk

#66

I'm a huge Elon Musk/Tesla/SpaceX fan, and have often felt it would be the ultimate opportunity to work at either company (Tesla would be my first choice, as automotive interface tech is one of my passions). However, doing a quick bit of research earlier today, a search for "Tesla working environment" turned up more than a handful of reports by former and current employees that hint at an unpleasant company culture.…

Apple employees were overworked harder then anyone.. What is your point?!

I don't know why you've got some down votes on your comment since you just pointed out the truth.

Many of us here are founders and we're in business to challenge status quo and possibly make a dent in the universe. That takes hard work from founders AND contributors.

If anyone thinks things should be different in startup business, they should take a step back and really evaluate how much hard work really goes into achieving these goals.

After that if they can't see no compelling reason to do it, they should just get a job in a more traditional business. I don't blame people for taking that route. This business isn't for anyone.

Re: An Update from Elon Musk

#67

Musk's public statements are the nicest and most logical ones I've seen made by a modern CEO. No sense of spin. Always a pleasure to read.

Really? All of that wordsmithing is saying how he is technically defaulting on the loan from U.S. taxpayers. The loan is now "repay us someday, if you have the cash". Total spin.

Re: An Update from Elon Musk

#68
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stock options plan would be another thing to look at a bit more closely.

Agreed, with their disappointing stock performance from the beginning of the year on, stock options would definitely be one thing to really examine and determine if they would be worth anything at all.

Really? That's the direction you took? You realize what Tesla is doing is going to destroy the oil economy - dependency on oil for cars - and practically eliminate the need to pay for re-fueling your car once you own it? Or is it that you just don't believe it?

Re: An Update from Elon Musk

#69

Musk's public statements are the nicest and most logical ones I've seen made by a modern CEO. No sense of spin. Always a pleasure to read.

> No sense of spin.

What?! FTA: we expect Tesla to become cash flow positive at the end of next month.

However, given that we do have a global supply chain and that floods, fires, hurricanes or earthquakes can cause supply chain interruptions and halt production, we thought it would make sense to raise capital to protect against such an event.

Translation: "So we expect to be cash-flow positive, we won't spend the money that we raised, but we'd thought we'd go ahead and dilute the shareholders, you know, just for insurance."

I believe actions not words. The actions are: He raised money and diluted. You don't do that when you are flush with cash.

Re: An Update from Elon Musk

#70
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed, with their disappointing stock performance from the beginning of the year on, stock options would definitely be one thing to really examine and determine if they would be worth anything at all.

Really? That's the direction you took? You realize what Tesla is doing is going to destroy the oil economy - dependency on oil for cars - and practically eliminate the need to pay for re-fueling your car once you own it? Or is it that you just don't believe it?

loceng your comment falls directly into the "Drinking the Kool Aid" bucket. If Tesla was such a sure thing then their stock price would reflect that. It doesn't because people who assess it still see a lot of risk to go along with a lot of upside. So it's fair to ask "If you're taking a reduced salary in exchange for stock options how likely is it that you'll be rewarded?" Right now the jury is out. It's important to remember that Tesla has no real competition to their core market right now. Mid to High end electric cars. Once they prove out the concept they'll face stiffer competition. I do hope they'll succeed and think Musk is one of the greatest visionaries and innovators of our time. That doesn't mean you don't get to ask hard questions around execution and competition.

As to the OP and original thread I think the question would be "Do a Google search on your four or five favorite startups/companies around "X working environment" Does Tesla feel disproportionately represented by negative comments or inline with the others relative to age and size. EVERY hard charging company has disgruntled folks. It's a question of proportionality I think.

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