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.…
An Update from Elon Musk
71–80 of 119 posts
Re: An Update from Elon Musk
#72Earlier 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?
Calm down:)
All I was responding to was a couple of comments about working for below average wages, bad work environment and the performance of Tesla's stock, which has been a bit disappointing over the past year.
I do think that Tesla will become profitable, but I don't' think for a second that it will "destroy the oil economy".
And consider for a second this statement: > "practically eliminate the need to pay for re-fueling your car"
I don't' think Tesla has any such goal, as far as I know they still require you to refuel your car by plugging it into an electricity source. Electricity is literally the new fuel source.
How are you imagining that this is going away? Or are you using fuel in a narrow manner to refer to only oil based fuel?
Re: An Update from Elon Musk
#73I'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 have a bunch of friends who work at Tesla. They do work hard, one of whom works waaaaay too hard, but it's meaningful work. They're changing the world. It's a similar feeling I get from people I know who work at Apple.
Re: An Update from Elon Musk
#74I'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 guessing, but the culture clash might come from an intersection of "car factory" meets "startup mindset", with the latter introducing an against-all-odds urgency. If you want to put a rocket in space or create the first viable electric car company, you probably can't initially go home at 5pm. You're probably less forgiving of those that can't keep up with the insane pace. Here's hoping it calms down, and that the…
In startup environments crunch time has a nasty tendency of becoming normal time, and you get nosediving morale, massively increased attrition, and lower overall productivity. It's lose-lose all around.
So sure, in a startup you'd expect some late nights. When late nights become the norm though, you are now officially in dysfunctional company territory - don't let naive founders with rainbows and unicorns in their eyes convince you otherwise. Very sick of this Valley attitude that you must push yourself to the very edge of death-by-exhaustion to achieve anything worthwhile.
Re: An Update from Elon Musk
#75I wonder how this will play out politically, especially if Tesla gets into trouble financially. That story is already being spun.
Re: An Update from Elon Musk
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wish we could buy stock in Elon directly which would translate into a spread between all his ventures.
It's always possible to create an index fund portfolio.
Re: An Update from Elon Musk
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
> 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? Calm down:) All I was responding to was a couple of comments about working for below average wages, bad work environment and the performance of Tesla's stoc…
Re: An Update from Elon Musk
#78Earlier 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.
Re: An Update from Elon Musk
#79What a timing - "Romney Calls Tesla a ‘Loser’" in first debate: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/10/romney-tesla-loser/
That makes me think that the DOE wanting to accelerate the loan repayments was a purely political decision. Wasting money on Solyndra in this economy makes Obama vulnerable - using Telsa as a success story would go far to mitigate that, and news of accelerated loan payments is soundbite-y enough for that purpose.
Re: An Update from Elon Musk
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm guessing, but the culture clash might come from an intersection of "car factory" meets "startup mindset", with the latter introducing an against-all-odds urgency. If you want to put a rocket in space or create the first viable electric car company, you probably can't initially go home at 5pm. You're probably less forgiving of those that can't keep up with the insane pace. Here's hoping it calms down, and that the…
Hogwash. If you can't do something at a sustainable pace, you can't do it at all. In startup environments crunch time has a nasty tendency of becoming normal time, and you get nosediving morale, massively increased attrition, and lower overall productivity. It's lose-lose all around. So sure, in a startup you'd expect some late nights. When late nights become the norm though, you are now officially in dysfunctional c…
Companies are founded on the time and passion of their earliest members.
Obviously burnout is a problem from day one, and the trick to building a company for the long haul is to move from zero to a monetarily sustainable enterprise while at the same time moving from insane hours to viable ones, and to do it fast enough that you don’t burnout the whole company before you get there. It’s not an easy trick.