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I worked for Elon Musk in the early days of SpaceX

businessinsider.com

101–107 of 107 posts

Re: I worked for Elon Musk in the early days of SpaceX

#102

Sounds like Bill Gates. He yelled and bullied people to get what he wanted (and he has admitted it). Steve Jobs was also part of this club, more or less. There is no denying this type of uncivilized abusive leadership works sometimes. It drives off people not suited to it, but results speak for themselves. Complete opposite approaches work also. I think it's tied to leaders personality. Asshole can't succeed with nic…

Which successful leaders used the opposite approach ? genuinely curious.

Warren Buffett !

He's mostly an investor, but sometimes he gets involved in the companies - and sometimes he puts his reputation on the line - cf this quote from the time he became the largest Salomon shareholder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u7-UNSkr4o

Re: I worked for Elon Musk in the early days of SpaceX

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It probably makes sense not to work for someone who can destroy your life and is inclined to do so on a whim. The calculus in dealing with those people is apparently different than just about anyone else you'll encounter in life.

God help us if he colonizes mars and has total control of air water and heat. He won’t stop at baselessly accusing you of terrible crimes. (Which by the way he has yet to apologize for, meaning he’s not sorry and he’ll make no effort to stop) At a certain point we need to agree that his bad behavior is not worth the vision. I would never willing put myself at his mercy. Too bad he’s now in charge of defining free spe…

> God help us if he colonizes mars and has total control of air water and heat.

We've already seen this play out in the movie Total Recall: https://youtu.be/X8lT-Sn-HqE

Re: I worked for Elon Musk in the early days of SpaceX

#104

This article reads like an abused partner defending their abuser. This kind of double-sidedness is extremely common in abusive relationships, in large part because it's a really effective method of exerting control over someone while encouraging them to blame themselves for being abused. > If there are employees not aligned with that vision, he will chew them out and he will do it in a vicious way, which is his right…

> This article reads like an abused partner defending their abuser. You should read a few stories about working for Steve Jobs (or head to YouTube and watch interviews). This article is extremely mild, in comparison.

I feel the same way about accounts of working with most (if not all) modern arch-capitalists, trust me.

Re: I worked for Elon Musk in the early days of SpaceX

#105

I agree with the author that there is a good Elon and a bad Elon. But I think Twitter only gets the bad Elon. At Tesla, Elon is producing EVs to help save the planet. At SpaceX, he is producing spacecraft to help save humanity. At Twitter, he is making the world a better place for unfounded conspiracy theories and Russian talking points, which he himself promotes. In the last month, Elon has claimed on Twitter that 1…

I don’t buy the premise: it’s not clear to me how prolonging our dependence on personal cars saves the planet, or how anything about space exploration is going to save the billions of humans who live on Earth. It’s very easy to confuse objects of technical fascination with moral virtue, particularly when our world appears bleak. But Musk has demonstrated no motives other than profit and infamy.

I think that making humanity a multi-planetary species, by definition, derisks the possibility that humanity will die out, especially if the extra-terrestrial colonies are self-sufficient. I actually don't see how you can logically dispute that. I find Elon's drive to make us multi-planetary totally respectable, and a logical action based on the nuclear and climatic risks we face on Earth.

Making cars electric means that we could swap in an alternative form of fuel, like nuclear, without breaking an economy and society that depends on driving.

I think Musk has demonstrated mixed motives, and in that, he resembles most people. His political and geopolitical opinions are regrettable, and if we wants to operate a large social media platform and appease advertisers of many stripes, he should probably shut up. But I doubt he has the humility or self-awareness to do that.

Re: I worked for Elon Musk in the early days of SpaceX

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. We're talking about a guy who publicly falsely accused a guy he was jealous of of being a pedo without evidence. Just imagine what he would do if he could get away with it without backlash I wouldn't want to gez on his bad side because I think he has the power and pettiness to ruin my life

You don’t have to imagine: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2019-03-13/when-elon...

This article gets more terrifying the more you read

Re: I worked for Elon Musk in the early days of SpaceX

#107
post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not work for Elon now then?

I've got young children and am not willing to move (for any amount of money). If he'll let me work remote, then I'm down!

I don't like toxic people. And I wouldn't work for them for any amount of money.
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