Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far • Hacker News Board

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#211

Post by stefan_ » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:10 PM UTC

danjoredd wrote: post #142

Animats wrote: post #129

OK, so far, not much. Musk is getting stretched rather thin. Space-X seems to be doing OK with Gwynne Shotwell running things. Tesla, which Musk apparently does really run personally, is doing OK, but their side ventures are not. Self-driving is a mess. Solar panels (yes, Tesla has a solar panel business) are not doing well. The Cybertruck is years late. (Maybe next year.[1]) So is the Tesla Model 2, the low-end vehi…

The problem with Musk's solar panel business is that it is more expensive and less effective than normal solar panels. They look nicer than normal panels, but to thrive off of solar you need as much efficiency as possible. Tesla panels don't provide that especially for the cost.

The problems with the solar panel business probably start with it not being Musks to begin with, rather it was his cousins failing business that he bailed out against Teslas better interests.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#212

Post by megaman821 » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:10 PM UTC

WaxProlix wrote: post #153

Animats wrote: post #129

OK, so far, not much. Musk is getting stretched rather thin. Space-X seems to be doing OK with Gwynne Shotwell running things. Tesla, which Musk apparently does really run personally, is doing OK, but their side ventures are not. Self-driving is a mess. Solar panels (yes, Tesla has a solar panel business) are not doing well. The Cybertruck is years late. (Maybe next year.[1]) So is the Tesla Model 2, the low-end vehi…

The cars and panels aren't looking great, but Tesla battery business is good for now though, I think.

The profit margin on cars looks good. If the 3 and Y cost around $35k and $40k to Tesla, they have a lot of room to respond to competitive pressures.

I think Tesla's battery moves are spot on. Investing in extraction, processing, refining, and manufacturing is going to pay off big time in the future.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#213

Post by pmoriarty » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:11 PM UTC

phailhaus wrote: post #132

sevenf0ur wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe if they go private they can work on user focused stuff. I'd like to be able to use the site again without being forced to sign in.

Due to the loans Elon had to take out, Twitter now has to make interest payments of over one billion dollars a year . Expect more features that try to wring every cent out of the userbase.

Twitter may become the official platform for communicating to/from Musk's planned Mars missions.

There's a lot of monetezation potential right there, as Earthlings tune in to follow every tweet from future Martians.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#214

Post by amazing_rae_123 » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:11 PM UTC

davidw wrote: post #11

I think the thing to watch will be ads and other revenue streams. Most companies aren't going to want their ads next to 'free for all' content, so we'll see what happens.

> Most companies aren't going to want their ads next to 'free for all' content, so we'll see what happens.

This is a misconception.

Outsiders don't know anything about ads.

Twitter needs to be more useful, especially to iOS users. It users outside of major US metros. It needs older users.

It will need better targeting and science.

Then it will increase ad revenue.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#215

Post by c7b » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:11 PM UTC

wccrawford wrote: post #188

danjoredd wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with Musk's solar panel business is that it is more expensive and less effective than normal solar panels. They look nicer than normal panels, but to thrive off of solar you need as much efficiency as possible. Tesla panels don't provide that especially for the cost.

The problem I hear with their solar panel business is customer service. A friend of ours had their panels installed for months but couldn't get Tesla to actually turn them on. We went with a local company and it it took a couple weeks longer to install than estimated and they were turned on immediately after install. The power company has even changed out the meter now, so we're fully installed and done.

How do you turn solar panels on (or off)? I thought they just generate energy whenever light shines on them - if you don't take it out as electricity, they'll just heat up instead. Is that what you meant?

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#216

Post by HillRat » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:11 PM UTC

Animats wrote: post #129

OK, so far, not much. Musk is getting stretched rather thin. Space-X seems to be doing OK with Gwynne Shotwell running things. Tesla, which Musk apparently does really run personally, is doing OK, but their side ventures are not. Self-driving is a mess. Solar panels (yes, Tesla has a solar panel business) are not doing well. The Cybertruck is years late. (Maybe next year.[1]) So is the Tesla Model 2, the low-end vehi…

Twitter is also a risk, not just a distraction; now foreign governments can demand access and control in Twitter by holding Tesla revenue hostage (e.g., China's approval or disapproval of Tesla purchase tax exemptions), so he's basically paid a lot of cash to give bad actors additional levers to affect his other businesses.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#217

Post by concinds » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:11 PM UTC

chamakits wrote: post #161

I understand that he has been publicly combative with all the executives; but is it a practical to fire all those key executives right away? Specially, do they not contain any specifically useful knowledge or experience that you should make an attempt at creating a collaborative transition? Is this how these kinds of acquisitions of public companies happen? Isn’t this effectively freezing all significant activities f…

It's pretty common for the CEO, CFO and general counsel to be dismissed after acquisitions in circumstances (like here) where the acquisition is a disavowal of their vision and leadership. Keep in mind there are far more executives than these three.

It's less likely to happen for well-run, profitable companies that are just being acquired for talent or synergy reasons.

The size of the acquired and acquiring firms, and the type of acquisition, also plays a part; if Apple buys a startup, they might want to subsume them immediately into existing projects, so they'd likely fire the CEO CFO and GC; but if Google buys Nest or Fitbit (which serve different markets than Google, and are minor hobbies that shouldn't detract from Google's organizational priorities) they're more likely to keep the entire team intact (unless they willingly exit; that's another scenario).

He still communicates regularly with Jack Dorsey, so I doubt there's much knowledge and experience being lost.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#218

Post by yamtaddle » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:12 PM UTC

jshier wrote: post #109

hn8305823 wrote: post #69

He literally said it will not be a free for all. He may be chaotic, but he's not stupid. There is a huge difference between no moderation (anarchy), and not targeting conservative voices solely based on ideology.

No one has been targeted on Twitter solely for being conservative.

As captured pretty well in the classic fake meme-exchange that goes something like:

"I was cancelled from Twitter for posting about my conservative views!"

"Oh no, you were cancelled for posting about restrained fiscal policy?"

"LOL no, not that."

"Free trade?"

"Not even close."

"Well... what conservative views are you talking about?"

"Oh, you know the ones" wink

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#219

Post by e40 » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:12 PM UTC

nightski wrote: post #130

We can argue about free speech & all that jazz to no end. But at the end of the day it's as simple as not banning elected officials. I don't care how divisive they are, we need to know what they say and do. These are people chosen by the people whether you love or hate them. Secondly, I just visited Twitter today and at the top it has statements about false accusations and fact checking prominently displayed. I follo…

Are you also for allowing elected officials to shout "fire!" in a theatre when there is no fire? What if someone dies in the rush to the exit, when there was no fire?

People have already died because of lies being spread. People's lives have been ruined. It's only going to get worse, especially if the election deniers get voted in en masse in Nov.

Re: Elon Musk owns Twitter: The story so far

#220

Post by koolba » Fri, Oct 28, 2022, 7:12 PM UTC

bbreier wrote: post #125

hn8305823 wrote: post #69

He literally said it will not be a free for all. He may be chaotic, but he's not stupid. There is a huge difference between no moderation (anarchy), and not targeting conservative voices solely based on ideology.

I'd love to see some clear examples of conservative voices being targeted solely based on ideology, cause I don't think they exist. The replies so far seem to just confirm my point. Doesn't seem like any of them were banned "solely based on ideology" at all. Come on y'all, show me one example where someone was banned for asking for lower taxes!

The entire Hunter Biden laptop saga isn’t enough for you?

Days before a national election they deliberately censored a story pertaining to corruption of one of the candidates, censored anyone that shared the story, and censored anyone that mentioned the censoring of the story.