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Two Tesla Production Chiefs to Leave Ahead of Model 3 Ramp-Up

bloomberg.com

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Re: Two Tesla Production Chiefs to Leave Ahead of Model 3 Ramp-Up

#31

Post by kirrent »

blackguardx wrote: post #26
chollida1 wrote: post #6

Interesting timing for this as they report earnings tonight. They also announced that they've leased 2 buildings near Livermore that give them almost 1,000,000 square feet of space. There is alot of speculation on CNBC that these announcements were made early to help direct the investors call as TSLA is widely expect to report poor earnings this quarter due to Model X delays. Tesla's Powerwall is also starting to be…

I thought the consensus was that the Powerwall was to soak up some capacity at their upcoming plant and get their per unit costs down.

I seem to remember reading that the powerwall is specced to use the batteries removed from Tesla cars once they've reached something like 70% of original capacity. Reuse is cheaper than recycling.

Re: Two Tesla Production Chiefs to Leave Ahead of Model 3 Ramp-Up

#32

Post by j2bax »

rm999 wrote: post #20
jernfrost wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just don't get how you can be successful doing stuff that way. People with that little sleep are not going to function optimal. They are going to make mistakes. But both Tesla and SpaceX seems very successful so I wonder if they are successful despite of this or because of this.

I think it requires strong, perfectionist, top-down leadership. See for example Steve Jobs or James Cameron. They aren't the most popular bosses, but they create amazing things by working their people hard and watching everything very closely.

Additionally, they are incredibly driven and hard working themselves. They expect the same from everyone below them.

Re: Two Tesla Production Chiefs to Leave Ahead of Model 3 Ramp-Up

#33

Post by Joky »

jernfrost wrote: post #14
TaylorGood wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will say this: I met a director from Tesla just after their unveiling of the Model X. She said a small number of people were assigned to fully assemble / prep each vehicle shown that night.. for roughly two weeks they worked 20 hour shifts and slept 2 hours each night. Most teams were working on them right up until the cars rolled on stage; there was still wet paint on one. Also, it was said a "normal" workweek of 16…

I just don't get how you can be successful doing stuff that way. People with that little sleep are not going to function optimal. They are going to make mistakes. But both Tesla and SpaceX seems very successful so I wonder if they are successful despite of this or because of this.

What is "that little sleep"? 16 hours a day leaves 8 hours a day, you can easily fit 6 hours of sleep there.

Re: Two Tesla Production Chiefs to Leave Ahead of Model 3 Ramp-Up

#34

Post by j2bax »

vinhboy wrote: post #11
TaylorGood wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will say this: I met a director from Tesla just after their unveiling of the Model X. She said a small number of people were assigned to fully assemble / prep each vehicle shown that night.. for roughly two weeks they worked 20 hour shifts and slept 2 hours each night. Most teams were working on them right up until the cars rolled on stage; there was still wet paint on one. Also, it was said a "normal" workweek of 16…

I hear people tell stories like this about successful companies all the time. If this is really how the game is played. I quit.

I think success, even greatness is possible with a more manageable work/life/sleep balance. It's just far slower and more expensive. SpaceX and Tesla are brute forcing greatness at the expense of a few people that are also impatient for change/success. If they are on-board with the mission, they are probably okay with it until they get their gold and can rest (if they last that long).

Re: Two Tesla Production Chiefs to Leave Ahead of Model 3 Ramp-Up

#35

Post by ams6110 »

gist wrote: post #25
dang wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment breaks the HN guidelines, which ask you not to call names in comments. We also ask people not to post drive-by dismissals. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html

What would be nice is if you could issue some guidelines on downvoting.

What would be the point? Who would enforce them?

Re: Two Tesla Production Chiefs to Leave Ahead of Model 3 Ramp-Up

#36

Post by luckydata »

TaylorGood wrote: post #8
vessenes wrote: post #4

Who knows the real story here, but I can imagine once your stock options vest, financial prudence and personal sanity don't really point to doing the next big ramp-up at Tesla. You're heavily recruitable for large swaths of stock at any number of startups, presumably with a status bump on top, or you could just take your well earned millions and chill for a bit. Whoever is running the Model 3 delivery program is goin…

Will say this: I met a director from Tesla just after their unveiling of the Model X. She said a small number of people were assigned to fully assemble / prep each vehicle shown that night.. for roughly two weeks they worked 20 hour shifts and slept 2 hours each night. Most teams were working on them right up until the cars rolled on stage; there was still wet paint on one. Also, it was said a "normal" workweek of 16…

Tesla goes from one firefighting to another, it's a place that while growing is not "growing up". End of quarter are always nuts, people are asked to perform miracles and of course quality suffers when everything is a fire. They had some serious rethinking of how the organization works lately so a bunch of people that had a lot of power ended up with considerably less of it, and some new faces are ascending rapidly.

Re: Two Tesla Production Chiefs to Leave Ahead of Model 3 Ramp-Up

#37

Post by luckydata »

chollida1 wrote: post #6

Interesting timing for this as they report earnings tonight. They also announced that they've leased 2 buildings near Livermore that give them almost 1,000,000 square feet of space. There is alot of speculation on CNBC that these announcements were made early to help direct the investors call as TSLA is widely expect to report poor earnings this quarter due to Model X delays. Tesla's Powerwall is also starting to be…

The new buildings are because the factory is running out of space for office workers - there's quite a few there and now they are pretty crammed and in places where ventilation and other "amenities" are not readily available.

Re: Two Tesla Production Chiefs to Leave Ahead of Model 3 Ramp-Up

#38

Post by toomuchtodo »

luckydata wrote: post #36
TaylorGood wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will say this: I met a director from Tesla just after their unveiling of the Model X. She said a small number of people were assigned to fully assemble / prep each vehicle shown that night.. for roughly two weeks they worked 20 hour shifts and slept 2 hours each night. Most teams were working on them right up until the cars rolled on stage; there was still wet paint on one. Also, it was said a "normal" workweek of 16…

Tesla goes from one firefighting to another, it's a place that while growing is not "growing up". End of quarter are always nuts, people are asked to perform miracles and of course quality suffers when everything is a fire. They had some serious rethinking of how the organization works lately so a bunch of people that had a lot of power ended up with considerably less of it, and some new faces are ascending rapidly.

I agree that the situation isn't ideal, but that's what happens when you attempt to compress 100 years of corporate growth into 10-15 years.

Re: Two Tesla Production Chiefs to Leave Ahead of Model 3 Ramp-Up

#39

Post by maxander »

runamok wrote: post #21
jernfrost wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just don't get how you can be successful doing stuff that way. People with that little sleep are not going to function optimal. They are going to make mistakes. But both Tesla and SpaceX seems very successful so I wonder if they are successful despite of this or because of this.

Both. They are doing amazing things so they attract awesome people that are dedicated heart and soul. I have a friend who was telling me first hand of their experiences at spaceX and imo it's just a matter of time before some exhausted person makes a mistake and there are huge losses of money and/or life.

Both Tesla and SpaceX have reasonably limited, though dramatic, product failure modes- a car crash or a rocket explosion, respectively. Both have already happened in spades without damaging either's reputation too much. A 1.5x multiplier on engineer hours is worth that kind of risk.

Which is depressing, but it makes sense.

Re: Two Tesla Production Chiefs to Leave Ahead of Model 3 Ramp-Up

#40

Post by bobbles »

jernfrost wrote: post #14
TaylorGood wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will say this: I met a director from Tesla just after their unveiling of the Model X. She said a small number of people were assigned to fully assemble / prep each vehicle shown that night.. for roughly two weeks they worked 20 hour shifts and slept 2 hours each night. Most teams were working on them right up until the cars rolled on stage; there was still wet paint on one. Also, it was said a "normal" workweek of 16…

I just don't get how you can be successful doing stuff that way. People with that little sleep are not going to function optimal. They are going to make mistakes. But both Tesla and SpaceX seems very successful so I wonder if they are successful despite of this or because of this.

Makes me wonder if companies like that would consider giving people 3-6 months break after big projects and get it into the culture of the company that you should make use of it. Instead of jumping ship people would come back feeling refreshed and if they were drawn to the work in the first place feel the need to fill the hole they have
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