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Tesla Q1 2020 Update

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Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#341

Post by ericd »

Traster wrote: post #80
xiphias2 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- Will Elon stop with tweets that hurt Tesla? Appoint a CEO, or COO to run things to take pressure of Elon? I have read this from so many people for the last 5 years all the time. Sure, the tweets show that Elon wants faster growth, and frustrated, and I didn't like that tweet either, but if you want a conservative CEO, buy IBM or Oracle stocks, please leave Tesla alone.

You know, there just might be someone somewhere between Elon Musk and the CEO of IBM. And you know, maybe they could do a better job without literally being such a liability they have to write their own insurance contract.

Do you think any Tesla investors actually want some milquetoast professional manager?

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#342

Post by mettamage »

FireBeyond wrote: post #293
mettamage wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know enough about this (how CEOs ought to behave) and I don't know to what extent Elon Musk cares. But I do know what I'd think in his position: I'd care more about freedom of speech. I believe that I should be capable of saying whatever I want (usual restrictions apply, hate speech etc.). Even if that means that I'm tweeting on a social platform about the share price. Twitter is not a platform where official…

> Twitter is not a platform where official stuff should be on. That is what press releases are for. If people believe Twitter, then where should I go (as the new imagined Tesla CEO) to just say whatever the hell I want? It doesn't or didn't have to be. Tesla were the ones who stated in their Annual Reports that they considered Tesla and Elon's Twitters to be official sources for Tesla information. This wasn't forced…

If you're making claims like this where opinions are polarized, then a source would be handy. I could Google, but too lazy (see above), I'll simply assume what you say is correct.

I didn't know this (anyone who assumes I spend a lot of time on reading about Elon is wrong). If he knew this then it was stupid.

If he ought to know this but he didn't, then I get it. Don't get me wrong, that should be reprimanded by the SEC, but I wouldn't call it stupid. It simply means you're (perhaps too) focused on other priorities.

There were many times where I ought to know things about the Dutch law as well and I didn't and I got burned [1]. You can't know everything, I'd rather pay the fine so I can focus my time on more interesting things.

[1]

a) Too late with VAT without having anything too declare.

b) Going on a public road that I wasn't allowed to go in between certain times, I didn't even know it was a thing and I didn't read the signage fast enough. Now I know that municipalities are allowed to block people from other municipalities.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#343

Post by badpun »

wesammikhail wrote: post #265
wilg wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it so much to ask for him to tweet responsibly so we can enjoy the fun future stuff without all the bullshit?

Yes! it´s too much to ask someone who is trying to do non-conformist things to conform. You can´t have your cake and eat it too. Also what you call bullshit is not bullshit to everyone. You don´t like it? dont invest. Leave the rest of us be.

> non-conformist

I'd use the word "immature" instead.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#344

Post by saberience »

Barrin92 wrote: post #251
oska wrote: post #247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What has Elon himself actually done that looks like good management? Plenty. I'm a huge critic of Elon's tweeting on Covid-19 (see elsewhere in this thread) but to argue that Elon is not a good manager of the companies he runs is completely in conflict with reality (the reality of his successfully founding and running two massively successful companies).

>but to argue that Elon is not a good manager of the companies he runs is completely in conflict with reality it's really not because there are plenty of reasons why those companies are successful, none of which can be traced to Elon. If people want to fawn over someone they should pay some respect to Tom Mueller who actually builts the engines that make those rockets fly. Again, if he is such a good manager, which o…

I'm not sure how to explain this to someone who seems outright determined to see Elon through some sort of negative lens, but it's not possible to be a "bad manager" and do what Elon has done.

I'm not sure if you even understand what makes a good manager. Why does Tom Muller work for SpaceX? Did you ever ask that question? Tom Muller was identified by Elon and recruited by Elon.

Great managers understand how to identify and attract talent, they understand who to promote and who to fire, who to listen to etc. If Tesla and SpaceX are doing well (and I'd argue they are both massive successes), then a huge part of that is down to Elon's hiring and people management skills, along with his strategic vision.

If Elon was such a terrible manager, he wouldn't have as talented people working for him. Also, if he was such a bad manager, he wouldn't have hired or found those people in the first place. One of my good friends (an engineer) recently left my previous company to go and work for Tesla, part of the reason he did that was due to Elon Musk. You can choose to dislike him, but people go to his companies often because of Elon himself.

One axiom of successful leadership or management is that the value of any leader is the total cumulative value produced by all the people under them in the leadership hierarchy since they are influencing, directly and indirectly, all of those people. We can rate Elon's success as a manager and leader as extremely high, because SpaceX and Tesla are hugely successful companies.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#345

Post by jillesvangurp »

zaroth wrote: post #53

As an investor, I like the format these results are presented in. The slide deck approach is a lot more approachable than the typical text-only SEC filing. An average investor is much more likely to open this and read it than the typical financial statement. It's not over-the-top marketing agency gloss, but it has some nice touches. Of course, you also get the text-only filing to follow. As far as the key numbers, Te…

Not an investor, but Tesla is looking increasingly like a money printing machine to me with so much untapped potential that they could pivot to in many ways.

The genius of the whole setup is that it's a car company that is basically a battery company but also a power infrastructure company.

IMHO, any battery produced in the next decades will have some way of being sold profitably. It just so happens that cars are a very profitable way to monetize them right now. But there are lots of other places where batteries could be equally useful (which Tesla has been exploring). When EVs commoditize over the next decade, they are ready to start pivoting to other things that will have a similarly insatiable demand for battery. Tesla using the same batteries in cars, semis, and grid storage means that any penny invested in more production capacity for batteries is not lost.

The reason semis are delayed is that they lack production capacity because it's maxed out. They're adding capacity as fast as they can at a jaw dropping pace and it's maxed out. That's not bad news but good news for Tesla.

Solar is a risky but genius move as well. I know they've gotten a lot of criticism for that and the so far underwhelming adoption rate. But it's a smart move if they can get that working. Pairing solar with batteries and car charging options (and maybe car to grid/house) is going to be a killer deal. And that's just the consumer market.

There are a lot of solar panel manufacturers out there but not a lot that are also selling grid storage solutions, mass producing cars, or have experience with building out direct sales to consumer type organizations. Add to that their approach to innovating mass production of batteries, cars, and indeed factories & machines. Tesla does all these things for the very simple reason that the sum of these things is more than the value of them individually. IMHO they'll bang on this until it starts working just right in a couple of years while dropping production cost at a pace that basically very few will be able to match and own the solar market as well.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#346

Post by sjwright »

MPSimmons wrote: post #316
sjwright wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally feel there's a big overlap between Jobs and Musk—but none more so than the fact that they had the key combination of sufficient intelligence, clear vision, high self-confidence and (most importantly) strong influence over corporate direction. One of my favourite Steve Jobs quotes is just after he returned to Apple and began dismantling the massive pile of legacy cruft. When asked about a particular (terr…

I differ, in that I don't think Steve Jobs had a clear vision that he could communicate to others. I think he was very, very gifted as someone who could see the right path forward, and he seemed to execute ruthlessly. The evidence I would put forth is that, in the decade since Steve Jobs died, Apple has added a watch to their lineup, and changed virtually nothing else. Their supply chain efficiencies might be better,…

> I differ, in that I don't think Steve Jobs had a clear vision that he could communicate to others.

I never said he was a good communicator of vision. That said, just because Jobs failed to steer Apple from the grave isn’t evidence of failure on his part. The value of a person like Steve can’t be distilled into reproducible learnings—his value was in his ability to make real time decisions in service of a clear unified vision.

Even if you could find some replacement person who shared his vision, that doesn’t mean you can get everyone to cede to their proclamations like they would have with Steve.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#347

Post by sjwright »

MPSimmons wrote: post #316
sjwright wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally feel there's a big overlap between Jobs and Musk—but none more so than the fact that they had the key combination of sufficient intelligence, clear vision, high self-confidence and (most importantly) strong influence over corporate direction. One of my favourite Steve Jobs quotes is just after he returned to Apple and began dismantling the massive pile of legacy cruft. When asked about a particular (terr…

I differ, in that I don't think Steve Jobs had a clear vision that he could communicate to others. I think he was very, very gifted as someone who could see the right path forward, and he seemed to execute ruthlessly. The evidence I would put forth is that, in the decade since Steve Jobs died, Apple has added a watch to their lineup, and changed virtually nothing else. Their supply chain efficiencies might be better,…

> Elon, on the other hand, has a very clear vision, and it can be communicated in simple statements

That’s only because Elon’s particular house style lends to such vacuous motherhood statements. I have no problem with vacuous motherhood statements, but please recognise that they are fan service, not company vision.

Elon’s style is great for growing a niche fan base. Steve perfected the art of turning niche fan base into mass market appeal.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#348

Post by enitihas »

askafriend wrote: post #321
MPSimmons wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I differ, in that I don't think Steve Jobs had a clear vision that he could communicate to others. I think he was very, very gifted as someone who could see the right path forward, and he seemed to execute ruthlessly. The evidence I would put forth is that, in the decade since Steve Jobs died, Apple has added a watch to their lineup, and changed virtually nothing else. Their supply chain efficiencies might be better,…

> in the decade since Steve Jobs died, Apple has added a watch to their lineup, and changed virtually nothing else The Watch is incredibly popular, AirPods are a runaway hit, the iPad Pro is killing it, the new Mac Pro is awesome, Apple Music took off, Apple Pay/Card is super popular.... I genuinely don't know why you say they haven't done anything. If anything it's incredible that the company manages to stay true to…

People somehow hope that Apple can create an iPhone every 5/10 years, a product whole sales dwarf the revenues of Microsoft+Google taken entirely probably over the last 10 years. Yeah, not gonna happen. The iPhone is the most profitable consumer electronics product of all time maybe. You can't really re create it again and again.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#349

Post by kiba »

matthewbauer wrote: post #281
Melting_Harps wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why do you feel like that is appropriate behavior? Honestly, its a means to an end. He has beceome the defacto person for the EV movement, Mars colonization, and to a degree AI (for good or for bad). many have tried before him, but none had the savvyness or presence that he has. I worked for Kimabl and approached him several times while at work and I can tell you right now, I would never try that with Elon. My frie…

He’s not an epidemiologist. He’s not an engineer. He’s a businessman. And by pissing so many people off, he’s definitely not being a good businessman.

He's definitely an engineer. He's going into his companies' factor floor, making engineering decisions day in and day out. Good or bad, the bucks stopped with him.

Re: Tesla Q1 2020 Update

#350

Post by nullc »

madeofpalk wrote: post #157
microtherion wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very expensive dining choices? How much truffled avocado toast do you have to eat to make a dent in his kind of wealth?

Flying premium cocaine in from wherever would be expensive, I guess. But in all seriousness, lifestyle expenses scale with your income.

> But in all seriousness, lifestyle expenses scale with your income.

If you're foolish.

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