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Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

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Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#61

Post by historylurker »

danso wrote: post #28
imdsm wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, he's not entirely wrong. I guess people just don't expect this type of response. But then, acting within the confines of normality isn't really the trait that may bring the dawn of a new era of humanity. Interestingly though, markets are reaction to this response emotionally.

Er, why is asking for something fundamental to running a business (i.e. "How much money do you have/need?") a partly boring/boneheaded/uncool question?

>Er, why is asking for something fundamental to running a business (i.e. "How much money do you have/need?") a partly boring/boneheaded/uncool question?

Some people on HN think Musk is doing us all a favour by allowing us to participate in his projects. Evidence of this is the inevitable, "Elon should take the company private" that seems to surface in these threads. As if going public is a favour from Musk, as opposed to a way to raise capital.

The company is public and the CEO is accountable to the shareholders. Period. The hubris with this company is shocking.

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#62

Post by pvg »

imdsm wrote: post #21
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Sacconaghi pressed ahead with another query about Tesla lowering its 2018 capital expenditure projection to $3 billion, from $3.4 billion. Ahuja said the carmaker would spend less by simplifying its approach to automation and curtailing infrastructure outlays. 'And so where specifically will you be in terms of capital requirements?' Sacconaghi said. 'Excuse me. Next. Next,' Musk said to the call operator. 'Boring, b…

To be fair, he's not entirely wrong. I guess people just don't expect this type of response. But then, acting within the confines of normality isn't really the trait that may bring the dawn of a new era of humanity. Interestingly though, markets are reaction to this response emotionally.

that may bring the dawn of a new era of humanity.

They make cars.

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#63

Post by [deleted] »

slouch wrote: post #41
olivermarks wrote: post #20

Musk sounded exhausted. If Smith & Wesson launched a consumer flamethrower there would be outrage...Musk has been able to distract with lots of shiny objects but the clock is ticking, even amongst his niche fan base...I hope all the people who are working so hard in Musk's various companies come out of this ok...

The Flamethrowers aren't a Tesla fundraiser. He's "getting away with it" because The Boring Company is private.

[deleted]

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#64

Post by agumonkey »

maxsilver wrote: post #52
tensor wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the sake of society, I hope Musk succeeds. We've spent too much time as a culture celebrating fairly useless achievements and being unwilling to dare to do the things that will truly take us forward.

The important part of Musk's plan has already succeeded. He made electric cars cool and competitive. If Tesla folds tomorrow, there will still be a large market for electric cars, and multiple other companies serving that. Depending on your needs, that has arguably already happened. While Tesla is still the "coolest" brand of car, there are better/cheaper electric cars from many non-Tesla companies already widely ava…

If Tesla folds, how much will they be able to refund to customers ? I guess it's probably written on the deposit contract.

Also, I wonder how many would go buy a competitor EV vehicle if their Model 3 doesn't happen. Or will they go ICE ?

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#65

Post by staunch »

Wall Street and their car industry friends want to kill Tesla. They use every opportunity. They probably pay "PR" firms to do anti-Tesla propaganda, judging from the shill YouTube comments I've seen.

None of it matters if Tesla produces products that people love. So far they're doing a great job of that. If they keep up the "pace of innovation" they will succeed, and if they don't, they will fail.

None of this drama will matter in the end. As a Musk fan since before he was cool, this just makes me like him that much more.

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#67

Post by gr3yh47 »

danso wrote: post #8
mephitix wrote: post #5

I was on this call. It was extremely cringey/embarrassing to hear Elon dismiss valid questions. At the same time, it was fantastic to see a young, smart, retail investor (Gali from Hyperchange) get to ask so many questions directly to the leadership team. I thought before the call that Gali would get to ask only one question, like the other analysts. He was able to ask almost 10! It was surreal. I was left feeling th…

Letting one person ask 10 questions means less time for other investors to ask their own individual questions.

To be fair (edit: figuratively, to state a favorable viewpoint on Elon's decisiont to give more time to one person) he was asking excellent/interesting/challenging questions and it was really interesting to me to hear Elon's answers.

I think Elon might have done well to be less brusque with the more run of the mill questions but I really enjoyed listing to the long exchange there

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#68

Post by historylurker »

trophycase wrote: post #46
Semirhage wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then, acting within the confines of normality isn't really the trait that may bring the dawn of a new era of humanity. Truly, this sounds divorced from the reality of anything Elon Musk is involved in. He’s making electric cars, rockets, and solar panels, not fusion power or immortality pills. Let’s be realistic! I think it’s important to separate what he actually does from what you desperately hope he may someda…

If colonizing a new planet isn't a new era of humanity, I'm not sure what is...

>If colonizing a new planet isn't a new era of humanity, I'm not sure what is...

Do you credit Musk with coming up with the idea of getting to Mars?

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#69

Post by cat199 »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #36
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Sacconaghi pressed ahead with another query about Tesla lowering its 2018 capital expenditure projection to $3 billion, from $3.4 billion. Ahuja said the carmaker would spend less by simplifying its approach to automation and curtailing infrastructure outlays. 'And so where specifically will you be in terms of capital requirements?' Sacconaghi said. 'Excuse me. Next. Next,' Musk said to the call operator. 'Boring, b…

I'm not defending Elon's behavior here, but speaking more generally: if you're in a place where you need to maintain maximum productivity for a while, because a deadline has slipped for example, meetings can turn into a massive time sink if you don't act like a total nazi during them. In so many meetings, people just want to hear themselves talk, whether to offer some opinion, reiterate some point, or ask some useles…

see that you are not defending, but this is not a meeting. it is an investor conference call - most if not all of the entire point is to clearly and openly answer their questions about financials...

Re: Tesla Plunges After a Conference Call

#70

Post by pbreit »

kneel wrote: post #47
danso wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Er, why is asking for something fundamental to running a business (i.e. "How much money do you have/need?") a partly boring/boneheaded/uncool question?

Because he's Elon Musk and he doesn't care about investor returns, he wants to build rockets, cars, tunnels, and explore space. No matter what he does he'll more than likely be fine on the money side.

Guy has been instrumental in a couple hundred billion $$ in market value and you’re suggesting he doesn’t care about investor returns? Wow.
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