Ask HN: What gives Elon Musk's companies their edge? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What gives Elon Musk's companies their edge?

Something I learned over time is to judge people by the results they bring, not my personal feelings and whether I like them. As a consequence I've had to concede the fact that Elon Musk possesses a "key" to managing tech companies that routinely puts him far above the norm despite his many detractors.

His track record in terms of reliability, range and magnitude of success is unprecedented and signals that despite all his apparent personal faults he possesses a skill, sensitivity or decision making capability that puts him ahead of thousands of other very smart, hardworking people.

Does anyone have any insight, based on what they've read, seen or know about working at his companies that provides an explanation for this?

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It's really easy to promise things you have no intent of doing, raising capital, and then liquidating the shares you own at inflated value to sponsor even more insane moonshot ideas. If you're smart you can even shoehorn in a few government subsidies predicated on a product category you abandoned behind closed doors.

Between FSD, the $25,000 EV and uh... X, I'm getting pretty convinced that publicly recognized success isn't the goal anymore.

If it were so easy then why doesn't every billionaire/CEO do it? Elon's companies are vastly outcompeting in their specific domains (Tesla for electric cars, SpaceX for space, satellite internet), despite the many failures on the way.

it is also not easy to become POTUS but someone like Donald pulled it off twice :)

Are they? I don’t think there is any evidence of that.

https://companiesmarketcap.com/automakers/largest-automakers...

When looking at revenue there is no magic there for any of these companies. It’s just about fundraising.

It can't be that hard, Theranos and Enron figured it out too.

In the past, I've met people who are driven by results but don't always consider the feelings of others. They expect tasks to be completed without thinking about how the process affects those involved. I believe this mindset has contributed to Musk's success; he expects both himself and those around him to fulfill their assigned roles. If someone doesn't thrive in that competitive environment, they'll likely leave. Musk seems to attract individuals who are ready for this level of intensity. After all, he doesn't do all the work himself; thousands of people working under him carry out the tasks. He's simply an effective leader. Many may dislike his style, but evidently, those who work for him do not.

Additionally, his control over social media has significantly contributed to his ability to attract substantial capital. With this capital, he can pursue various initiatives. He has a knack for crafting a compelling story that encourages people to invest in his company in both time and money.

Based entirely on observations from public sources, I think Elon is first and foremost a superb salesman. Beginning with his move from South Africa, to Canada and thence USA is the beginning of his process of incrementally hustling to the next best thing. It is how he parlays his wins from one investment into the next.

Far less attention is given to the fact that he must be hiring lots of extremely talented people and motivating them to deliver above average outcomes. As a stereotypical manager of managers he bestows upon himself all the credit in public. Thus further enhancing his reputation.

His private life is further proof of his complete disregard for norms and conventions. Elon shows a cavalier disregard of public institutions, e.g. SEC, yet manages to avail his companies to billions in government subsidies.

Long story deleted. He runs things like a Bond villain.

If you want some granularity in that: risk taking, going against the grain, breaking rules, drive, grandiosity, good physics skills and poor people skills (lack of empathy). I read somewhere that the laws of physics constrain his engineering companies, whereas absolutely nothing constrains the "social" business, though the section 230 free ride may be grinding to a halt.

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/judges-rule-big-techs-fre...

He seems to combine a number of skills. Everyone seems to agree he's a good salesman and fundraiser. And he hires good people. But contrary to many peoples view I think he's a good manager and engineer. You can see him on video here talking about getting Starship done and judge for yourself https://youtu.be/cIQ36Kt7UVg?t=61

Lies, Lies, Lies, and then some more Lies

You really have to overlook a lot of lies, broken promises, hype, fluff, ignoring and breaking laws, taking credit for the work of others, and what looks like fraud, intimidation, and bribery.

https://elonmusk.today/

Sadly, Musk-style “decision making capability” works as long as the right people profit from it. Sociopathic personalities too often succeed, because they don’t care about other people and think the rules don’t apply to them. I don’t think we should admire or emulate those people.

Musk has cleverly learned how to extract handouts from the government while criticizing government handouts, and how to focus attention away from his trail of failures by promising something even more distracting next year.

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