And because this is effectively a monarchy and the product is somewhere between a stadium and a royal court rather than a public square, there will be no tribunes or other real public representatives. The council he’s announced is similar to Meta’s or like NYT’s “public editor”
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I’ve been a pretty staunch Tesla and SpaceX admirer and remain so. Still hold $tsla (my best performing individual stock) and would buy spacex tomorrow if it went public. His leadership style plus initial conditions plus tailwinds work for those businesses.
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Sadly the twitter situation does not inspire confidence. It’s bleak af whether I look at it as a stockholder (I hold some $twtr too, and on net my Elon portfolio is down significantly since this misadventure began so I’m already losing) or a heavy user (already uglier)
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I briefly (couple of years) consulted for a senior Tesla exec (not Elon) so had a ringside view of both strengths and weaknesses. Contrary to what detractors think, there’s a there there. A real and opinionated management playbook that works under non-trivial conditions.
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Unlike Trump, who he bears more than a passing resemblance to, Elon’s businesses are not bullshit exercises in charismatic branding and litigation. There’s engineering and managerial substance. A way that not only works but works better than average tech management playbooks.
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But I’ve also observed enough managerial cultures close up to have some confidence in my sense of where particular playbooks fit or don’t. Half my shtick as a management consultant is stealing practices from one company to recommend to another. Tesla playbook doesn’t fit Twitter.
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As an aside, having also consulted for Amazon, Elon’s nemesis biz, I have to say… I tend to recommend Amazon ideas a bit more than Tesla ideas, but the 2 together are like 75% of my material… both are what I call 4th Gen mgmt, most of the economy is 3rd.
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I wouldn’t recommend the Tesla playbook for twitter even under the *most auspicious* initial conditions, let alone this politicized, toxic, litigious shitshow.
So what *would* I recommend? To say a non-hostile Elon regime or a different new leader?
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I have held, since won’t, that Twitter is in fact “too big to nail.” It’s a far faster opportunity space than most businesses which is why all previous leaders have struggled. It looks deceptively simple.
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