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dub | 3 years ago

Class A players don't work for controlling managers who overload them with near impossible targets. Class A players have plenty of options in tech, and have no need to tolerate having their skills called into question or disrespected by pointy-haired middle managers.

When Bill Coughran was asked how he was able to successfully manage so many famously high performers (engineers like Jeff Dean), Bill explained how that caliber of engineer tends to have strong opinions and you basically have to build a whole team around them and give them the freedom to do their thing.

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fleddr|3 years ago

You're wrong.

This is exactly how he runs things at Tesla and SpaceX. Class A players are well compensated and love working on challenges that are extreme and/or world relevant. They live and breath what they do.

If you're that type of player, Musk will respect you and your opinion.

bastardoperator|3 years ago

Everyone I know that worked at SpaceX left due to substandard compensation. I don't think it's a secret that you work at SpaceX for "the mission" versus "the money".

haliskerbas|3 years ago

And all of my talented Stanford/MIT/FAANG/whatever pedigree friends quit Musk companies or would never touch one of his companies. I wonder why.

cbsks|3 years ago

That’s true, but does working for Twitter inspire employees the same way that Tesla and SpaceX do? The koolaid goes down easy if you are working on cutting edge problems like self driving cars and rockets. A social media (i.e. advertising) company doesn’t do the same for me.

sassy_quat|3 years ago

Astronauts and physicists are separate categories of human. Obviously those who thrive on danger and those who thrive on puzzles are different. Though, it could be risky to present such an upfront contradiction to someone with an established worldview.

mumblemumble|3 years ago

> Class A players are well compensated and love working on challenges that are extreme and/or world relevant.

I wouldn't exactly call an aging social media company from the 2010s "extreme and/or world relevant."

People still dream about spaceflight. It's something you can work on that feels like it matters. Skimming ad revenue off of millions of humans collectively trolling each other 280 characters at a time just doesn't capture the imagination in quite the same way, y'know?

enneff|3 years ago

Except Tesla and SpaceX operate in industries where there aren’t a lot of options for people who are passionate about those kinds of technologies. There are tons of tech companies they support strong engineers. Why would you want to work for an abusive boss if you don’t have to?

Eisenstein|3 years ago

Do you know anyone who has worked for a Musk company, or are you just imagining what it is like?

tomohawk|3 years ago

Class A players especially don't like working with slackers and non-performers. If Elon cracks the whip and gets the bozos out of the performers way, they'll love him for it.