``When working with Elon Mask, it is necessary to be prepared that there are two good Elon Masks and bad Elon Masks,'' former SpaceX engineer advises
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Earon Mask, a businessman who has become a hot topic by acquiring Twitter and becoming CEO and taking measures to lay off 50% of employees, is also the co-founder and CEO of space company SpaceX. Jim Cantrell, an engineer who worked at SpaceX immediately after its establishment, talks about Mr. Mask's personality.
I worked for Elon Musk in the early days of SpaceX | Hacker News
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33475301
Mr. Cantrell said that he was a member of the space engineering team at Utah State University before SpaceX was established. Mr. Mask seems to have wanted to purchase a Russian-made rocket at the time, and he seems to have set up a single arrow for Mr. Cantrell, who had connections with Russian space business officials. Mr. Mask said, ``I want to prove that I am an Internet billionaire and that humans are a race that can live on other planets,'' he explained to Mr. Cantrell on the scout's phone.
According to Cantrell, Mr. Mask, who was still in his late 20s, was badly dressed and quite clumsy. For that reason, even from an American perspective, it seems that he only looked like a ``rich child who wants to get into space''.
However, Mr. Mask said that he was very smart and decisive. When Mr. Cantrell flew with Mr. Musk, Mr. Musk said, ``I think we can build a rocket ourselves,'' a spread describing plans to build Falcon 1, which would later become SpaceX's first rocket. He said he showed me the sheet. That spreadsheet was also co-created by co-founders and aerospace engineers Tom Muller and Chris Thompson.
For Cantrell, who was fed up with the inefficiencies he was working with the U.S. government, the spreadsheet was very exciting. There, Mr. Cantrell participated in the founding of SpaceX and served as Vice President of Business Development from December 2001 to September 2002. About this period of less than a year, Mr. Cantrell said, 'Mr. Mask and I collided too much. He yelled at me many times.' I also felt like I was being yelled at, so I quit because I didn't have to pay to be yelled at.'
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Mr. Cantrell said, 'Working with Mr. Mask was like working with two people,' good Elon mask 'and' bad Elon mask '.'
'Good Elon Mask' is a very interesting and attractive person, and he can participate in the big ideas that will be shown one after another. On the other hand, ``bad Elon Musk'' was a person who was always irritated and yelling, and nothing could satisfy ``bad Elon Mask,'' Cantrell said. For example, when Mr. Cantrell was enrolled at SpaceX, Mr. Mask said that he had received a call at 3 am saying, 'Please tell me where you are because you are in the company.' When Mr. Cantrell replied, ``I just slept three hours ago, I need to sleep more,'' Mr. Mask said, ``I have a job, so come right away.''
'Mr. Musk doesn't tell others to do what he doesn't do, but it's not normal to do this. I think the same thing will happen on Twitter. Mr. Musk has a strong will. So I think it makes Twitter more productive,' Cantrell said.
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Mr. Cantrell cites ``always having some kind of vision'' as a further feature of Mr. Mask. For example, SpaceX has a vision of 'sending people to Mars,' but Mr. Mask expected his employees to have exactly the same vision. However, although Mr. Mask always has a clear vision in his head, it seems that there were problems that were not clearly communicated to employees and could not be shared.
For example, when Mr. Cantrell designed a fuel tank for a rocket, he estimated the budget on the assumption that it would be manufactured by their company. However, Mr. Mask who saw the estimate yelled at Mr. Cantrell that the budget was too high. After that, Mr. Cantrell was asked to conduct research by visiting tanks for trucks and local steel mills to see if the production of tanks could be outsourced. ``Mr. Musk didn't trust my judgment, but he knew there were other ways to approach tank manufacturing than home-made,'' Cantrell said.
by Daniel Oberhaus
``Twitter employees have to decide whether their vision is 100% consistent with Mr. Musk's vision,'' Cantrell said. If you agree with Mr. Musk's vision and are used to bosses who are very strict with their time and thoughts, that's very bad. It will be fun,” he said.
Cantrell added, ``It's very exciting to be a part of Mr. Musk's vision. I saw a picture of him around a coffee bar at headquarters, and that's what he did back then, this is 'good Elon Musk' and the speeches he gives help him keep his job. On the other hand, the 'bad Elon Musk' who fired all the executives is very bad and there is a good chance that Mr. Mask will show that side.'
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