<story><title>Elon Musk, master promoter</title><url>https://keith404.medium.com/elon-musk-the-master-promoter-a-case-study-3b8eae65b8f7</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>tailspin2019</author><text>My cognitive dissonance is strong when it comes to Elon.  I have trouble sometimes reconciling the obvious flaws in his character on the one hand (though none of us are without flaws) and his extraordinary achievements on the other.&lt;p&gt;He can be a bit of a dick, yes.  He exaggerates, yes.&lt;p&gt;He&amp;#x27;s also in my view one of the most talented and inspirational entrepreneurs of our generation.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t see how people can call him an outright fraud with a straight face when you look at what he &lt;i&gt;has&lt;/i&gt; delivered through Tesla and SpaceX.&lt;p&gt;But he seems to elicit strong polarised opinions.  And I get it.  Lot&amp;#x27;s of noise about FSD, his constantly slipping timelines etc.&lt;p&gt;I guess it depends what you choose to focus on.</text></item><item><author>nnamtr</author><text>Is his stuff really that good? I can&amp;#x27;t shake the feeling that he has a strong tendency to exaggerate.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theverge.com&amp;#x2F;2021&amp;#x2F;5&amp;#x2F;7&amp;#x2F;22424592&amp;#x2F;tesla-elon-musk-autopilot-dmv-fsd-exaggeration&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theverge.com&amp;#x2F;2021&amp;#x2F;5&amp;#x2F;7&amp;#x2F;22424592&amp;#x2F;tesla-elon-musk-a...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.forbes.com&amp;#x2F;sites&amp;#x2F;johnbbrandon&amp;#x2F;2021&amp;#x2F;04&amp;#x2F;13&amp;#x2F;elon-musks-the-boring-company-is-starting-to-look-like-a-dumb-idea&amp;#x2F;?sh=2e65b2d17562&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.forbes.com&amp;#x2F;sites&amp;#x2F;johnbbrandon&amp;#x2F;2021&amp;#x2F;04&amp;#x2F;13&amp;#x2F;elon-mu...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>totololo</author><text>I believe this article completely ignores the product side of the story. 
Elon doesn&amp;#x27;t pitch, he builds. His products are significantly better than market alternatives, with a steady momentum of improvement over time.
In the unofficial biography there&amp;#x27;s the story of how Tesla pulled an unlikely funding from Daimler. The Daimler executives visiting Tesla were unimpressed, skeptical and bored to death by the PowerPoints. Then the Tesla team took them for a ride in the electrified Smart they had built in a hurry. All the executives stepped out of it with a smile. The check arrived later. It was about the product, not the &amp;quot;save the earth&amp;quot; narrative.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>6gvONxR4sf7o</author><text>He might be a very effective marketer and manager, but he gets credit for so so much more than that. Like he singlehandedly made electric cars a thing. It&amp;#x27;s the Great Man theory of history.&lt;p&gt;Even then, effective marketing are often lies, so why value effective marketing? Effective management is so often toxic, so why value effective management? As far as I can tell, he&amp;#x27;s full of BS and his employees are treated poorly, so I really don&amp;#x27;t care so much that he&amp;#x27;s first to market.&lt;p&gt;[0] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Great_man_theory&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&amp;#x2F;wiki&amp;#x2F;Great_man_theory&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>Elon Musk, master promoter</title><url>https://keith404.medium.com/elon-musk-the-master-promoter-a-case-study-3b8eae65b8f7</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>tailspin2019</author><text>My cognitive dissonance is strong when it comes to Elon.  I have trouble sometimes reconciling the obvious flaws in his character on the one hand (though none of us are without flaws) and his extraordinary achievements on the other.&lt;p&gt;He can be a bit of a dick, yes.  He exaggerates, yes.&lt;p&gt;He&amp;#x27;s also in my view one of the most talented and inspirational entrepreneurs of our generation.&lt;p&gt;I don&amp;#x27;t see how people can call him an outright fraud with a straight face when you look at what he &lt;i&gt;has&lt;/i&gt; delivered through Tesla and SpaceX.&lt;p&gt;But he seems to elicit strong polarised opinions.  And I get it.  Lot&amp;#x27;s of noise about FSD, his constantly slipping timelines etc.&lt;p&gt;I guess it depends what you choose to focus on.</text></item><item><author>nnamtr</author><text>Is his stuff really that good? I can&amp;#x27;t shake the feeling that he has a strong tendency to exaggerate.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theverge.com&amp;#x2F;2021&amp;#x2F;5&amp;#x2F;7&amp;#x2F;22424592&amp;#x2F;tesla-elon-musk-autopilot-dmv-fsd-exaggeration&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theverge.com&amp;#x2F;2021&amp;#x2F;5&amp;#x2F;7&amp;#x2F;22424592&amp;#x2F;tesla-elon-musk-a...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.forbes.com&amp;#x2F;sites&amp;#x2F;johnbbrandon&amp;#x2F;2021&amp;#x2F;04&amp;#x2F;13&amp;#x2F;elon-musks-the-boring-company-is-starting-to-look-like-a-dumb-idea&amp;#x2F;?sh=2e65b2d17562&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.forbes.com&amp;#x2F;sites&amp;#x2F;johnbbrandon&amp;#x2F;2021&amp;#x2F;04&amp;#x2F;13&amp;#x2F;elon-mu...&lt;/a&gt;</text></item><item><author>totololo</author><text>I believe this article completely ignores the product side of the story. 
Elon doesn&amp;#x27;t pitch, he builds. His products are significantly better than market alternatives, with a steady momentum of improvement over time.
In the unofficial biography there&amp;#x27;s the story of how Tesla pulled an unlikely funding from Daimler. The Daimler executives visiting Tesla were unimpressed, skeptical and bored to death by the PowerPoints. Then the Tesla team took them for a ride in the electrified Smart they had built in a hurry. All the executives stepped out of it with a smile. The check arrived later. It was about the product, not the &amp;quot;save the earth&amp;quot; narrative.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>whoisthemachine</author><text>He can be an impressive engineer and entrepreneur while also being a jerk. I think it&amp;#x27;s ok to condemn his behaviors when they&amp;#x27;re out of line while also admiring the progress him and his companies have made in the industries they&amp;#x27;ve targeted.</text></comment>