This is a tough book to read. But I recommend it to anyone who needs to know that they are capable, that all they have to do is declare themselves competent, jump into the pool and act.
We expect this in entertainment. People come to Hollywood with no portfolio, only braggadocio, and they gladhand, puff themselves up, lie, intimidate and make it to the top.
But it's not supposed to be this way in traditional business, is it?
Of course you should read this book for the definitive insight into Elon Musk. But these people starting companies in Silicon Valley, we see them as He-Men of the Universe, when oftentimes they had little more than an idea, or got to the Bay Area and cooked up an idea, and then convinced VCs and others to fund it.
And it's not only the founders sucking on the tit. There are the banks, the lawyers... You too can do it, you're as good as they are. Put your fears aside and step forward.
So what we've got here is a company with broad influence that is challenged financially. One could argue the world ran on Twitter, but that did not make it a gold mine. Everybody knowing your name is different from being rich.
Who could steer Twitter out of the wilderness? The golden boy creator back for a second time, Jack Dorsey... Or an engineer... Or was the task impossible?
Where was the revenue to come from? Advertising was not enough, where were the other revenue streams?
Meanwhile, there were thousands of employees, and all the attendant costs of running a major corporation. Twitter was a lumbering giant.
Until Elon Musk came along and cut it off at its knees.
So I followed the story of Musk's purchase of Twitter very closely. I didn't see a reason to read this book. But then when they got into Musk's personality, his emotions, his choices, I couldn't put it down, it called out to me, I just had to plow through it.
Musk had no idea what he was doing. He thought since he used Twitter, he could run it.
Even more astounding, he purchased the company with no due diligence. NO ONE would do this. But his bankers and lawyers and chums went along, because after all, he's ELON MUSK!
So Musk lives for positive feedback. And can't handle criticism. And believes he is unfettered. When the remaining Twitter employees tell him the company needs to file FTC reports, under the privacy consent decree, it doesn't bother him a whit. He'll fight and sue and do whatever he wants, he'll stand up to anybody in the world. And sure, we can feel this in the news, but when you get right down to the real nitty-gritty...
The government is no match for Elon Musk. All you have to do is believe you can compete, and the truth is you can, assuming you've got the balls.
So Elon comes in and cuts costs.
Have you been following his statements ] recently? How Elon would act as Trump's efficiency expert? That's one of the best parts of the book, the endless layoffs, the endless reduction of costs. Too much rent? LET'S STOP PAYING IT! Yup, they'd wait until they were evicted. And then in Boulder they shipped some flat screens and servers to Musk, and sold everything else in a yard sale. As for layoffs... Paranoid Musk was unjustly convinced there were people on the payroll who weren't working, he asked people to opt in to keep their jobs, even though just the opposite had been agreed to by his team, that you checked the box if you wanted to LEAVE! Mass confusion ensued, and people who had no intention of leaving, who did great work, were fired anyway, just because they didn't understand they had to check the box.
Covid taught me that it's a miracle the country runs at all. I thought someone was in control, but this is patently untrue.
And it's the same in business. Regulation, schmegulation.
And you've got the kiss-asses, trying to keep their jobs with Elon.
And then there are those who need their gigs for the health care, or their visas.
You've put a decade into a company and you're fired overnight. Maybe because you just didn't deliver Elon an easy fix for his problem, even though one didn't exist. How much pain are you wiling to endure to keep your job?
If you want a novelistic business book, one that cuts like butter, I'd recommend John Carreyrou's "Bad Blood," about Theranos.
If you just want story, "Character Limit" doesn't shine. It does not have you on the edge of your seat.
But maybe the comparison to Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes is apt. She just said she knew what she was doing and raised millions and never ever delivered.
That's all it takes.
I'm not saying there's no skill involved at all these companies.
I'm just saying that my mother always told me I wasn't the one, that someone else was the expert. Reading this book, I'm convinced otherwise.
As for the political implications...
Trump doesn't read, never mind books. Musk is addicted to his phone, he rarely looks at a computer. They're both so busy doing that they can't think, see the big picture.
And that's where the money is, the success. It's in the thinking, the idea, the ability to assess the landscape.
So do I think this book will affect the outcome of the election? Not a bit. But if Trump wins, it's a blueprint.
As for Walter Isaacson's hagiographic biography...no wonder it was such idolatry, Musk reeled him in, asked him for business advice, AND TOOK IT!
Now you might think the two "Times" writers who authored this book were out to get Musk, but in truth Musk hangs himself, with his words and actions.
And if you're someone who reads business books for tips, insights, I'd put "Character Limit" at the absolute top of the heap.
And if you're someone who's just looking for a job, to be part of the process...read this book and weep. You're just a pawn in their game. Sure, the world needs worker bees, but it's not run by them.
You want to control your own life, you want to know the game, there are books that will tell you how to do it, which are really how the author did it, almost never replicable, but when you see the cast of characters in "Character Limit"...you can see where you fit in, or don't.
And that's very valuable information.
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