Tech News About Twitter And Elon Musk |DO WE LEARN|

Elon Musk appeared determined to use Twitter, which he purchased in October, to combat the dominant culture of the tech industry. He cut the workforce in half, eliminated long-standing benefits like free lunches and internet access at home, and informed those who remained that they would be working "long hours of high intensity." He turned offices into "tired" employees' sleeping quarters and threatened to fire anyone who wasn't "hardcore" enough. In an email to employees sent after midnight, Musk stated, "A passing grade will only be given for exceptional performance."

In Silicon Valley, this was an unusual development: a tech executive who wants to discipline his employees rather than entice them with attractive mission statements and extravagant benefits. The outcry over Musk's destructive path was immediate. Farhad Manjoo scoffed in The New York Times, stating, "Elon Musk has no idea what he's doing with Twitter." Musk deals with individuals like "blow-back," said the working environment master and creator Jenn Limm. " Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez rebuked Musk, "You're a union buster with an ego problem who pockets the change from underpaying and mistreating people."

However, one group has been supporting Musk from the sidelines, almost unnoticed in the midst of the online commotion: other technologists. Musk gives founders of companies that expanded too quickly during the tech boom hope that the bloat could be reduced in the event of a recession. Andrew Chen, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, tweeted recently, "Founders who are making tough decisions in the recent economic downturn are inspired by @elonmusk's moves at Twitter." I've heard from a lot of founders who are not afraid to cut fat, make big product changes, and become hardcore. In real time, a new playbook is being written." Musk is merely a monstrous version of the executive that some founders aspire to be.

In private interviews with Insider, the founders and investors admit that they are considering Twitter as an example of efficiency. To avoid retaliation from their employees, all spoke on condition of anonymity.) On the off chance that Musk can run his interpersonal organization on portion of its past staff, they say, maybe their organizations can, as well. " "Because everyone is making the tough call, it's not a bad look to make the tough call," says the founder of a large startup whose investors are urging him to cut back on hiring and hire slowly. Elon Musk is the most extreme case to date, but this is what many smart businesses are doing."

Employment grew at the same rate as the tech industry did over the past decade. The tech industry added 2.3 million new jobs between 2009 and 2019, according to an analysis of federal labor statistics by the industry nonprofit CompTIA. Companies had to offer a lot of perks in order to attract talented candidates because the rapid growth made the labor market thin. Free meals took center stage. Representatives appreciated rest units, travel payments, on location acupuncturists and back rubs, free cleaning, and nitro cold brew by the barrel. " The query did not ask: How can we maximize the performance of our employees?" says a New York-based founder. It was: How can we treat our employees with kindness?

In May 2020, the Twitter building's deserted cafeteria in San Francisco.

Other executives in the technology industry are taking note of Musk's decision to end benefits like free meals in the Twitter cafeteria. Winni Wintermeyer, courtesy of The Washington Post and Getty Images. During the pandemic, a new wave of startups only increased the excess. According to founders, the blitzscaling that followed set off an arms race of perks to attract top talent as investors piled pressure on businesses to grow quickly. It was allowed for employees to work from home and set their own hours. They spent lavish off-sites and pocketed wellness allowances as they traveled the world. Nearly all of Bolt's employees received Fridays off.

According to Eric Ries, an entrepreneur and the author of "The Lean Startup," "When there's too much easy money, it's very natural to take your eye off the ball — to get complacent, to spend money on things that are extraneous."

The crash followed. The flow of venture capital slowed earlier this year as private markets dried up. Startups rushed to cut costs and stretch their budgets at once. The tech leaders who had showered significant compensations and extravagant advantages on their representatives were passed on to sort out some way to reset assumptions.

The query did not ask: How can we maximize employee performance? It was: How can we treat our employees with the utmost respect?

Musk has done so with brute force at Twitter. He quickly stopped remote work, stopped giving staff allowances, and turned offices at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters into bedrooms with washing machines and wardrobes. The calendar no longer included "days of rest" for the entire company. It was terrifying and perplexing to workers. It was cause for celebration for some outside executives. David Marcus, a former executive at Facebook, declared, "The days when an employee could complain about the quality of toilet paper" at an all-hands meeting have come to an end."

Others also exuded a sense of triumph. Regardless of whether they just let it out, everybody in SV respects Elon," tweeted Gavin Dough puncher, an overseeing accomplice and boss speculation official of Atreides The board, a $3 billion mutual funds that makes wagers on both private and public organizations.

Bill Gurley, an early Uber backer who has resisted what he regards as the comfortable conditions in technology, replied, "100 percent." We wandered to a location where the majority of businesses stopped trying to be efficient. I'm glad it's over.

Tech executives can use Musk's slash-and-burn strategy as cover for making decisions that are not popular. Over the holidays, the founders tell Insider that they will be getting rid of costly off-sites and corporate merchandise. One of them says that he recently ended a meal allowance for remote workers during the pandemic. Now, those who want a free lunch must visit the San Francisco office. The business remained steadfast despite employee resistance.

According to the founder, "in the past it was like, if you don't like the job, you could jump ship and go somewhere else." According to a business viewpoint, you needed to hang on more tight to your workers." However, the "rough waters out there" have forced his staff to "reevaluate" their demands now that tech companies are cutting back to prepare for a recession.

The founder declares, "I'm personally excited for this reset."

Liu Guanguan/China News Service via Getty Images "Everyone in SV admires Elon Musk," tweeted a prominent hedge fund manager at Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco. Adrees Latif/Reuters The founder of the large startup, who is under pressure from investors, claims that a year ago, he might have kept a low-performing employee on the payroll because it would have been difficult to fill the position in a hot labor market. But now, after nearly 100,000 tech workers have been laid off over the past year, he wouldn't hesitate to fire someone who wasn't doing their job well. "He asserts that there are fewer tech jobs available. You will have to put in a little more effort, which gives the employer back control.

That example is rehashing the same thing across Silicon Valley. "We're seeing more tech executives "weeding out low performers" as they increase the pressure on teams to execute," says a partner at a legacy venture capital firm. Everybody is battling for their entitlement to exist," she says. " As a result, their chances of success are rising."

Another founder, who received more than $100 million in venture capital during the boom caused by the pandemic, claims that he is now asking his employees to produce more without hiring additional contributors. He informs them that investor expectations have changed as well as the economy. He asserts, "We must accomplish more with less."

These messages echo, albeit in kinder terms, Musk's Twitter rhetoric of "my way or the highway." Even admirers of Musk are aware that they must exercise caution when resetting workplace norms that have developed over the past decade. For instance, the founder who wants to increase output claims that he could not implement Musk's brutal strategies without inciting a revolt.

However, the uplifting news, he adds, is that he might not need to. Why is this? Employees will be too afraid to oppose more work and fewer benefits as long as they see Musk's work at Twitter. The founder asserts that Musk's bravery "just creates a higher bar." Which, to put it another way, means that Musk's massive reset at Twitter may soon become the norm for the rest of Silicon Valley.