A former employee of Tesla has opened up about his meetings with Elon Musk during his stint at the EV maker and revealed the “ground rules” the tech leader follows.
“More insights on Elon from my personal experience at Tesla… Every meeting I had with E had a few simple ground rules. -No power points. -Only talk about what is wrong/broken/roadblock you need E to clear. -Don’t bring food. Keep it clear. Speak about action,” Russell Varone tweeted.
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The post prompted varied replies, including one from Elon Musk himself. The Tesla CEO wrote, “Bringing food is fine if you haven’t eaten.”
Varone’s tweet prompted criticism from some X users, like this individual who wrote, “I have been saying it for a while, but the talent exodus at Tesla is real. Pointing it out doesn't make me a hater. If $TSLA folks want long-term success at Tesla, they need top talent, and this is an issue that needs to be addressed.”
{{/usCountry}}Varone’s tweet prompted criticism from some X users, like this individual who wrote, “I have been saying it for a while, but the talent exodus at Tesla is real. Pointing it out doesn't make me a hater. If $TSLA folks want long-term success at Tesla, they need top talent, and this is an issue that needs to be addressed.”
{{/usCountry}}Russell Varone, however, defended his former boss, “Fred. You obviously don’t know how Tesla works. Elon is an incredible talent magnet. For every amazing talented person that he has working for him, There are 25 more who will sell an arm and a leg to have that job. This is part of Elon‘s true secret power—talent Magnet.”
What did social media say?
An individual asked, “Did these happen ad hoc, or on a schedule?” Varone replied, “Scheduled.” Another joked, “Don’t bring food, a good rule.”
A third questioned, “How do normies deal with lack of cheerleading or congrats?” Varone responded, “If you're working for Elon, you’re not a normie. Your goals are to solve problems and escalate to him for help the instant you know you’re not able to solve the problems you own.”
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A fourth wrote, “I was with you right up until ‘don’t bring food’. I'm sorry, but product development runs on chocolate chip cookies.”
Who is Russell Varone?
According to his LinkedIn profile, Varone completed his business administration and management and manufacturing engineering degrees from the State University of New York. Then, he pursued a master’s degree in reliability engineering and asset management from the University of Manchester.
He started his career as the director of maintenance improvement in a packaging company. After working in the company for over 14 years, he joined Tesla in 2014. Over the years, he rose through the ranks and assumed the role of head of manufacturing in 2018. After leaving the EV maker, he went on to found his own company.