Ex-Twitter Product Lead Reveals What it's Like Working With Elon Musk

Elon Musk has been obsessed with growing Twitter from a microblogging platform into an everything app. The latest stage of that obsession came in the form of a total rebrand; the app is now called 'X,' and the bird that had for so long been synonymous with Twitter has been replaced by a stylized version of that same 'X.'

The change has garnered a lot of criticism, from users and analysts alike; Twitter was already dealing with an advertising problem; killing the brand that so many are familiar with can't help. 

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Despite the recent chaos that has bloomed across the platform since Musk's dramatic acquisition last year, ex-Twitter product lead Esther Crawford said in a recent (and lengthy) tweet that Musk deserves neither hate nor adulation.

"He’s a complicated person with an unfathomable amount of financial and geopolitical power, which is why humanity needs him to err on the side of goodness, rather than political divisiveness and pettiness," Crawford said. "I disagree with many of his decisions and am surprised by his willingness to burn so much down, but with enough money and time, something new & innovative may emerge."

Crawford also revealed some major details about Musk's management style, depicting Musk as hot and cold.

"The challenge is his personality and demeanor can turn on a dime going from excited to angry," she wrote. "Since it was hard to read what mood he might be in and what his reaction would be to any given thing, people quickly became afraid of being called into meetings or having to share negative news with him."

She also talked about how she was frustrated by the way Musk handled major decision-making.

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"He'd poll Twitter, ask a friend, or even ask his biographer for product advice," she said. "At times it seemed he trusted random feedback more than the people in the room who spent their lives dedicated to tackling the problem at hand. I never figured out why and remain puzzled by it."

Crawford also noted a strange observation about Musk; his loneliness. He devoted his time and energy "purely" to his work -- something he himself has discussed in the past -- and the result, according to Crawford, was a lonely echo chamber at the top. 

"The higher you climb, the smaller your world becomes," Crawford said. "Living in an echo chamber is dangerous and being at the top makes a person even more susceptible to being surrounded by 'yes' people when nearly everyone around you is on the payroll and somehow stands to benefit from being in your orbit."

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