Interview with Former Tesla Employee, Farzad Mesbahi
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:40 Farzads Reaction to Cybertruck Reveal
03:35 My Initial Reaction
04:56 “How did you go from a Tesla ‘Fan’ to become a Tesla Employee?”
11:47 “How quickly did you realize the difference between Tesla and other companies?”
16:12 “Is there a lot of blurring of the lines between ‘Blue’ vs ‘White’ Collar jobs @ Tesla?”
19:20 “Does the motivation level run as high at the entry level as in management?”
26:40 “Do a lot of people move on from Tesla after 3-5 years like you?”
29:50 “Why do you think more former Tesla employees haven’t started YouTube channels?”
33:00 “What are topics you wish you could discuss if you didn’t have a NDA?”
34:46 “Have you given any thought to finding and interviewing other Ex-Tesla employees?”
36:00 “Do employees resent the way fans think of Elon as Tesla and Tesla as Elon?”
38:50 “If you could rank Tesla vs ‘Normal’ companies on Talent, Motivation and Execution, how would they compare?”
50:10 “Did you ever talk with other Tesla employees about the ‘Big Vision’ of Tesla or is everyone too busy with day to day execution?”
52:50 “Do Tesla employees look at Tesla as a car company, a manufacturing company or a technology company?”
55:40 “Do people not working directly on the cars feel more disconnected from the company?”
58:30 “How do Tesla employees think about better competition starting to emerge?”
01:02:35 “Elon doesn’t like to talk about competitive moats but it seems like the talent, culture and Elon’s leadership are very big competitive moats. Do you agree and do you think that means they will be impossible to catch in next 5-10 years?”
01:08:43 “What does ‘Success’ look like for you personally over the next 1-2 years?”
01:12:39 Conclusion
Likes: 200
Views: 1553
Great questions. Thoughtful answers. Now Farzad needs to interview Todd.
Farzad is a great find. I’ve wondered why there aren’t more ex-Tesla people doing what he’s doing. The only other person that has had a video like his is someone who was hired as an “Agile” expert and worked there for a few years (sorry, his name escapes me at the moment). He had a fascinated perspective too. I’ve been following Farzad since he started. Can’t wait for Cybertruck to spin up and get you pumping more content again. I’m struggling with the 4 motor option. I have a reservation for the tri-motor and the wait has been killing me. I’m retired and want to use it to tour this country. I may upgrade just to expedite things. We’ll have to see what the price difference will be. Thanks for your great content!
Backgroind looks fishy. Here fishy fishy. Great interview guys!
When CT rolled out I was seriously wishing I hadn't bet the ranch on TSLA.
WTF are you guys doing?!
But it rapidly grew on me like everyone else.
Well Todd, youve just outed yourself as an excellent interviewer. Great questions, great insights, and the final question really brought it back to his humanity. Really good food for thought.
Most companies have armies of lawyers to defend themselves. Tesla has an army of fans. I think they might be onto something. 😉
41:58 – Tesla merch alert! "For Humanity" "Innovate with extreme urgency, for humanity!"
51:45 – If Tesla folks are listening to Tesla tubers – can someone please confirm for me that the CYBRTRK will fit a snow plow. It will be a huge miss if it won't accept a plow, or a winch.
Farzad is a Brilliant guy watch his channel.
Great scoop! Congrats on such an interesting interview.