Colin Hadden

Soars Sailplanes | Tugs Gliders | Fly's Supercubs | Drives Tesla | Invests TSLA |

[Colin Hadden @qdozcolin]

@OhRewindz @BBCWorld Water behaves like concrete when you fall from that height

[Colin Hadden @qdozcolin]

@enhauto @elonmusk pleading from rainy Ireland — there has to be a MASSIVE market for a third party windscreen rain sensor to solve the random wiper behaviour which continues to defeat Tesla’s vision software team …

[Colin Hadden @qdozcolin]

@DirtyTesLa Does that in my Model 3 too. 2024.2.8 introduced it.

[Neil 𝕏 @Neil_X10]

The Tesla / Elon Faithful Need to Wake Up.

A year has passed since Elon closed on his acquisition for Twitter/X. Who can forget his marching into their offices with a literal kitchen sink and going on an almost comical firing spree with the PayPal crew in tow?

I don’t think anyone can deny Twitter/X has become a vastly superior product over the last year. Free speech reigns. Community notes rocks.

But for the entirety of that year, many Tesla shareholders have been raising valid concerns about Elon being distracted. It seemed obvious to me, and I thought it was obvious to everyone else. 4680 is very late. Cybertruck is very late. Semi is very late. The next gen model was deprioritized. Prices have been cut dramatically without any *meaningful* attempt to pull on the most effective demand lever - advertising and awareness. It’s nice to see energy ramping, but where is solar? Whatever happened to the roadster? Why, despite all the promise of virtual power plants, are these deployments not accelerating faster? Isn’t the point of all the capital raises in 2020/2021 to have ample liquidity to ensure the company can grow responsibly? And If they’re not going to do buybacks or return the cash to shareholders, what exactly is the plan? Are they really just going to sit on it? Is $26B really necessary? Why are we still holding bitcoin (another unnecessary distraction)? And are we really now left in a situation where the only apparent adult in the room (Zach) has suddenly left the company under strange circumstances?

Here’s my personal read on this — Elon is and has been hardcore distracted with Twitter. And rather than focusing on so many of the actual business ventures Tesla could be responsibly pursuing, he is essentially gambling the company’s future (again) exclusively on the promise of full self driving. This is why he keeps stressing it during calls and is (conveniently) falling back on concerns of macro. Cutting prices to boost demand is his lazy way out of actually putting committed and focused efforts on the rest of the business. And so the perception is that everything else seems like a deprioritized sideshow that he's allowing his teams to handle with no apparent trackable milestones. Tesla has even now walked back on its 50% growth ambitions.

As a side note: Elon committed to not attending shareholder calls, but he kept attending them anyway and basically tanking the business outlook that I’m sure Zach diligently prepared each time. For the record I am totally open to others changing my mind on this, but it seems highly plausible this is why Zach left. Elon doesn’t seem to want to prioritize any of the other business ventures at the moment, because frankly it doesn’t seem convenient or fun for him to get involved in and those other projects probably bore him. Instead he wants to use Tesla's company resources for side projects. And fair enough. I understand why Twitter/X is important. I get why https://t.co/exX12QgfQa is important. And of course he is entitled to make those decisions.

But here’s the problem…

“Elon is committed to Tesla! Optics or whatever people think about this doesn’t matter! You’re just a typical Wall Street person! You don’t get Elon! You don’t understand the MISSION! See! Elon attended that meeting! He still works at Tesla! You just don’t get his personality! Stock prices follow EARNINGS! Sell your stocks and go away!” And on and on it goes…

… this is the kind of vitriol and push back anyone gets if they dare speak a word of criticism. Somehow this is what much of the Tesla community has become. It’s the Tesla / Elon faithful. You know, the ones who believe Elon and the company can do no wrong? The ones who agree with everything they’re doing and believe everything they say (“BUT THEY HAVE THE DATA AND YOU’RE JUST AN IDIOT!”).

Those who dare to voice legitimate concerns or dissenting opinions are patronized endlessly.

People. GET A GRIP. If you want to believe in the mission of the company — and for the record I very much do believe in Tesla and Elon long-term — that’s absolutely fine, and you absolutely SHOULD have a BELIEF that Tesla will achieve its ambitions.

But investing isn’t simply about buying into a stock, and continually buying and just waiting. You have to verify — every single day — that the thesis you have for said investment remains intact. Anything less is fanaticism and borderline religious zealotry (and if this is your ethos, you’re a fan who happens to be investing).

Now to be clear the long-term thesis of the story does remain intact. But actual investors are and have been raising legitimate concerns. But what I’ve come to realize in doing so is that there are FAR TOO MANY within the Tesla community who operate as sort of Elon / Tesla disciples. They preach daily to their masses of followers about all the positive things and the incredible progress the company is making, never to voice an air of criticism. To be sure, much of it is fantastic progress. But we seem to have a set of people who preach daily (while collecting subscriptions mind you) about how the promise land of riches is on the way IF ONLY YOU WOULD BELIEVE. Many can't bring themselves to criticize anything.

We now have hordes of people for whom anyone that dares question the decisions of Elon or the company are deniers. It’s blasphemy! How dare you question dear leader?!

My friends... BLIND FAITH will do you no good. Don’t be sheep.

[Dublin Airport @DublinAirport]

Lisbon, a city renowned for its blend of rich history, stunning architecture, vibrant culture & coastal beauty

Dublin Airport has teamed up with @tapairportugal to give away return flights for two to Lisbon.

To enter:

FOLLOW & REPOST

T's&C's here: https://t.co/9q7QGCQc0D

[Colin Hadden @qdozcolin]

@TeslaLarry Come to Dublin and you’ll spot a Tesla every five minutes!

[Colin Hadden @qdozcolin]

@paulrobichaux I’m trying to log in from Ireland without success too. That’s twice in a month for critical infrastructure

[Colin Hadden @qdozcolin]

@elonmusk @Carnage4Life The Internet was “not for profit” too back in the day. Whatever happened to that… ?

[Colin Hadden @qdozcolin]

@BarePilot This barefoot flying thing? I’ve only done it once. I was test flying a sailplane to Vne after a 3000hr overhaul and was worried I would get my boots out from under the instrument panel if I needed to bail out. You fly sailplanes?

[Colin Hadden @qdozcolin]

@APompliano Charles Ives — The unanswered question

[Colin Hadden @qdozcolin]

@farzyness Farzad you don’t seem old enough to have been buying cars in the nineties!

[Colin Hadden @qdozcolin]

@wholemars What’s wrong with being 77. Does not necessarily mean you can’t manage tech safely.

[Charles Hoskinson @IOHK_Charles]

Surprise AMA 12/10/2022 https://t.co/WSiRTrCACP

[Colin Hadden @qdozcolin]

@techAU @wholemars Basil faulty?

[Perlan Project @PerlanProject]

It is the 2022 Best Flight OLC–Plus in the world, to date!

On June 12, Chief Pilot Jim Payne and Pilot Alan Coombs wave soared 2,581 km in the fly-by-wire Nixus. Check out the stats > https://t.co/5ImuqdSV2W
#soaring #AvGeek

[Slashdot @slashdot]

Ireland: Data Centers Now Consuming More Electricity Than Rural Homes https://t.co/hg0uxoqEmI

[Semil @semil]

Kara Swisher on Elon Musk:

[CNN Breaking News @cnnbrk]

Twitter has agreed to sell itself to Elon Musk in a deal valued at around $44 billion, the company said Monday. https://t.co/H7mrcY4qM2

[Renaïssance Man 🇿🇦🤝🏻🇺🇦 @Hein_The_Slayer]

Just a reminder that Elon Musk is the longest serving CEO in the global auto industry...

[Colin Hadden @qdozcolin]

@aaiu_ireland Happy Christmas from the Dublin Gliding Club and thank you for your great service to aviation