Being wealthy and powerful brings the unfortunate side effect of being surrounded by individuals who are afraid to criticize your decisions. Chris Sacca, an early investor in Twitter and venture capitalist, told Elon Musk that he is utterly alone in his quest to change Twitter into his image of a free-speech social media haven.
Sacca, the founder of Lowercase Capital and a friend of Elon Musk’s, warned that “one of the major perils of wealth/power is no longer having anyone around you who can push back, give open feedback, suggest alternatives, or just simply let you know you’re wrong” in a Monday night Twitter thread.
Many of Twitter’s problems are too complex for Musk to address, so he needs people around him who are prepared to “speak some truth to power and balance his bold and ambitious impulses with sorely needed nuance,” Sacca writes.
The only conclusion Sacca can draw is that Musk is “straight-up alone right now and winging things.” Sacca explains that Musk’s success in the fields of batteries, motors, rockets, tunnels, and solar panels may be attributed to his “ability to note and question the assumptions implicit in the rest of human thinking,” which is “a rare form of genius I’ve only seen in the finest brains.
” On the other hand, Sacca points out that in these fields, there are black-and-white solutions where results can be quantified, whereas, in the social media industry, there is much more room for interpretation.
We are not puzzles to be solved with calculus and physics. Sacca says, “We are f**king messy. He claims that until “there is true debate leading to serious progress and stability,” neither Twitter nor Musk’s massive investment would benefit users, advertisers, or anybody else.
Musk’s associates have become more sycophantic and exploitative over time
Not so on Twitter, though. Sacca has noticed that Musk’s associates have become more sycophantic and exploitative over time because “simply put, agreeing with him is easier, and there is greater financial & social upside.” Sacca states, “I can’t sit idly by and watch a guy I’ve looked up to for over a decade waste this opportunity, ignite further crazy, and possibly hurt a bunch of others in the process.”
Many businesses run by their founders face this issue. Sacca cites Travis Kalanick, the CEO of Uber, a company in which Sacca had made an early investment. The objectively brilliant Travis, according to Sacca, has been left with “just the suck-ups” since he became powerful. None of his old buddies were genuine.
At one point during his term as CEO, Kalanick told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he had deliberately organized the board and handpicked its members to let him “do what I want,” as recounted by Mike Isaac in his book Super Pumped: The Battle for Uber.
To paraphrase what Sacca says, “Travis had a board position to fill, and there was almost no one he could put in it because he was alone.” Sacca claims that Mark Zuckerberg is one of the few people who has avoided this pitfall. ‘No one on Earth is good enough to get it all done on their own,’ Sacca says.