Clubhouse app is a new social audio platform that launched in April 2020 and I am an early adapter. I will get into this whole Clubhouse trend in another newsletter but for those who know what Clubhouse is, Elon Musk announced he would be on the app tonight and I am here so you can read what he happened if you are normal and went to bed. For the record, I used to liveblog award shows, and this is all I have to talk about in real time that is a cultural moment happening for me in quarantine. I will add commentary on this later this week. I have a lot to say about Clubhouse. Love or hate Elon Musk, he is a cultural icon.
Pregame rooms were on the app where people were counting down to the talk. CashApp sponsored a trivia game show that had over 3K people in it.
The room started at 9:58PM and immediately crashed and Elon could not get in which was fixed. The room filled up immediately so a bunch of side rooms happened where you could listen in or you can watch streams on YouTube. (There are only three engineers who work for CH.)
Here is an overview what he said with limited comments:
He opened big. We will be on Mars in 5.5 years and potentially face extinction. Living on Mars will be hard work. He talked a bit about aliens. Claiming to see an alien now is like claiming to see Bigfoot or the Lochness Monster.
What influences the zeitgeist is fascinating to him. He loves memes and said, “A picture says 1000 words and a meme says 10,000 words.” He claims to have a meme dealer. (Are meme dealers the new community managers?)
People are already cyborgs. He believes you will be able to get a brain transplant in the the future. You can choose to be a human or a robot.
Marc Andreesen then switched topics asking parenting advice. He said kids can learn quite a bit from playing video games and spending time on YouTube and Reddit. He stated parents must always explain WHY things happen. Then the question was asked of why in the world doesn’t have more Elon Musks? He had trouble answering this but implied very hard work is the key. He advised entrepreneurs that if you need encouraging words, don’t do a start up. It is like eating glass.
Then, he got asked about bitcoin. He missed the boat in 2013 but he stated that “bitcoin is a good thing” and he is a “supporter.” He then said dogecoin was meant to be a joke but fate loves irony and wouldn’t it be ironic if dogecoin became the currency of the future.
Convo turned to Tesla. blah blah blah..produce 20mm cars a year. If you want to understand practical AI, Tesla is best in class. Self driving will save lives from people in car accidents so the sooner the better this happens, lives will be saved.
Then they got into LIDAR and asked why he doesn’t like it. Elon confessed, “Sometimes I am just talking smack” and sounded like he really doesn’t hate LIDAR. People do not have eyes in the back of their head. You can’t be super human with just cameras.
What is a day in the life look like? He wakes up and checks texts for emergency. His life is not fun or interesting and seems like a lot of chores which he must do or it “goes to hell.” He enjoys personal meetings versus emails. Texts are better than email. Zoom is better than email. “Anything is better than email.” He talked about “context switching” and focusing on one thing per hour is important to him. Then he focused on memes.
How does he handle his calendar? He has insane back to back meetings and sounded like he really wants/needs a vacation. He pondered writing a book with advice.
He doesn’t often sleep on the factory floor. He does it in times of crisis to show his team he is in it with them.
What would he do if he had time to launch another company? He has no time to launch a new company but he thinks there is a lot of opportunities to create tunnels. The world needs tunnels to alleviate traffic and make it easier to travel. We need more companies focused on the digitization of medicine such as Moderna. Then he mused on vaccines. An “avalanche” of vaccines is happening soon. We have ordered more than anyone will ever need or want. He is “pro vaxer.”
Then Marc Andreesen asked him about the future of California. He got nostalgic how he came to Silicon Valley to get a job at Netscape. He believed the internet would be the “future.” (I also did this but have not fared as well as Musk.) He totally hedged the California question.
Elon watches Cobra Kai. He saw Tenent and enjoyed it but decided not think too much about it. (He seemed to enjoy Cobra Kai way more.)
When asked final thought, Elon states he wants to have Vlad the CEO of RobinHood on but the Clubhouse people don’t know how to add him. Then he talks about “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy” and how it influenced him to fill some time.
Vlad then states, “It was surreal weekend” for him. (Vlad only joined Clubhouse two days ago with a bunch of media buyers.) Elon met Vlad recently. Vlad believes Clubhouse is part of the “simulation.” Vlad is tired and not really helping me stay awake. The entire GameStop scandal was “nerve wracking” so he called the SEC or the NSCC which is a sub of the DTCC (this topic is confusing to all the listeners the post game convo.) Other brokers were in the same trouble too. Elon than asked why he made the decisions he did. Vlad stated he didn’t know “how to plan better “around the situation. (The crazy thing about this part of the show is that Elon took over as interviewer.) Vlad basically states, “he had no choice” but Elon keeps digging but I got confused but this will be a big news story tomorrow. (I am not sure about this Vlad character.) (We need Chris Cuomo.) Vlad states that his investor Citadel had nothing to do with the decision to halt trading. It sounded like Robinhood simply did not have the cash and are their own clearing house. Elon seemed to be wanting to help Vlad, but Vlad could not save himself from Elon’s hard hitting interview. Then, the moderator came in to “reset” the room…and BOOM.
Elon did not even know about ClubHouse a week ago and said maybe je will will come back.
Then they played David Bowie’s Starman in honor of Elon.
And, tomorrow, I will wake up to beauty brands who wants to advertise on Clubhouse. The markets will go nuts tomorrow morning analyzing the Vlad comments. And, I will wish I was a robot.
If you are new to #WeissUp, I love to talk about meme culture, so ready my post last week!