What It Was Like in the Office: December 2008
The air in the office felt thick, like right before a massive storm hits. We all knew the score. The bank accounts were empty and the press were already waiting to write us off – "the car company that couldn't hack it" and "the rocket bloke who crashed and burned."
I remember looking at Elon. He looked like he hadn't slept in months. There were no fancy PowerPoints or corporate cheerleading that day – just a knackered bloke who'd been pushed to breaking point.
The Speech
He got us all together, and for a moment, nobody said a word. He didn't try to dress it up. He told us straight: we were weeks, maybe even days, away from the whole thing collapsing. Everything we'd poured our lives into for years was about to disappear.
Then he looked us dead in the eye and said it: "Save the company at all costs, or get out."
Bit harsh for a Tuesday morning, wasn't it? But standing there, you realized he wasn't being a bully – he was being honest. He was saying that just "doing our jobs" wasn't going to cut it anymore. If we were holding back, already updating our CVs or eyeing the door, we were just dead weight that needed shifting.
The Turning Point
I'll be honest, some people did leave. They couldn't handle the pressure, and you can't really blame them. But for those of us who stayed, something changed. The fear of failure sort of disappeared because failure was already sitting right next to us at our desks.
We started working like absolute maniacs. We weren't doing it for a Christmas bonus – there wasn't going to be one. We did it because Elon had put every single penny he had on the line. He was "all in" in a way that was frankly terrifying to watch. If he was willing to go down with the ship, the least we could do was grab a bucket and start bailing water.
What Happened After
That Christmas Eve, when the Tesla funding finally came through at the last possible minute, the relief was overwhelming. It felt like we'd dodged a bullet. Looking back, that "Commit or Collapse" moment was what forged us. It burnt away all the doubt and hesitation.
We realized that when you're in the middle of a disaster, you don't need a manager telling you what to do – you need a reason to keep fighting. Elon gave us that. He forced us to decide whether we actually believed in what we were building, or whether we'd just turned up for the wages.