- Former Elon Musk lieutenant Esther Crawford posted a 14-minute video about her experience.
- The former director said Twitter was "squandering its own potential" before Musk took over.
- She also warned that the billionaire is "living in an echo chamber" and surrounded by "yes men."
Esther Crawford, Elon Musk's former lieutenant at Twitter who famously went viral for sleeping on the floor of the company's headquarters, dished on her experience before and after his takeover in a 14-minute long video.
The former director of product management at Twitter, now X, said she has a nuanced perspective on the billionaire, but wasn't afraid to point out what she described as some of his leadership flaws.
Before Musk took over, Crawford said she was "shocked by how old and bespoke the infrastructure" and it was "nearly impossible to fire poor performers." (Musk laid off over half of the company's workforce within months of taking over.)
"Twitter often felt like a place that kept squandering its own potential, which was sad and frustrating to see," Crawford said of her time at the company before Musk.
The former lieutenant said everything shifted when the billionaire took the company private in October.
"I made peace with the fact that I didn't have psychological safety at Twitter 2.0 and that meant I could be fired at any moment, and for no reason at all," Crawford said.
Crawford went to warn that the billionaire is "living in an echo chamber" and surrounded by "yes men." The director said it "frustrated" her that Musk often relied on his gut instinct over data or other workers' expertise.
—Esther Crawford ✨ (@esthercrawford) July 26, 2023
"At times it felt like the inner circle was too zealous and fanatical in their unwavering support of everything he said," Crawford wrote on X. "Everyone needs to hear hard truths sometimes and if you fire all the people who speak up then the reality distortion field may just turn into a vortex," she added.
Crawford also said it can be challenging to deal with the billionaire's personality, which can "turn on a dime going from excited to angry."
"Since it was hard to read what mood he might be in and what his reaction would be to any given thing, people quickly became afraid of being called into meetings or having to share negative news with him," Crawford said.
Despite her criticism, the former director praised some aspects of Musk's leadership, including his "exceptional talent for tackling hard physics-based problems." She said she learned from the billionaire and also called him "oddly charming" and funny.
"His boldness, passion and storytelling is inspiring, but his lack of process and empathy is painful," she wrote.
"I don't think things had to be as difficult or dramatic as they turned out to be, but I can't say I'd bet against Elon or count him out. He's smart and has enough money to make a lot of mistakes and then course correct when things go awry. As the largest shareholder he can tank the value in the short-term, but eventually he'll need things to turn around," Crawford added.
Ultimately, Crawford said while she enjoyed her time at Twitter it was a "the best gift" she'd ever received when she was laid off in February.
Crawford and a spokesperson for X did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.
The Twitter director worked at the company for more than two years after it acquired her startup, Squad, in 2020, according to her LinkedIn page. After Musk purchased Twitter in October, she was identified as one of his top lieutenants and was put in charge of the company's new subscription service, Twitter Blue, before she was laid off in February. Since then, she has said she's taking a career break and has gone on to travel the world.