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@MitchBernstein Ok, let’s say he decided to pay 1736.7% more tax than he needed to.

Why is he making such a big deal about it then?

@wpclouddeploy Can you explain this with numbers?

Let’s say Elon is paying 3% interest on $548 million in loans.

How does the government come out ahead? (As opposed to him paying that as salary, and paying regular income tax?)

@Swizec People’s responses to this thread are truly mind boggling.

The point is: only the ultra-rich, with most of their net worth in public companies, can use stock like collateral in this way.

It’s almost 100% likely that nobody reading this thread will ever be able to do this.

@reedallred 1. Elon hasn’t been paying taxes. This is the first time in years he’s paid anything

2. Even these taxes are optional; he doesn’t have to exercise his options, he’s choosing to.

3. It is highly unlikely that any of us will be ever able to use our shares as collateral.

@reedallred https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1472791054726295554

So really, the only time Elon has to pay taxes is when he exercises his stock options.

Unlike you and I, he pays no income tax. Why? He takes no salary.

Instead, he uses his TSLA stock as collateral to get $548 million in (tax free) loans.

Up until now, Elon Musk has largely avoided paying personal taxes because he takes out hundreds of millions in loans (using his TSLA stock as collateral) to pay for his lifestyle.

Loans are exempt from income tax.

@tillkruss Not sure why that’s significant?

@hiTrevorHere @dvassallo @wtsnz “With NSOs, the IRS applies ordinary income taxes on the difference between the stock options exercise price.

If he had exercised his stock options as they vested, he would have faced a tax bill of $598.9 million.”

https://fortune.com/2021/11/10/tesla-elon-musk-stock-options-tax-mistake/

@wtsnz @dvassallo People wouldn’t have been outraged because it wouldn’t have been a story.

When the stock was at $6.24 the public wouldn’t have known the stock would go to $1,000.

He would have exercised the options, paid the tax, and moved on.

@solodiveco @dvassallo Nah. Tesla’s board of directors set the vesting schedule.

Also: why would it be “bad PR” for a CEO to be exercising options? If he’s buying stock it means he believes in the future of the company.

(It’s arguably a better move)

Don’t feel sorry for Elon:

- Yes, he’s paying $11 billion in taxes for exercising his TSLA stock options
- But, if he had exercised his options as they vested, his taxes would be $599 million
- Elon is paying 1736.7% more tax than he needed to, *because of his own decisions*

@dvassallo @wtsnz He’s not paying income taxes; he’s paying capital gains taxes to exercise stock options.

(Stock options he could have exercised when the stock price was $6.24 and not $1,000)

“If Musk had exercised his stock options as they vested, he would have ended up with a tax bill of $598.9 million.

Instead, he waited until his stock options were on the verge of hitting their 10-year expiration date. And he’s facing an estimated $12.5 billion tax bill for it.”

@wtsnz @dvassallo It actually matters a lot in this story. Elon’s net worth is strongly tied to Tesla stock.

The reason he has this tax bill is he waited too long to exercise his stock options (they went from $6.24 to $1,000).

https://fortune.com/2021/11/10/tesla-elon-musk-stock-options-tax-mistake/

Elon (the world’s richest man) is crying publicly about having to pay taxes.

The only reason he is paying billions in taxes is because he *waited too long to exercise his options.*

He could have exercised them at $6.24, but is now paying $1k per share.

https://fortune.com/2021/11/10/tesla-elon-musk-stock-options-tax-mistake/

@dvassallo It’s quite likely he paid way less tax than you.

“Musk, known to some as a progressive innovator, reportedly paid less than $70,000 in federal income taxes between 2015 and 2017 and paid nothing in 2018 - despite having a net worth of $152 billion.”

https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/558352-elon-musk-explains-his-extremely-low-tax-rate

@dvassallo According to Fortune, Elon paid very little in previous years.

Also, the only reason he is even paying billions in taxes is because he *waited too long to exercise his options.*

He could have exercised them at $6.24, but is now paying $1k per share.

https://fortune.com/2021/11/10/tesla-elon-musk-stock-options-tax-mistake/

@dvassallo How much tax has he paid every other year?

(Keep in mind, Musk is the richest person in the world with a net worth of $251 billion.

The median net worth of a household in the USA is $121,700)

@SachaGreif Looks great!

Good business ideas come from bumping around in a space.

It’s your personal experience, and hearing the experiences of others, that will generate the insights you’ll need to create compelling products.

Broadly, the element that aspiring startup founders lack is *context*:

- what are the dynamics of this market?
- who are the customers? Where do I find them?
- traditionally, what motivates these folks to buy?

Usually, to get these insights you’ll need first-hand experience.

The way to get more insights, ideas, and innovation is to have more experiences, connections, and experiments.

@NathanG Yes! I made the request to Descript shortly after we talked.

But, oddly, they never told us this was released…

RT @KostjaPalovic: @Mqsley i love this article by @mijustin and concept of the fog of war. https://justinjackson.ca/explore
you need to spend long e…

@ben_woodward In both business and podcasting I think you need a category/topic that people are already interested in (already searching for).

That needs to match up with your interest, passion, skills, network, as the creator.

The intersection (between the two) is where the magic happens.

@ben_woodward Probably the best way to see the pain points is to start a podcast.

There’s tons of nuance in podcasting that’s hard to get unless you’ve done it. 👍

@marshal @DavidEpstein @TransistorFM It’s really good. 👍

@adamwathan Nice 👍

@marshal Reading Range by @DavidEpstein, finally made me feel good about being a generalist. 👍

As a co-founder in @TransistorFM, I’ve also seen it as a strength. 💪 https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1465749990530174981

A clear-minded summary of what’s happening right now, and some sensible advice for how we should respond, individually. https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1472296229774180352

Packaged this thread up into a blog post here:

https://justinjackson.ca/vague

@CarissaAndrews Hey Carissa, I'm the co-founder of @TransistorFM. We can help. I'll DM you. 👍

@jayacunzo @stewfortier 🙌

@EspreeDevora @arithisandthat @SquadCastFM @TransistorFM @AlbanBrooke @buzzsprout Thx Espree! ❤️

@noahwbragg 🤣

@MrSimonBennett http://Crisp.chat has been really good for us.

@tomjacquesson Why aren’t they environmentally friendly.

@hack3r_vaillant About 91% of electricity here is produced from hydro. 👍

There’s a lesson here in how environmentally-friendly solutions are presented to people.

(Make it fun, make it better, make it faster)

In my town, e-scooters have become incredibly popular: people have ridden 160,000kms so far, and 40% of all trips replaced a car trip.

But what motivates riders to use this green mode of transportation?

81% said “it’s more fun.”

(While only 53% cited the environment)

@cgimmer @sab8a Totally! Really inspirational. 👍

@Erwin_AI @dannypostmaa @levelsio @ormanclark @yongfook @dinkydani21 @JamesIvings @DruRly @coreyhainesco @harrydry @linuz90 @damengchen @KennethCassel @dr @tdinh_me just signed up to try it out. 👍

Talked about this concept quite a bit with @joshuaanderton on the @megamaker podcast:

https://overcast.fm/+F112rbY6Q

@JordanGal tax/accounting complexity is my least favorite form of this. 😄

It’s similar to why we don’t accept PayPal. That one, seemingly small, change adds a massive amount of headaches.

@JordanGal the tax/accounting implications of this company crypto wallet stuff seems daunting 😅

lol. this customer comment made our day.

"@transistorfm – good shit"

thx for the kudos @rriggin!

@alanb @DashBarkHuss 🥰 thx!

@jot I just featured you in the latest Transistor newsletter!

https://mailchi.mp/transistor/dec-final

@GeoffTRoberts Nuance:

- Are annual discounts OK?
- Per seat discounts when enterprise buys in bulk?
- Does this advice apply to all products? (Wes Bos seems to do pretty well doing his course sale every year)
- Does this advice apply to all categories? (WPengine does discounts)

What was the most inspirational indie business story of 2021?

@lesley_pizza Personally, I would put “Publish your newsletters, directly from WordPress” as the H1.

“Halve your publishing time, double your reach” doesn’t tell me what your product does.

@okozzie_ I dig it. 👍

@OrionSeven @meepsapp Thx!

We've decided to launch @meepsapp on Product Hunt on January 15th.

The early-access deal will be available until then: https://meeps.app

(Quite a few folks joining now, because they're planning on building something in 2022)

Some existential "new startup" struggles and questions in this episode!

(🙏 would love your feedback) https://twitter.com/megamaker/status/1471297525713981444

@joe_ashwell thx 👍

@peeplaja @pc4media 1. Most indie entrepreneurs are not inventing iPads. 😉
2. When we “open people’s eyes” are we manufacturing demand, or, are we simply revealing a better path for something they already wanted to do?

@sumit_designs @pc4media @peeplaja “Demand” is driven by what customers want.

They have pre-existing behaviors (Excel) and those behaviors can result in new desires (“I saw someone using Airtable, I wonder if that’s better?”)

Often, “better solutions” *haven’t* resulted in more demand (Betamax, laserdisc).

@pc4media @peeplaja Shades of grey in which respect?

@peeplaja @pc4media Demand is cumulative: it almost always builds on top of pre-existing demand.

Telegraph ➡️ Landlines ➡️ Pagers ➡️ Car phones ➡️ Flip phones ➡️ Smart phones ➡️ iPhone

Apple didn’t create demand for the iPhone out of thin air; they built on top of existing demand.

@louisnicholls_ That’s essentially what I’m saying: you’re letting them know they’re in the right place.

https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1471172861180010496

Yup. 👍 https://twitter.com/MerchWithTaylor/status/1471195137980178434

@podcastharry @TransistorFM 🥳

“It’s time to come back to Transistor”

Exactly. https://twitter.com/NotechAna/status/1471190384420208641

Test your assumptions. 👍

(Test your homepage copy)

https://twitter.com/edwardshepard/status/1471179949587509254

🎯

https://twitter.com/derrickreimer/status/1471178921358016526

@derrickreimer @JamesCridland @heyreform @savvycal @TransistorFM 🎯

@JamesCridland @heyreform @savvycal @TransistorFM Yes, I think we're on the same page here. (Although there's a bit of interesting nuance we discuss later).

Car companies have been doing comparison marketing for a long time. It can be effective. 👍

I wonder if the proliferation of vague headlines, value-props, and sentiment-based "benefit-driven" copy is actually working... or is this a case of marketers believing their own BS?

Reference: @tiffatiel's hilarious startup homepage generator.

http://tiffzhang.com/startup

@JamesCridland @heyreform @savvycal @TransistorFM Also, Pepsi and Coca-Cola use each other in their advertising all the time. 😉

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyY15Jkkg2A

@JamesCridland @heyreform @savvycal @TransistorFM I think you've misunderstood me.

Clarification here:

https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1471164525965557767

To me, an "effective" homepage results in:

- more leads
- more trials

People come from a google search, WoM recommendation, review site, say: "Yup, I'm in the right place," and sign up for a trial.

Visit/trial % should be:
0.75% - 1% (credit card upfront)
5%+ (no credit card)

@JDomanPipe Yup!

We have a really high trial/conversion rate for SaaS.

And our retention/LTV is higher than average for our category.

@JamesCridland @heyreform @savvycal @TransistorFM That's not what we see in practice. 😉

Users often sign up after searching for "Anchor alternative", etc.

There's a reason that brand names like "Kleenex" became the defacto way of describing a category.

@JDomanPipe To me "effective" means:

- more leads
- more trials

People come from a google search, word of mouth recommendation, review site, say: "Yup, I'm in the right place," and sign up for a trial.

But don't listen to me; test your own assumptions!

In the past, I've used @UsabilityHub to run these tests:

- the 5 second test (what do people remember after seeing a page for 5 seconds?)
- first click test (what do people click first?)

https://fivesecondtest.com/

I know this template is "the right way" to do homepages...

But I'm not convinced it works as intended.

Anytime I've done user testing on marketing pages, people just read the headline and make a split second decision: "is this what I'm looking for?"

https://twitter.com/JDomanPipe/status/1471167049774911504

@JDomanPipe What's an example of an effective value-led headline?

(And how do you know it's effective?)

@JDomanPipe I am completely open to the possibility that I'm wrong.

But, I've done usability testing on this stuff (recorded usability walkthroughs, and 5 second impression/retention tests).

I'm not convinced that these vague headlines are effective.

@CasJam I agree; but I've done usability tests where people don't read the H2, H3, etc...

This dynamic also shows up in 5 second tests: https://fivesecondtest.com/

Keep in mind: a great headline won't matter if there isn't already demand for what you're selling.

A headline just lets customers know: "We've got what you want."

https://twitter.com/peeplaja/status/1471104860946894859

@pc4media @peeplaja Isn't everything that's being made really just an iteration on what's come before?

I think everyone's building "a better mousetrap," or a "a mousetrap but for X."

I also don't think we can "create demand" for things; customer demand is an accumulation of factors.

I think indie brands should be referring to big incumbents in their marketing (but not necessarily in their main headline).

The big "category-defining brand" has done all the hard work to educate customers on the category. Ride those tailwinds!

https://twitter.com/listentodaniel/status/1471162991240519687

The whole point of a headline (IMO) is to quickly tell people what you're selling!

People are searching for X.

When they come to your page, let them know they've found "X"!

https://twitter.com/jonathanstark/status/1462296458678484992

@gertjanwilde @heyreform @savvycal @TransistorFM I like it, because it quickly tells me what your software does. That's the objective!

@debgotwired I suppose that their intention; to me it seems ridiculous (but I've never managed a brand that big!)

@debgotwired yup!

New indie brands should explicitly describe "what their software is/does" in their headlines.

Examples:

"@heyreform is form software (like Typeform)."
"@savvycal is a calendar scheduling tool (like Calendly)."
"@transistorfm offers podcast hosting (like Libsyn)."

"I need email newsletter software, but this looks like... shopping cart software? What's a 'marketing platform'? Wait... it says 'grow sales,' so maybe it's a CRM?"

I'm not even convinced that vague headlines like this work for *established* brands.

But it's definitely not a tactic new brands should try!

("Um, what does this product... do?")

I see new startups emulating these "benefits-driven" headlines from established brands, and I think it's a mistake.

For example, Intercom's is "the best way to connect with your customers."

☝️ this approach works for them (we know it's "live chat") but won't work for new SaaS.

@bombeztic @Sofiaqt @loom @MiroHQ @heyenjoyhq @Zoom I’ve started using @ZipMessage for 100% async video chat. (Like Loom, but with threads)

I really like it!

🎯 https://twitter.com/peeplaja/status/1471104860946894859

Christmas show at @CaravanFarm in #vernonbc tonight 🎄

@tenlinesofcode @CasJam Yup! If a listener has already downloaded the MP3 on their device, that doesn’t get updated.

But every new download / stream / play gets the new dynamic audio. 👍

Even for indie podcasts like @buildyoursaas, we’ll get thousands of impressions on these campaigns. 📊

@Patticus I highly recommend @iChris for this.

Excited to see more indie podcasters try this out! 🥳

Now in Beta™: dynamic audio insertion (including mid-roll ads)

Demo here: https://youtu.be/3eyMnxBnw40

@VicVijayakumar i am old

@AWaselnuk 😜