File Under “Hardcore, Great Men Are All”

There’s so much to say about what’s happening at Twitter, but I’m going to start with one word: “Hardcore.” That’s what Elon said he wants from all his employees going forward – a “hardcore” mentality, a coder-first culture, a sleep-at-the-office-and-pound-Red-Bull kind of sensibility.

I’m pretty familiar with this culture – an earlier, less toxic version of it pervaded the pre-Elon tech world, a culture I reported on at Wired, the Standard, and in coverage of Google and similar companies in the early 2000s. While it had its charms – most of us have pulled an all nighter trying to get a product out – memorializing “hardcore” as a work ethos is a deeply flawed management technique. Not only does it foster unhealthy relationships to work, it also celebrates a toxic brand of male-dominated power – the kind of power that many of tech’s current titans, including Musk, Andreessen, Thiel, and their ilk – seem to believe is threatened. In their writings, investments, and political lobbying, it’s clear that “hardcore” is a philosophy this group of Valley troll-bullies seem desperate to entrench.

In fact, I think it’s fair to postulate that Musk’s takeover of Twitter, supported as it is by Andreessen’s a16, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, a boatload of Saudi money, and crypto mystery man Changpeng Zhao, is at its core driven by a  neo-reactionary response to the ongoing decline of the Great Man narrative across our society and in what they deride as “woke” corporate culture. The myth of the hero founder has always dominated Silicon Valley: The energy-drink fueled “great man” of tech who solves the world’s problems not with diplomacy and tact, but through singular genius, movie star grit, an assholic temperament, and raw coding prowess. Elon is, of course, this myth’s current favored son, its most treasured proof. This is the man that took on the entire auto industry, that landed rockets on barges, that married rock stars and inspired countless Iron Man sequels. Never mind the government handouts, the endless lawsuits, the fatherless children or the constant promotion of hate under the guise of “free speech.”

You’ll probably not be surprised to hear that I think the Great Man founder myth is stupid and facile, worthy of ridicule. And far better writers than me have torn it down. But I can’t get the pre-Elon Twitter out of my mind – because I knew the company so well. This was a culture committed to building relationships, that admitted its role in the world was complicated, nuanced, and required endless patience and diplomacy. Its people were not dedicated to profit above all else. Instead, they were dedicated to fostering the site’s unique role in the online world, to telling that story, to listening to criticism, to supporting those who needed support. Yeah, it was often disfunctional, but they worked on that disfunction tirelessly, and with humanity. And because of their work, Twitter’s corporate culture was truly special.

And who was at the core of that culture? I have a theory: It was the women.

Twitter was probably the most intentionally open, accommodating, and thoughtful work culture the Valley has ever produced at scale. And it’s not a coincidence that a healthy percentage of Twitter’s senior executives were women. Nor is it a coincidence that nearly all of them have left. I started keeping a list of the extraordinary women I worked with over the past few years who have recently departed the company. And just for posterity, and perhaps for you all to add to, I present it here. Think about all the men cheering on Elon’s “Hardcore” philosophy, who agree with him that the people below, and countless others, are unnecessary. Read through these names, click on their profiles, and ponder the roles they played in the nuanced ecosystem Twitter once was.

And then, let that sink in.

Leslie Berland – CMO

Sarah Personette – CCO

Dalana Brand – Chief People and Diversity Officer

Vijaya Gadde – Legal, Public Policy & Trust and Safety Lead

Lea Kissner (They, Them) – CISO

Robin Wheeler – Head of Sales

Sonya Penn – GM of Data and Developer Platform

Rebecca Hahn – VP Communications

Lara Cohen – VP, Global Head of Partners

Meg Haley – VP Revenue Product

Maggie Suniewick – VP Partnerships

Stephanie Prager – VP Global Business

Melissa Barnes – VP, Canada and Latin America

Julianna Hayes – VP Finance

Nola Weinstein – Global Head of Brand Experience & Engagement

Sarah Rosen – Sr. Director & Head of US Content Partnerships

Joanna Geary – Sr. Director, Curation

Of course there are, literally, thousands more. These are just the first 15 or so names of senior women executives who I interacted with at one time or another, people who helped make Twitter the amazing place it once was. Please add yours in comments or email me, I’d be happy to add to this list. Oh, and the photos – top is a picture Elon posted to prove he and his engineers were “hardcore.” Love the gender diversity (and the Trumpian thumbs up pose). And below, inexplicably but in perfect troll baiting form, is a picture of his night stand.