Former Tesla President @jonmcneill says Elon Musk kept employees motivated post-IPO by "starving the balance sheet": "Even after we were public, we operated Tesla on a quarter's worth of cash." "I kept saying to Elon, 'I would like a little breathing room.' He's like, 'No. We've got to think like we're young entrepreneurs: if you're two steps from death—you operate differently.'" "I was like, 'Man, we have a quarter's worth of cash, but we have 70 days of payables. That means we have less than three weeks of cash. This is tight.' But that kept everybody sharp." "The experience of working in a Musk company is—you are literally on the biggest challenge you've ever faced in your life, with the best people, and you're doing the best work of your life. That's what keeps most people engaged—it's not the balance in their bank account."