Do it like Elon Musk: Leaked email reveals Tesla CEO’s simple work rules for business success, ‘Walk out of a meeting…’

James Watt, co-founder of the global beer company BrewDog, recently shared a post on LinkedIn, highlighting how Elon Musk’s productivity rules helped him build a billion-dollar business.

Watt referred to a leaked 2018 email from Elon Musk to Tesla employees, where the tech billionaire outlined key principles to improve efficiency at work. Watt said these rules were surprisingly similar to what BrewDog had already been practising.

One of Musk’s points was about keeping meetings short. He called “excessive meetings” a major problem in big companies. Watt said BrewDog followed a similar idea. Meetings were limited to 30 minutes at most, with many lasting just five.

“If you booked an hour, you better have a damn good reason,” he added.

The Tesla CEO also advised leaving a meeting if it was no longer useful: “Walk out of a meeting or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren't adding value. It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time.”

Watt agreed.

“Don’t waste time,” Watt told his employees. “If a conversation isn’t useful, get up and leave. Zero guilt.”

The world's richest man also encouraged direct communication, skipping unnecessary steps in the chain of command. BrewDog applied this in 2020 by reducing hierarchy.

“If a brewer needed something from me, they didn’t need permission from three managers to ask,” Watt explained.

The final rule was to use common sense and remove silly or outdated processes. Watt said BrewDog banned unnecessary rules. If something didn’t support their main goal, it was cut out.

Watt pointed out that in 2018, Tesla’s revenue was $21.4 billion. By 2023, it had grown to $97.6 billion. According to him, whether people admire Elon Musk or not, there’s no denying his ability to grow companies fast.

BrewDog’s story is also impressive. It started as a small business in Scotland and became a global beer brand worth over a billion dollars. Watt believes Musk’s ideas played a part in that success, as BrewDog followed similar practices early on.

He ended his post with advice for other companies: look at Elon Musk’s email and ask what can be removed from your company culture. “...most of the processes you think are important are actually getting in the way of you scaling - not assisting it,” Watt wrote.

Netizens’ reactions

One LinkedIn user reacted, “I used to get in trouble at IBM for not following processes. And the funny thing was, the then CEO Ginni Rommety also was of the same opinion and yet every IBMer followed processes. I guess it's the inertia of an old process-driven organisation.”

“It’s a good reminder that being busy doesn’t mean being productive. The key is cutting out the unnecessary and focusing on what actually moves the needle,” reacted another.