Here’s What It Is Really Like to Report to Elon Musk, According to X’s Head of Product

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<h2 class=”tw:mt-0 tw:mb-1 tw:text-2xl tw:font-heading”>Key Takeaways</h2>
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<li>X runs as a lean, startup‑style operation with about 30 core product engineers, very few managers, and a flat structure, according to X’s head of product, Nikita Bier.</li>

<li>Most individual contributors report directly to CEO Elon Musk.</li>

<li>Musk holds weekly reviews where engineers present one or two slides on what they shipped, and he gives them direct feedback on their work.</li>

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<p>Reporting to <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/elon-musks-xai-just-laid-off-500-workers-who-trained-grok/497128″>Elon Musk</a> at <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/elon-musk-sunsets-twitter-domain-completes-rebrand-to-xcom/474319″>X</a> means operating in a small, flat organization where the CEO is <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/airbnb-ceo-chesky-is-a-hands-on-manager-with-50-employees/496317″>effectively the direct manager</a>. For Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/ex-twitter-worker-awarded-600k-for-unfair-dismissal/478536″>the job is both difficult</a> and “a lot of fun.” </p>

<p>On a recent episode of the <a href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF4j4LB-2rk”><em>Out of Office</em> podcast</a>, Bier contrasted life at X with his work at other <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/science-technology/fintech-is-evolving-and-investors-should-pay-attention/500854″>Silicon Valley</a> giants <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/meta-is-reportedly-planning-to-raise-prices-on-a-popular/500748″>like Meta</a> and <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/science-technology/danny-devito-discord-and-the-future-of-social-media/379290″>Discord</a>. Bier characterized X as “essentially operating like a startup,” with 30 core engineers, plus two designers, a couple of product managers and himself. The organization is remarkably “flat” with many individual contributors reporting directly to Musk. </p>

<p>“The size of the engineering team is equivalent to a feature when <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/mark-zuckerberg-reveals-the-mindset-behind-metas-wins/480054″>I worked at Facebook</a>,” he said, emphasizing that there are “very few managers.”</p>

<figure class=”wp-block-image size-large”><img loading=”lazy” decoding=”async” height=”710″ width=”1024″ src=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Nikita-Bier-GettyImages-180205405.jpg?w=1024″ alt=”SAN FRANCISCO, CA – SEPTEMBER 09: Nikita Bier attends TechCruch Disrupt SF 2013 at San Francisco Design Center on September 9, 2013 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch)” class=”wp-image-416181″ srcset=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Nikita-Bier-GettyImages-180205405.jpg 3000w, https://www.entrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Nikita-Bier-GettyImages-180205405.jpg?resize=300,208 300w, https://www.entrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Nikita-Bier-GettyImages-180205405.jpg?resize=768,533 768w, https://www.entrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Nikita-Bier-GettyImages-180205405.jpg?resize=1024,710 1024w, https://www.entrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Nikita-Bier-GettyImages-180205405.jpg?resize=1536,1065 1536w, https://www.entrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Nikita-Bier-GettyImages-180205405.jpg?resize=2048,1421 2048w, https://www.entrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/02/Nikita-Bier-GettyImages-180205405.jpg?resize=324,225 324w” data-sizes=”auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px” /><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Nikita Bier. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch)</figcaption></figure>

<p>Within that lean structure, Musk is unusually hands-on. Bier says that Musk does <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/hustle-culture-is-outdated-heres-what-actually-scales/500522″>weekly reviews</a> “with every engineer at the company.” At these meetings, engineers present one or two slides based on what they have done that week, and Musk listens and gives feedback. </p>

<p>“Everyone has an incredible amount of <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/meet-the-entrepreneur-behind-qualified-digital/493503″>agency</a>,” Bier said. “We come up with an idea, we build it in a week and it’s out.”</p>

<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-high-stakes-constant-crises”>High stakes, constant crises</h2>

<p>On the podcast, Bier called his job “the hardest I’ve ever done in my life,” and said that “every morning, every day, <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/how-to-align-your-team-when-a-pr-crisis-hits-your-business/501252″>there’s a new crisis</a>.” He recalls waking up in the middle of the night to see political commentators spinning conspiracy threads about him on X, and every few weeks watching someone post his home address on the platform for all to see.</p>

<p>Additionally, “being <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/6-ways-to-improve-customer-support-as-a-saas-company/497554″>customer support</a> for like 500 million people is a crazy experience,” he said. </p>

<p>For Bier, who has <a href=”https://x.com/nikitabier”>over 800,000 followers </a>on X, describes himself as a power user who spends four to five hours a day on the platform. He says that he “personally suffers the consequences” if X doesn’t survive the test of time. “I lose as a creator,” he said. </p>

<p>That alignment makes the grind feel worthwhile. </p>

<p>“To work on a product that you spend every waking moment on is just a lot of fun,” he said, even as he calls it the toughest job of his career.</p>

<p>Musk is <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/elon-musk-says-money-cant-buy-happiness”>the richest person in the world</a> at the time of writing, with a <a href=”https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/”>total net worth</a> of $672 billion. In November, Tesla shareholders approved a record-breaking <a href=”https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/tesla-offers-elon-musk-record-1-trillion-pay-package/496761″>$1 trillion compensation plan</a> for Musk, leaving him room to become the world’s first trillionaire if he meets a series of milestones.</p>

<p>Musk bought X, then called Twitter, for <a href=”https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/27/technology/elon-musk-twitter-deal-complete.html”>$44 billion in October 2022</a>. Since then, X has <a href=”https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-rebrand-x-name-change-elon-musk-what-it-means/#:~:text=The%20internet%20is%20abuzz%20as,Apple%20and%20Google%20app%20stores.”>undergone a sweeping rebrand</a>, implemented <a href=”https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2025/02/05/heres-what-happened-after-elon-musk-cut-80-of-xs-employees-as-he-eyes-reshaping-federal-workforce/”>cost cuts</a> and added new features, including <a href=”https://www.pcmag.com/explainers/what-is-x-premium-plus-subscription-how-much”>a subscription service</a>.</p>

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