Goodbye Pando, hello Tesla

I thought I would never leave journalism. Aside from five seasons of fruit-picking and one summer of bee-keeping, it’s the only job I’ve had, the only one I’ve ever wanted. And the last couple of years, covering tech for PandoDaily, have been the most satisfying of my career. I will be forever grateful to Sarah Lacy for plucking me from obscurity — my spare bedroom in Baltimore, to be precise — to work for a publication that has given me the latitude and support to pursue and publish the most interesting work I have ever done.

So, it’s with great sadness that I say goodbye to Pando, and to my colleagues there, all of whom I respect very much and I’m proud to call friends. I hope to stay close to the company, even as I move on to the next thing. But Pando will continue to thrive without me, and its newly beefed-up team is pushing the site into ever-more fascinating territory.

I would not be leaving Pando, or journalism, for any old reason. Elon Musk, a man for whom I have enormous respect and admiration, offered me a role as a writer at Tesla Motors, to tell stories about the company, the car, and the cause: catalyzing an electric car revolution that will help wean the world off fossil fuels.

I could not be happier to accept a position at this remarkable company at such a pivotal point in its life. Nor could I be more enthused about the prospect of working for Musk, who, between running Tesla and launching space rockets that may one day take humans to Mars, has proven himself to be one of society’s most important innovators.

So, while I leave journalism with a heavy heart, I move on with the kind of wild excitement that comes only with such a substantial phase shift. Thank you to everyone who read and engaged with my work over the last couple of years. It has been a true pleasure.