[lyapunova]

I have never let the existence of Elon swing my decision making too much one way or the other.

As others have pointed out, he has some qualities that making him a major asset and some that make him a liability.

Since you asked specifically about Elon, I think he is best at launching companies via the SV playbook, but not as well-suited for sustaining mid-to-latestage companies that aim to serve as industry cornerstones (with some exception allotted for SpaceX). The pattern I have seen is the underlying layers of the companies he spearheads early on typically erode due to rapid accumulation of both technical and cultural debt.