Ambitious software (barring exceptions like bitcoin) need vast datasets, cloud-scale compute ($$$), PhD colleagues versed in esoterica etc.
Conversation
The analogy to writing is false. Software is fundamentally a systems-and-teams sport. A better analogy is to legal institutions
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Google's search infrastructure is more like the knowledge base represented in US judicial system case law than like a novel.
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but yeah, great software is a few original ideas combined with an enormous heap of "case law" aka bug fixes, UX tweaks, etc.
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My point is, only a fraction of seriously ambitious software can be pursued by individuals or small startup teams.
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I'm enjoying reading through this thread. Off the cuff, I think I'd like to see a new career trajectory of mercenary->f-u money->missionary.
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But I'm also thinking I need to try to grok the "poorly understood force" and gather my thoughts into probably a blog post.
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As in, how devs can scratch the ambition itch, but without a structure that funnels their ambition into clueless over-performance.
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Isn't anyone even able to consider "impact" by definition swimming in options, whether within or outside a structure?
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There was a good post recently about how optionality is not a good measure of wealth/prosperity/post-scarcity. Can't find it



