Falling in love
I’ve fallen in love with the process of developing software:
1. Find a problem to solve
2. Build a solution to solve it
3. Rinse. Recycle. Repeat.
It’s as simple as that.
Though more often than not, there’s a whole bunch of other steps in the process. Requirements gathering, planning, testing, deployment, release notes, and the list goes on. This doesn’t even include the marketing and sales processes that have to go along with it (but let’s set those aside for now).
The larger the organization, the more steps there are in the process. Sometimes you’ll have a person or entire team responsible for just one step of the process. It’s the only way to “steer the ship” if you will. It’s also why startups can move so much faster. Less orchestration. Less distraction. Startups just focus on solving the problem, and the rest comes later after you actually have money coming in the door. It’s how so many small companies take on the tech giants, and why so many tech giants acquire companies to innovate.
Don’t get me wrong, those other steps eventually become very important for maintaining risk, but they come at a cost to innovation. Innovation often requires taking risks, and startups thrive on that. It’s a factor of why so many fail. They take a risk and when it pays off, it’s innovative. When it doesn’t, the startup fails (or has to pivot if it was a calculated risk).
The parts I love the most are just those 2. It’s why I’ve spent so much time in startups. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe my time in startups is why I love those parts the most. In either case, it is also why I am a founder. I want to build products that solve problems. Along the way, I want to build a company that solves a problem for other people: providing for their family through a job they enjoy.