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This is consistent with my experience. One element of it is also that in many cases the path to "becoming big" starts with bootstrapping and experimental proje

by borplk 9y ago

This is consistent with my experience. One element of it is also that in many cases the path to "becoming big" starts with bootstrapping and experimental projects that you may not know if it is going to survive and exist in a few years or if you are going to throw it away in 3 months. So in those cases you may still choose to be scrappy, knowing that it will come back to bite you, but at that stage that is thought of the success scenario and a good problem to have (if it happens at all). This is in contrast to large serious projects for large existing companies where you can much more confidently know that X and Y are going to be required because from day 1 you know the project is not just some casual thing. This is also why I think the software creation process and tools need to seriously think about having adjustable safety/pain knobs to allow for cheap scrappy prototyping but also allow to tighten the screws for production. You can kind of see a glimpse of this between various programming languages, particularly in their type system. But the general concept is broader than just that.

mwcampbell 9y ago
It occurs to me that young people may be better at bootstrapping in a scrappy way, because they don't yet have the knowledge and experience to immediately consider all the things that would be required in a mature implementation. Speaking for myself, now that I'm approaching middle age (37), if I contemplate developing a new product from scratch, I risk paralysis by analysis, overthinking every aspect of it. I certainly didn't do that when I was 21. Scrappy bootstrapping is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it brings us great new products. On the other hand, ignoring some real-world concerns can be a major problem for users. As just one example, consider the impact for people with disabilities (e.g. blind, mobility impaired) who need to use an app that was developed with no regard for accessibility. And I've blissfully ignored other real-world concerns myself. For instance, the first desktop app that I worked on (in my 20s) had no support for HTTP proxies (as often found in corporate networks back then).

by borplk 9y ago

mwcampbell 9y ago

It occurs to me that young people may be better at bootstrapping in a scrappy way, because they don't yet have the knowledge and experience to immediately consider all the things that would be required in a mature implementation. Speaking for myself, now that I'm approaching middle age (37), if I contemplate developing a new product from scratch, I risk paralysis by analysis, overthinking every aspect of it. I certainly didn't do that when I was 21. Scrappy bootstrapping is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it brings us great new products. On the other hand, ignoring some real-world concerns can be a major problem for users. As just one example, consider the impact for people with disabilities (e.g. blind, mobility impaired) who need to use an app that was developed with no regard for accessibility. And I've blissfully ignored other real-world concerns myself. For instance, the first desktop app that I worked on (in my 20s) had no support for HTTP proxies (as often found in corporate networks back then).