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I'm the author bawolff, and I completely agree that the success of software engineers as CEOs is correlation, not causation. The likely cause is that software

I'm the author bawolff, and I completely agree that the success of software engineers as CEOs is correlation, not causation. The likely cause is that software engineers learn to discover value by running value experiments. Zuckerberg and Bezos are well known for their value experiments in production. I believe that the nature of pursuing new value, in effect, taught them this practice. And to the comment below, when it comes to oil, new value in the form of oil fields is also discovered. Prospecting for oil is one concrete form of the abstract pattern of discovering value, iterating in software is also prospecting for value. It's just that unlike oil, you can use software to prospect for all kinds of value very quickly.

danielmarkbruce 6y ago
You might not be understanding his/her point...
bawolff 6y ago
If you gave a list of non-software companies that had software engineers as their CEOs, i'd give this some credence, but as is this is kind of rediculous when you have a giant elephant in the room confounding factor that you're pretending doesn't exist. > Prospecting for oil is one concrete form of the abstract pattern of discovering value So is literally everything. Police officer: discovering value by figuring out the right person to arrest Doctor: discovering value by figuring out what disease. Etc
efficax 6y ago
The likely cause is that tech companies are the most recent space for capital innovation and profit, so have the hottest stocks right now
lgsilver 6y ago
Okay, but this is a function of the medium not of the people. Crafting successful feedback loops has defined great leaders across industries for hundred(s) of years. A bent toward experimentation is not something that software engineers possess. It's a trait that great leaders build into their businesses.
- sitkack 6y ago
  In my circles, I see little to no experimentation done in the computer field, much to my dismay. We already have the best simulator for the universe, itself.

danielmarkbruce 6y ago

You might not be understanding his/her point...

bawolff 6y ago

If you gave a list of non-software companies that had software engineers as their CEOs, i'd give this some credence, but as is this is kind of rediculous when you have a giant elephant in the room confounding factor that you're pretending doesn't exist. > Prospecting for oil is one concrete form of the abstract pattern of discovering value So is literally everything. Police officer: discovering value by figuring out the right person to arrest Doctor: discovering value by figuring out what disease. Etc

efficax 6y ago

The likely cause is that tech companies are the most recent space for capital innovation and profit, so have the hottest stocks right now

lgsilver 6y ago

Okay, but this is a function of the medium not of the people. Crafting successful feedback loops has defined great leaders across industries for hundred(s) of years. A bent toward experimentation is not something that software engineers possess. It's a trait that great leaders build into their businesses.

sitkack 6y ago
In my circles, I see little to no experimentation done in the computer field, much to my dismay. We already have the best simulator for the universe, itself.