This is basically a manifestation of the "LISP Curse" - high level functional languages are sufficiently powerful that small teams of really smart people (like

This is basically a manifestation of the "LISP Curse" - high level functional languages are sufficiently powerful that small teams of really smart people (like us) can crank out amazing applications with relatively low effort. However, to maintain and improve these applications, you need to maintain and grow a pool of really smart people, which is something of a challenge for large companies. We tend to be like cats - very fascinated for short periods of time but unwilling to listen to non-technical direction issued by a bunch of MBA's. It's far easier - for a non-technical person - to assemble a horde of average developers using a pre-packaged toolkit (Java, Microsoft, SAP, or enterprise software packages) and boss them through some form of digitized process map. Let them hire a bunch of their B-school buddies at ACN or Mckinsey to "faciliate" the deployment, for $300 - $500 per hour, and it's a lock. Big companies don't care about technical excellence - they care about ensuring the company, not the developer, controls the code. The truth of the matter - developers are not created equal and you will get a lot farther in a small group if you let your best person carry the ball. Unfortunately we're comparing archers and crossbowmen - the archer took YEARS to train but delivered (for his time) an awesome rate of fire with good accuracy. The Crossbow allowed you to herd together large groups of average peasants and overcome the archer by sheer weight of numbers.