I think the nugget of wisdom here is your point about technically deep startups being quite rare. I can't remember who said it - Steve Blank? - but the startup

I think the nugget of wisdom here is your point about technically deep startups being quite rare. I can't remember who said it - Steve Blank? - but the startup world is currently dominated by companies who have marketing challenges, not technical challenges. If you go to a startup event, the people who need to figure out how to build what they want to build are vastly outnumbered by those who need to figure out how to get people to pay them for what they want to build. It seems like most companies are essentially building niche CRUD websites, with varying levels of sophistication. But to defend the nature of this piece a bit; it is excerpted from Hackers & Painters, a book as much about culture and inspiration in technology as anything else. Once you find your groove - and you're not 21 anymore - I don't think anyone can blame you for moving on.