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I understand the need for support around a complex and constantly evolving codebase, but this is the scale of it that I can't grasp. Software is supposed to sc

I understand the need for support around a complex and constantly evolving codebase, but this is the scale of it that I can't grasp. Software is supposed to scale almost for free, they don't need people to actually make the transactions and push the bits by hand, this is all automated. My guess is they have a lot of sales and an enormous amount of overhead. According to Price's Law about 100 people are doing half of the work, but of course it is difficult to guess which ones and they still need the other half to be there.

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conorcleary 4y ago
Customer support and new-build implementation tied to marketing is a large chunk of the people hours.
wollsmoth 4y ago
Hard to say without knowing what they're working on. Maybe there's a lot to do with integrating other software/services. Maybe they've got a good devops org to help smooth the process for everyone. Sometimes having a few more people than you need on many levels makes the org a lot more resilient to individuals leaving so the org can keep on rolling without a hitch.
- kill_nate_kill 4y ago
  If your system doesn't have any slack in it, how can it respond to change? Having a slightly underloaded system is definitely the way to go, it leaves you with some gas to change direction if you see that you're barreling towards a cliff.
- marcosdumay 4y ago
  Well, the transition from 2k to 10k people isn't something done to add slack to create a flexible system. For that you at most double the number of people, you don't multiply it by 5. They must have changed something either on their product or on their procedures on those 5 years.
  - wollsmoth 4y ago
    My guess is they decided to start writing more tools internally instead of relying on external vendors to respond to their needs. Again, hard to say. How much did eng grow vs sales/support.
golergka 4y ago
The more your software touches real money and merchandise, the more time you have to spend to make sure you're not breaking the law in any country you're operating in. It's not fun, it's very error-prone and it's very important to get right.
neon_electro 4y ago
>Software is supposed to scale almost for free, Sure, that may be true, but startups don't suffer for lacking of scaling ability. Software does not scale with changing requirements for free. Full stop.
oblio 4y ago
> My guess is they have a lot of sales and an enormous amount of overhead. That's not overhead, it's business. Software people think that they're crucial. They are in the sense that the thing has to be built. But if nothing is bought, the business goes under and the software is scrapped. "The overhead" makes the business work, makes people buy it and continue using it, helps them when they don't know which buttons to push, which integrations to use, etc.
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conorcleary 4y ago

Customer support and new-build implementation tied to marketing is a large chunk of the people hours.

wollsmoth 4y ago

Hard to say without knowing what they're working on. Maybe there's a lot to do with integrating other software/services. Maybe they've got a good devops org to help smooth the process for everyone. Sometimes having a few more people than you need on many levels makes the org a lot more resilient to individuals leaving so the org can keep on rolling without a hitch.

kill_nate_kill 4y ago
If your system doesn't have any slack in it, how can it respond to change? Having a slightly underloaded system is definitely the way to go, it leaves you with some gas to change direction if you see that you're barreling towards a cliff.
marcosdumay 4y ago
Well, the transition from 2k to 10k people isn't something done to add slack to create a flexible system. For that you at most double the number of people, you don't multiply it by 5. They must have changed something either on their product or on their procedures on those 5 years.
- wollsmoth 4y ago
  My guess is they decided to start writing more tools internally instead of relying on external vendors to respond to their needs. Again, hard to say. How much did eng grow vs sales/support.

golergka 4y ago

The more your software touches real money and merchandise, the more time you have to spend to make sure you're not breaking the law in any country you're operating in. It's not fun, it's very error-prone and it's very important to get right.

neon_electro 4y ago

>Software is supposed to scale almost for free, Sure, that may be true, but startups don't suffer for lacking of scaling ability. Software does not scale with changing requirements for free. Full stop.

oblio 4y ago

> My guess is they have a lot of sales and an enormous amount of overhead. That's not overhead, it's business. Software people think that they're crucial. They are in the sense that the thing has to be built. But if nothing is bought, the business goes under and the software is scrapped. "The overhead" makes the business work, makes people buy it and continue using it, helps them when they don't know which buttons to push, which integrations to use, etc.

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