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No, a startup lives and dies by revenue or fundraising. Engineers are a means of achieving revenue for many startups, but that does not mean they live and die b

No, a startup lives and dies by revenue or fundraising. Engineers are a means of achieving revenue for many startups, but that does not mean they live and die by their engineers. There are plenty of large companies that got there without engineering excellence.

withinboredom 3y ago
If you really want an adventure into this 'engineers vs. funding', look up Roberts Space Industries.
- paulryanrogers 3y ago
  Is that really a representative example though? Roberts basically invented a gaming subgenre despite himself until he had so much money there was no one left who could say "stop, that's enough". His ambition appears to keep engineers busy with an ever growing product scope.
  - withinboredom 3y ago
    That’s… an over simplification. But it’s an example of what happens when sales people are trying to sell jpegs and mpegs before anyone has done any development. It drives development to the point that virtually nothing is “done” and everything is half-done.
paxys 3y ago
And conversely there are plenty of startups (the majority even) that had excellent engineering but failed due to a myriad of other reasons. "Engineering = success" is a very naive view of the industry and the world.
- rewmie 3y ago
  > And conversely there are plenty of startups (the majority even) that had excellent engineering but failed due to a myriad of other reasons. "Engineering = success" is a very naive view of the industry and the world. You're putting up lame strawmen. No one claimed "Engineering = success". The claim is that it is absolutely impossible to have a tech startup without engineers, and no idea, no matter how cunning it might be, can have success if engineering can't turn it to into reality. A tech startup without engineering is snake oil. Simple as that. Let's not pretend that a salesperson parachuting into a startup with a product in the market can possibly have a comparable impact to those who actually deliver the actual product.
  - dicriseg 3y ago
    What good is a product to a startup if no one's using it? Sales turns the product into money.
alvarezbjm-hn 3y ago
Theranos did well for a while /s (but matches that narrative!)

withinboredom 3y ago

If you really want an adventure into this 'engineers vs. funding', look up Roberts Space Industries.

paulryanrogers 3y ago
Is that really a representative example though? Roberts basically invented a gaming subgenre despite himself until he had so much money there was no one left who could say "stop, that's enough". His ambition appears to keep engineers busy with an ever growing product scope.
- withinboredom 3y ago
  That’s… an over simplification. But it’s an example of what happens when sales people are trying to sell jpegs and mpegs before anyone has done any development. It drives development to the point that virtually nothing is “done” and everything is half-done.

paxys 3y ago

And conversely there are plenty of startups (the majority even) that had excellent engineering but failed due to a myriad of other reasons. "Engineering = success" is a very naive view of the industry and the world.

rewmie 3y ago
> And conversely there are plenty of startups (the majority even) that had excellent engineering but failed due to a myriad of other reasons. "Engineering = success" is a very naive view of the industry and the world. You're putting up lame strawmen. No one claimed "Engineering = success". The claim is that it is absolutely impossible to have a tech startup without engineers, and no idea, no matter how cunning it might be, can have success if engineering can't turn it to into reality. A tech startup without engineering is snake oil. Simple as that. Let's not pretend that a salesperson parachuting into a startup with a product in the market can possibly have a comparable impact to those who actually deliver the actual product.
- dicriseg 3y ago
  What good is a product to a startup if no one's using it? Sales turns the product into money.

alvarezbjm-hn 3y ago

Theranos did well for a while /s (but matches that narrative!)