Don’t Build Software
An unorthodox but whole-hearted message to all C-level people everywhere.
Software is eating the world. — Marc Andreessen, “Why Software Is Eating the World” (2011)
In business, survival is neither guaranteed, nor mandatory.
Does your organizational strategy clearly include the production of novel software and realizing value through it? No? Don’t build software.
Is your market de facto software? No? Don’t build software.
Do you have a current strategy that kind of implies the production of new software? Refine it, and slant towards not building software. If you can avoid it, then don’t build software.
Did a consultancy firm say you should be making software? Fuck them. Don’t build software.
Is your payroll full of consultants (not even your own employees) making software? Fire them right now. Don’t build software.
Do you have a lot of people in your organization who know how to write software? Unless you also have the strategy to support software as a first-grade part of your business, go ahead and fire them. Don’t build software. And don’t worry about them, as there are still lots of businesses that are building software and making money from it, unlike yours.
