"Bide your time.Write an OS in your spare time" Joe Armstrong(Erlang creator)
erlang.org
erlang.org
"I have only seen three repeatable patterns, that have caused the spread of Erlang into commercial projects:
1) A Catastrophe Project X fails - totally - a total disaster. Help me - help help helpErlang guys run in an save them
2) We can make money Idea X can make money if we can implement it really quickly and get to the market place tomorrow Erlang guys think it's a programming competion that they'll do over the weekend - first product is shipped in three months. Java competitor goes bankrupt.
3) Hop offs A gang of smart programmers get so frustrated using technology X that they bail out from the mothership and start own company and do stuff in Erlang"
and
"If you're in one of these phases where things don't happen bide your time. Write an operating system in your spare time or a stock exchange - this is always good practise - like doing your scales if you play the piano "
Also winning and loosing is often a purely temporary thing - often we won battles - but it turned out badly. And lost battles which then turned out well. Erlang was banned years ago (a loss) but a few years on the ban caused it to spread and led to widespread use outside Ericsson.
"Venture capitalists don't back technologies they back people - the old addage is "give me a grade 1 person with a grade 2 idea rather than a grade 2 person with a grade 1 idea""