Comment by AitchEmArsey | Hacker News Reader

Comment by AitchEmArsey | Hacker News Reader

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> "I don't know why we're doing this, it's going to cost a lot of money and make things worse."

I'm a step outside the domain so not totally confident in my own cynicism, but I feel like this phrase could be applied to practically every B2B startup I hear about these days. Selling CRM, project management and time tracking tools to (mostly) other VC-funded companies is just a way to skim more cream out of the economy without adding any true value.

I try not to judge individuals for working in these places; working at AWS I'm hardly in a position to throw stones. Increasingly though I am dismayed by the lack of real, society-enhancing jobs available to highly skilled tech workers in the sea of mediocrity and rent-seeking.

   every B2B startup I hear about these days. Selling CRM, 
   project management and time tracking tools to (mostly) 
   other VC-funded companies is just a way to skim more 
   cream out of the economy

I think it's OK to an extent. Not all of those apps are good, but the best of them do enable businesses.

   I am dismayed by the lack of real, society-enhancing 
   jobs available to highly skilled tech workers

I think the root problem is a lack of developers. The resulting crazy high developer pay scale prices smaller orgs completely out of the game.

We need to increase the supply of capable developers.

You better not look too closely at the rest of the economy then because most of it looks like that.

You mean we don't need 5 different grocery chains at every highway crossing selling the same 100 products under 500 different brands from 5 companies?

Competition between profitable businesses is one thing, loss-making startups paying 6-figure salaries for shitty tools is quite different - particularly when the latter company ends up with a billion-dollar valuation for reasons totally divorced from actual worth.

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