Platforms and Sandboxes
I’m in the middle of reading this HackerNews posting and I’m starting to see some parallels between building a tech business on a platform, and creating a sandbox RPG game1.
Both are based on inverting the work load. Provide a means for other people to do your work for you and they will. The tech business (RPG) will move in a direction your customers (players) want, and you can focus on more important parts of your business (game).
Interesting.
1. For those unfamiliar with sandbox RPG games, the person running the game basically presents a complete world with an overall plot, and lets the characters choose their own actions and interact how they will with this world, as opposed to creating individual, fixed story adventures for their players to run through.