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Small Tech (2020)

I frequently see debates about whether it's better to be a cog at a giant semi-monopoly, or to take investment money in the hopes of one day growing to be head cog at a giant semi-monopoly. Role models matter.

Hwaci is a small company but it is also closely held and debt-free and has low fixed costs, which means that it is largely immune to buy-outs, take-overs, and market down-turns. Silicon Valley is stuck in an outdated 'grow or die' mentality that overvalues risk, while investors dismiss sustainable, interesting projects for being too practical. It's saved me on multiple occasions and it's so simple, reliable and cheap that I think of it almost like a utility - tarsnap having an outage would be more surprising to me than water not coming out of my taps.

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