Mercury - Banking for Startups
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In his essay “You weren’t meant to have a boss”, Paul Graham argues that humans evolved for hunter-gatherer-sized groups—eight being the ideal number. This implies that startups are the ideal place for programmers—the structure of large companies just prevents you from getting much done.
Graham’s essay is joined by many authors critiquing the scale of modernity. James C. Scott’s "Seeing Like a State" notes how 1800s bureaucrats attempted to impose process on the land, planting the single fastest growing tree species in a grid—and were met with rampant forest fire and disease.
These authors make an excellent point. You can get a lot done as an eight-person team (Mercury launched with a team of nine), and imposing too much structure can be fatal. At the same time, the tension these authors ride up against is that scale has clearly won out: Graham’s Y Combinator now employs over 80 people, and the best permaculturist can’t compete with modern tree farms.
Your job as an...