Engineering Talent vs. Product Success | Generated by AI
Your observation touches on a critical tension in the tech and finance industries: the balance between hiring engineering talent and delivering successful products. Here’s a breakdown of why this happens and how to understand it:
1. The “Throw Engineers at the Problem” Fallacy
- Many big tech firms and banks believe that hiring top engineers will automatically translate into innovation and profitability. However, engineering talent alone does not guarantee product success.
- Example: Google and Meta have hired thousands of engineers, yet many of their initiatives (e.g., Google+, Meta’s metaverse) failed because they lacked product-market fit or clear strategic direction.
2. Legacy Companies Struggle to Innovate
- Companies like Google, IBM, or big banks sit on cash cows (e.g., search ads, enterprise software, trading desks) but struggle to innovate because:
- Bureaucracy slows decision-making.
- Risk aversion prevents bold moves (e.g., OpenAI eating Google’s lunch in AI).
- Legacy systems make it hard to pivot (banks still run on COBOL!).
- They don’t need more engineers—they need better product vision.
3. Anthropic, OpenAI, and the Startup Challenge
- Startups like OpenAI and Anthropic succeeded because they focused on product-first innovation, not just hiring engineers.
- They took risks (e.g., OpenAI betting on ChatGPT despite skepticism).
- Big tech could have built these products (Google had Transformer models first!) but failed to execute as a product company.
4. Why Big Tech Still Hires Engineers Anyway
- Defensive hiring: To prevent talent from going to competitors.
- Stock price optics: Investors like seeing “top talent” acquisitions.
- Hope that someday, something works: E.g., Google’s “20% time” rarely leads to breakthroughs now.
5. The Real Solution: Product Leadership > Engineering Muscle
- Apple is the best example: They don’t hire the most engineers, but they ship products people love (iPhone, AirPods).
- Elon’s companies (Tesla, SpaceX): Engineering is critical, but product vision drives everything.
- Big banks failing in fintech: They hire engineers but don’t let them disrupt the core business.
Key Takeaway
Big tech and banks fail when they think engineering = innovation. The real winners (OpenAI, Apple, Tesla) succeed because they:
- Start with product vision, not just hiring.
- Empower small, agile teams (not bureaucratic monsters).
- Take risks instead of protecting legacy cash cows.
The future belongs to companies that think like product-first startups, even if they’re giants. Hiring engineers without a clear product strategy just leads to expensive failures.