I'm starting to build up a theory of what it means to build a valuable software company (more broadly technology company, maybe?) for the long term after working as a software developer over the past ten years.

This perspective spans three themes, infrastructure, distribution, and design.

Infrastructure can be people, physical spaces, physical materials, machines, manufacturing operations. Distribution is the control flow of things like information, products, services, capital, and people. Design can be used as an umbrella for user experience, product design, and industrial design.

The theory goes like this; a successful company starts by quickly building one or two pillars well, followed by the optional third pillar slowly.

For example, let's look at Apple. Apple started building infrastructure and distribution capabilities very early in the form of App Stores, manufacturing, and store-fronts. Look at the user experience of Apple products though, it advances slowly. Using iOS is very similar to when the iPhone launched and similarly with Apple's laptops.

Look at Amazon. Distribution centers and AWS first, multi-channel product distribution second, and finally engage with design for more internal AWS products, Kindle, and the Prime suite.

For new companies today, infrastructure and distribution are significantly harder to start with. More and more companies are working on creating new experiences on top of the infrastructure and distribution layers that other, earlier movers have established.

Moreover, you don't need all three pillars to succeed. Take Hashicorp for example, Hashicorp made it easy for developers to interact with cloud computing by offering developers a simple, declarative way to manage cloud resources.

Hashicorp nailed the new design aspect and was also able to grow its distribution to developers and providers through services and open source community building, and eventually, offered their own cloud (infrastructure) service.

I don't think this theory is absolutely true. What I do know is that when I evaluate what to work on, how to structure critiques on my own company or someone else's: this theory has served as a very helpful guideline and starting point for developing a perspective on value add.