Maybe we just shouldn't build software with so many people – Nicoleta Ciaușu

Maybe we just shouldn't build software with so many people

01 Jul, 2026

Was thinking of how a lot of the software I use and love lately has been built in very small teams, self funded, with genuine care for the product built.

I think there's enough people that understand that making tech costs money, and prefer paying a small sum, to a very transparent and thoughtful business that cares for its users.

Some examples of software: Notesnook, Kagi, Todoist, Ghost, Cables.gl. And Bear!

It's also why I'm happy that software coops exist, as by their nature they work like this too. Actually, all self-funded, independent companies, to some capacity (37signals comes to mind). It just makes sense to me to build software like this. And it creates really high quality stuff that is a joy to use.

The only unfortunate side effect, for me, being - I want to be a part of it too. But places like these don't hire often, as yes, they don't need to, since you can build great stuff with few people. So it's really hard to get in! Maybe I could one day just start my own, nurture an idea, have a strong product vision, care about the people I'm serving, build a community, be transparent, be self-funded, and see if I can make it stick.

Could I really pull that off? 💭

⋆｡𖦹°⋆ thanks for reading ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ for comments, drop a message at: hello [at] nicoleta [dot] cc