Big, rich and stoopid v. Small, nerdy but happy

I don't know about you but in my school but it really paid off to be big. You could get to the front of the lunch queue, people would look up to you, you'd get first pick of the girls, you'd probably be picked first at football... If I look back many of these people have, to a greater or lesser extent, gone off the rails; certainly not achieved their potential (not all, granted).

So its funny in software; big short-sighted corporates throwing their weight around without a real understanding of the problem they want to solve, taking the first thing which looks good to them without the breadth of scope to look at the bigger picture. Small software startups don't have the luxury of a shed load of cash, so their ideas stand on their merit and the skill of their developers. Factors which affect all businesses, often affect them the most; but more importantly, they have the greatest ability to disrupt and affect their markets. In small companies, big egos and megalomania are brought back to reality early (often painfully). In corporates, they have the opportunity to fester and develop; a bit like how Hitler came to power.

This is why I believe, the future of software has, is, and will continue to be determined by small smart driven companies, not the crap we see from the heavyweights.