<!-- Slides are separated by a line containing only "---". --> <!-- .slide: class="title-slide" --> # How Technology Influences the Nature of Work These slides: [https://ilr.tplus1.com/slides.html](https://ilr.tplus1.com/slides.html) In markdown format: [https://ilr.tplus1.com/slides.md](https://ilr.tplus1.com/slides.md) --- ## Me - My name is Matt (he / him) and since 2006, I cofounded or worked on several startups. - Most were Software as a Service (SaaS) startups focusing on workflow automation or worker productivity or regulation compliance - I'm not rich - I've seen how software products alter people's lives, good and bad --- ## My main idea - In economic terms, as firms grow larger, worker quality of life / job satisfaction often becomes an externality, sort of like pollution. --- ## OnShift - Prototype in 2006: find somebody to work a shift by blasting texts to qualified and available employees - By 2009, the software could plan shift schedules for (theoretically) any workforce. - Employees could trade shifts with each other, apply for open shifts, modify schedule, etc. - Employee buy-in was critical at the start --- ## OnShift later features - Small customers don't pay much and we had investors pushing for growth - Big nursing home chains wanted features like: - cut scheduled hours to regulatory minimums - recommend lowest-paid employees for any open shift --- ## Is kinda like Enshittification - Once you're selling a product to the boss who is going to use it to spy on / control their workers, the product doesn't need to be fun to use - User buy-in isn't a bottleneck like it once was - the people using the product weren't happy to see me anymore --- ## SpotHero - Marketplace app for parking. Launched in Chicago. Allows you to reserve a parking spot in the future - At first, we needed the attendants to promote the app - A few years after launch, nobody cares if the attendants liked it, because the garage owners mandated it --- ## Complion (FDA drug trial software) > "...a software industrial complex has changed how companies are run > (usually for the worst like silos and constraining org chart > structures, particularly due to enterprise software)" *from Complion founder* --- ## Streamliner - In-house product for a retail liquidator - Shipping containers arrived daily with random products from retailers for resale (think like last season's merch) - Boss put his own workers in charge of giving me feature requests - So much fun to build! --- ## SofaConcerts (1) - web marketplace that matches musicians and venues - Average venue gets 3 artists for every open spot - Artists get more gigs (like by adding house party shows during tours) - Artists get guaranteed payment because funds go in escrow before performance --- ## SofaConcerts (2) - They have turned down several investment / acquisition offers > "we make it easier for touring artists to visit smaller villages and > towns." - Without investors that pushing for aggressive growth, they can focus on their social goals --- ## W. Edwards Deming > 12a. Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride > of workmanship… > > 12b. …This means, inter alia, abolishment of the annual or merit > rating and of management by objective. [Point 12 from 14 points for management](https://deming.org/explore/fourteen-points/) --- ## How does AI fit in with this? - coding agents really are very powerful > "It's like programming wearing power armor" - I pay $20/month for a coding agent that replaces what two other people would do full-time (or I'd have to do it) --- ## The SaaS business model 0. Raise (or have) a few million bucks based on an idea 1. Hire programmers to build a software application customers can't live without 2. Sell subscriptions 3. Add features to keep customers hooked Investors fund development because they are betting you can execute on your vision. --- ## "I oneshotted photoshop" - ArtCraft is using coding agents to build an open-source implementation of everything that Adobe offers. - People seem to like it - This is just one example of how code may not be as valuable as it used to be --- ## Causes for optimism - If your boss and you have a good rapport, maybe the era of coding agents means it is cheaper now to make tools you like to use - coding agents mean small teams can build out bigger projects now without taking investment money, so they can stay true to their vision - There are a lot of really good open-source coding agents. People are working on running these on low-cost hardware (in other words, not hyperscale data centers). --- ## Thanks for having me! - I love hearing y'all's thoughts! email: matt@216software.com