The Cult of the Lone Genius (Jobs Effect). Ever since Jobs walked onstage in a black turtleneck and rewrote the mythology of Silicon Valley, there’s been the same deep-rooted, counter culture, archetype:
“One brilliant mind + a dream + dependable sidekick = Disruption + Billions.”
ChatGPT
That concept is heroically cinematic. But in real business? It’s 10% true and 90% post-production.
What gets lost is the boring magic: Cooperation, operational grit, shared architecture, long-term strategy, qualifying prospects, projects, prototypes,… and yes, building constructive partnerships.
Big Tech Builds Together
Google, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM quietly co-author white papers, share cloud standards, contribute to open-source foundations like the CNCF, and work through committees (e.g. W3C). You will very rarely see one of their top people in the headlines as the “next big thing.” By the time the nightly news catches up, their M&A ( Mergers & Acquisitions) guys have already bought a controlling interest.
They recognize something tangible that entrepreneurs sometimes don’t: You don’t scale ecosystems on ego.
You scale it on trust, repeatability, and shared infrastructure. Meta contributes to Linux, even Apple submits patches (grudgingly), while IBM bought out RedHat. Each one is playing a long game that most cannot even see.
Chasing Stories, Not Structure
Here’s what’s happening among younger or startup-minded founders: They want the TED talk before the walk. Many are raised on TechCrunch headlines, not Harvard Business Review case studies. They optimize for virality, not interoperability. There’s pressure to be the singular visionary, even when the real jobs are: Team building, partner development, B2B relationships, positioning, product development beyond MVP (Minimum viable product).
The sharpest companies today are often ones you never hear about in headlines: They’re building infrastructure, not spectacle. They know how to partner up without selling out. They don’t fear collaboration, they leverage it for strategic advantage. Call it “post-genius business.” More networked, less narcissistic.
Why the Disconnect?
Narrative Economy: Story sells. Investors often fund a founder myth, not a business model. Lack of Corporate Literacy: Many devs-turned-CEOs haven’t worked in scaled companies. They don’t know how collaboration actually works behind the curtain, while projecting “swagger” limits an ability to meet others on their terms. Hero Worship Culture: Musk, Jobs, Zuck…we rarely talk about the supporting cast (COOs, partnership leads, policy teams). Short Timelines: VCs push for exits, not ecosystems. This trickle down economic model permeates the “hustle” of the “gamers” they fund.
What Gets Lost?
Network effects don’t happen in silos. Hardware fails without standards. Software becomes brittle when no one owns maintenance. A startup that chases speed, sacrifices durability. When 90% of the competition is manfesting abundance by blowing through a VC funded marketing budget, another segment is bootstrapping, sharing projects and synergising skillsets…exactly what the big dogs are doing, and have done forever.
