Code & Conscience #015

In this Issue

I share my honest opinion on why I believe the tech ecosystem and its leaders are experiencing a midlife crisis.

Tech's Midlife Crisis

Like any ambitious person, I like to set goals. Big goals that stretch me and force me to become the best version of myself. But once I achieve the goal, the excitement starts to wear off. The euphoria of success is suddenly dampened by thoughts of doubt, meltdowns, and existential dread.

I start asking myself questions like: Should I work on Erica 2.0? What should my next big goal be? What’s my north star? Am I wasting my life? What should my eyes be set on? Are my best days behind me?

This feeling is not strange at all. It’s quite common, really, and you might even relate. But what if I told you that the tech industry is currently experiencing this same existential dread? A midlife crisis, if you will.

Evidence that Tech is Really Experiencing a Midlife Crisis​
First, what is a midlife crisis? A midlife crisis is a transitional period where some people experience self-doubt and emotional turmoil as they reevaluate their life and identity, sometimes starting as early as 20 and going all the way to 60.​

Characteristics of a Midlife Crisis​
There isn’t a formal diagnosis for midlife crisis, but there are some characteristics:

1. Feelings of dissatisfaction: A sense of boredom, unfulfillment, and unhappiness despite outward success.
2. Impulsive or risky behavior: Making rash decisions, such as excessive spending or engaging in risky activities to cope with feelings of emptiness.
3. Nostalgia and regret: A longing for the past and a feeling of remorse over unachieved goals.

So how is tech experiencing a midlife crisis?

1. Feelings of dissatisfaction: Despite raking in enormous profits yearly, companies that once lived for disruption now feel directionless and anxious to maintain their position in the industry. For example, Google’s search dominance doesn’t excite it anymore; it’s now anxious about AI stealing its crown. Apple, once the master of unveiling “the next big thing,” keeps asking for more time to integrate AI into its ecosystem. Meta’s trying too hard to prove it still matters by splurging hundreds of millions of dollars on hiring AI talent—only to fire them soon after.
2. Impulsive or risky behavior: When people have a midlife crisis, they buy motorbikes or dye their hair purple. When tech hits one, it builds a metaverse. The NFT craze, the crypto obsession, the billions poured into digital lands no one visits. These are all examples of existential dread disguised as innovation. Do you remember when people bought images of monkeys for millions of dollars? Lol! Even AI is a bubble that is anticipated to burst soon. Despite the billions thrown at this invention, it still isn’t profitable or applicable in scenarios people actually NEED.
3. Lack of strategic maturity: I’d like to borrow the words of a friend of mine: “We have a lot of senior technologists who are junior humans.” I couldn’t agree more with this sentiment because I hear them talk about the road to superintelligence (which they barely understand, btw) and then go ahead to invest millions in Company A, which partners with Company B, and Company B finds a way to bring the money back to Company A. It’s kind of an infinite money glitch for a technology they haven’t determined is profitable or that people are even interested in.
4. Nostalgia and regret: Tech used to be so much fun; garage startups, raw ideas, hackathons, and no bureaucracy. Just raw youthful energy with hopes of changing the world. Now that has been replaced by layoffs, back-to-office ultimatums, stock buybacks, and compliance meetings. For example, the first set of layoffs by Google and Meta threw the healthy work culture they worked tirelessly to build into the depths of misogyny, racism, and job insecurity. The tech ecosystem is now filled with regret and nostalgia, hoping things could go back to the way they were.

There is a quiet ache and longing to build the next exciting thing that could probably change the world. But the space is no longer what it used to be.

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The Innovator's Midlife Crisis

Mark Zuckerberg is 41, Elon Musk is 54, Sundar Pichai is 52, Satya Nadella is 58, and Tim Cook is 65. Once the wild innovators of Silicon Valley, they are now middle-aged men leading trillion-dollar companies, juggling shareholders, regulators, and ethical debates about AI. And dare I say, they are experiencing a midlife crisis.

They fall squarely within the age bracket that tends to experience a midlife crisis. In their prime, they were young disrupters, the mavericks who built the future. Today, they have mortgages, families, boards, and nations to answer to. The boyish hunger that built the internet now sits behind a suit (or dark-colored shirt) and a schedule packed with endless meetings.

Years ago, these same people shipped imperfect products from their garages. If they tried that today, they'd be buried in lawsuits. The stakes are higher now, and the dream to "change the world" looks different today from what it used to be years ago.

The new reality they face leaves some questions tugging at their heartstrings: Is this company still relevant? How do we build the next big thing? What is the next big thing? And how do we get there first?

Conclusion​
If you look closely, you'll realize that the tech industry and its leaders are indeed facing a midlife crisis. There's a lot of anxiety, restlessness, regret, and dissatisfaction plaguing everyone and everything. Perhaps we could all have avoided the chaos of the last few years with some well-timed therapy.

Around the Web

​📖 Big tech's mid-life crisis by Callie Cox​

​📖 Meta has an AI product problem by Russell Brandom​

​📖 Google: The AI Company by Acquired​

​📖 DHH and Omarchy: Midlife crisis by Jordan Petridis​

▶️ "What is AGI? Whatever Tech CEOs Need it to Be" From Empire of AI's Karen Hao in Conversation with John Borthwick on YouTube​

Good news, everyone! I'm now partnering with Bookshop.org to bring you recommendations based on books I'm reading on this issue's topics. That means I earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase, and your purchases support local bookstores! Bookshop.org has raised over $40M for independent book stores around the world!

Take a look at the new reads this week, all available on Bookshop.org​

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Erica Stanley Engineering Leader, Community Builder, Speaker, Contributor

Code & Conscience is my way of thinking out loud with friends (that’s you, btw) about how we as technologists–builders, creators, leaders–impact the world around us with what we choose to build and how we build it.

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