Something is happening.
Not gradually. Not quietly.
NEWTHE TGC NETWORK
For the people working out what to build while the cost of building collapses.
The distance between what product leaders intend and what gets built is collapsing.
This is The Great Compression.
For decades, building software meant a relay race.
The product that shipped was never quite the product you saw. It wasn't anyone's fault. It was the structure.
We normalised the distance.
The distance is now optional.
The relay race is becoming a sprint.
The handoff is becoming a decision.
The spec is becoming the thing itself.
The gap still exists. But for the first time, it is yours to control.
This has happened before.
The printing press compressed the distance between thought and mass communication. The internet compressed the distance between people and information. We are in one of those moments now.
Deciding what to build is the hard part now.
There is plenty of commentary on the tools. There is much less from the people working out which problem is worth solving.
In what order, and how they will know it paid. That is where the hard part sits now, and that is who the TGC Network is for.
What we believe
The best products are built by people who feel the problem and own the solution.
Translation is a tax. Pay only what you must.
Building is quick and cheap now. Judgement is the scarce part.
Know how you will tell it paid before you build it.
The TGC Network
For the people working out what to build while the cost of building collapses.
The hard part now is deciding which problem is worth solving, in what order, and how you will know it paid. The Network is for the people doing that work inside businesses: operators, product leaders, fractional executives, advisors and investors.
Nobody in it has this figured out, which is rather the point.
A monthly letter
From Richard and DP, on what we have learned.
Introductions
To other members, some ahead of you and some behind.
Your own story
Room to tell it on the Great Compression Substack.
Member terms
If you want to build with MOHARA, the studio behind TGC.
Run by
David-Phillip Dirks. DP to almost everyone.
He works with Richard at MOHARA from South Africa and spends most of his week talking to businesses about what to build next. He comes from finance, has run teams, and loves putting good ideas and the people who can execute them in the same room.
Joining starts with a conversation with DP, then a short call with Richard if there is a fit.