Full X thread by Samuel Stroschein
I started outshipping my remote team with the emergence of AI. ChatGPT o3 for architecture. Cursor/Claude code to execute. I was shipping faster than ever.
Was it bad hiring? No. This team executed. Our GTM product (http://inlang.com) was loved by users, adopted among enterprises, and had a clear path to success.
So what went wrong? In late 2023, I had to move to NYC to leverage US investors and customers. The team stayed in the EU. Which made sense. Most of our users for the GTM product were in the EU. Plus, we reached a point where the team operated independently of me.
Everything went perfectly until mid-2024. We suddenly faced an innovator's dilemma situation. We built http://inlang.com as a proof point for @lixCCS, a universal version control system:
any file format (not just text!)
SDK for apps
running in the browser
But we progressed too slowly. Git compatibility was identified as the root cause. We had two options:
1. Break up with git and rebuild lix from scratch, killing momentum for inlang.
2. Keep the focus on inlang at the risk of missing the opportunity for lix.
We decided to rebuild lix, which put me into an interim eng lead position.
AI meant that I was able to iterate faster with claude code + o3 on architecture stuff than relying on my team, which was 6-9 hours away. AI answers instantly without a multi-hour delay.
That's why I said "I was able to fire my team because of Claude Code". Claude Code + o3 were my sparring partners. I didn't need a team for architecture stuff. Was this ideal? Hell no. I had great talent in Europe, but I couldn't leverage it anymore
I offered everyone to come to the US, but nobody was able to commit - family, kids, personal stuff, all reasonable arguments Thus, we mutually separated last month :( What can be learned from this situation?
Distributed teams are disadvantaged in the age of AI. Async is nice, but sync is crucial if the world around you moves so fast.
The innovator's dilemma is real. We moved slowly with decisions on how to rebuild lix. We had an existing user base that was tied to git. Matching the existing experience with a non git Git-compatible system was not possible, leading to unalignment in the team.
Even an outstanding team can suddenly "not work" anymore. This one hits home. Everyone involved tried their best to make the new reality work. But we couldn't overcome the new reality, despite trying for months.
Hyper engineering now
I still stand behind my decision. Timezone lag in age of AI becomes more severe. AI responds instantly. An (inferirior) AI response is better than waiting 24 hours
Also, I stepped up my game. Multi monitor setup to let manage agents
Q&A
Notable replies from the thread
Q: Would better timezones have fixed this?
Q: How will non-AI engineers exist in the age of AI?
Q: How do you prevent your codebase from turning into slop?
Q: Anything you’d do differently?
