If you want it done right

A small, disciplined clan of monkeys — part samurai, part ninja — doing the work properly.

Jason Dillon1 min read
If you want it done right

If you want it done right, do it yourself.

So that’s the plan: a small, disciplined clan of monkeys — part samurai, part ninja — doing the work properly. Patience to sweat the details, speed to ship.

The theorem, revised

There’s an old thought experiment: infinite monkeys, infinite typewriters, eventually Shakespeare. Charming, but wildly over-provisioned. Nobody has budget for infinite monkeys.

The working hypothesis here: far fewer will do — if they’re the right monkeys, trained and disciplined, and they keep typing. A small clan that practices its craft produces working software with surprising regularity, and every so often something that reads like a small masterpiece. Fifty-seven almost seems like too much.

So that’s the studio: 57 Monkeys, an independent software studio. In-house apps and tools, select contract engineering, and public releases where it makes sense. Games happen sometimes — that’s monkeys for you — but software is the job.

The monolith says hello.