I do wonder the category of “builder” is real as opposed to a self-congratulatory identity. Yes people build, but it’s a messy and loose group not a tight and coherent identity group. It’s like the difference between people who work in science vs people who post “I fucking love science” slogans
To the extent it’s a performative identity category (I’d say 80% of those who talk about it) targeting “builders” as a product growth strategy is building on quicksand.
"...I'm not a politician, but neither is Donald Trump! He iS a bUilDeR" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUTnOQZOYv0
I’ve been making this kinda comparison to seamstresses, patternmakers, and other roles within fashion. A lot of people also disqualifying themselves before any self-congratulation enters the mind.
For this reason I greatly prefer “developers” or “entrepreneurs”. Both of these have better definitions.
I've never called myself a builder because I see the depth the ones I work with go, and feel like I am insulting the title taking it yet. It's such a loose term now to. Like "Community Builder",for example. Is it a builder, probably, but it's not a dev.
is this also why you avoid labelling yourself as a “writer”?
Yeah I’ve filed “builder” as closely adjacent to “hustler.” Who knows what’s actually getting built? Sure, could be a business or a product, but also might be a brand, a vibe, a web of lies, a narrative.
In my mind “builder” literally means someone who doesn’t (or very possibly can’t) actually build (program, design, etc)
I'd rather use builder because it's a more usefully broad term. Anyone shipping shit is building imo, write, developer, marketer, etc. The differentiation with those people not doing. I dislike Entrepreneur because 1) the word has terrible UX and 2) its synonymous with a narrower crowd
The words we use matter, the words we use also don't matter Shipping matters, not shipping is a problem. I just want to reinforce that goal, whatever words makes people feel comfortable I'll happily use. Imagine if someone said I will only create a thing as an entrepreneur, I won't do it as a builder, that'd be silly
if I had to apply a label: full-stack engineer and going from start to finish. A founder as builder of meaningful scale and impact. A hacker as messier organization & extracts from a whole. Entrepreneur owns a business. Operator is a company/product driver. Engineer/architecture as stability/flow & expansion
What is a *real* identity vs a self-congratulatory one? Can they be separated and still tied to one’s work?
the greatest builders I know have one word bios like “coder”