Probably not wrong. Lots and lots of examples of that being true.

There is something to it. Someone has to identify the intersection between what the engineering can do and what the market actually wants, then articulate that to a broad enough audience. Engineers constantly undervalue this very fuzzy and very human centric part of the work.

I don't think the issue is that Vision doesn't matter. I think the issue is Sam doesn't have it. Like Gates and Jobs had clear, well defined visions for how the PC was going to change the world, then rallied engineering talent around them and turned those into reality, that's how their billions and those lasting empires were born. Maybe someone like Elon Musk is a contemporary example. Just don't see anything like that from SamA, we see him in the media, talking a lot about AI, rubbing shoulders with power brokers, being cutthroat, but where's the vision of a better future? And if he comes up with one does he really understand the engineering well enough to ground it in reality?

I don’t know enough about him or his vision. It doesn’t seem he’s as clear as say Jobs in the past. But I do look at all the amazing things openai has done in a short period of time, and that the employees overwhelmingly backed him with the whole board chaos issue. He also has fundraised a lot money for the company. It appears he’s doing more right than wrong, and openai pulled everyone else’s pants down.

I roll my eyes when somebody says that they’re “the idea person” or that they have “the vision”.

I’d wager that most senior+ engineers or product people also have equally compelling “the vision”s.

The difference is that they need to do actual work all day so they don’t get to sit around pontificating.

Ideas are a dime a dozen. The value of "idea men" isn't their ideas, it's their ability to rally people around them. It's the exact same skill that con men use for nefarious purposes.