Interesting analogy. I've been reading The Path Between the Seas[1], about the construction of the Panama Canal, and whoo boy, now I won't be able to think about it except as a failed software startup. The hype. The outrageous valuations and fund-raising rounds. The charismatic founder. The blatant disregard of decades of accumulated knowledge. The pivots. The skirting, blindsiding, and lobbying to get around government regulation. The aqu-hire. The moment when the burn-rate overtook the runway, and further desperate rounds of funding were sought, at poisonous terms. Burn-out, layoffs, and attrition. The fire-sale exit. I'm just now getting up to the patent war-chest aquisition and the second-system effect stages of the canal...

[1] http://amzn.to/2eSBq16