I'm making massive assumptions and generalizations here, but, a lot of developers are pretty introverted and really dislike being in the spotlights, whereas instagram people are the opposite. Without trying to make the term sound negative (it's a personality trait IMO, not a value judgment), it's a narcissistic trait that not everyone has.
I mean I'm working remotely at the moment because of the 'rona and it's not glamorous at all. My desk doesn't look like a generic marketing photo (you know the type, top-down view on a wood grain desk, clean Macbook, steaming cup of coffee, phone, Moleskin notebook, random plant), I don't spend my time lounging and networking (a beer in the back yard at night maybe), I just go upstairs, do my thing for eight hours, etc.
Extroverts and narcissists make software development look a lot sexier, because they have no qualms with putting themselves forward and advertising themselves and their lifestyle.
Me, I hide behind an online moniker and shitpost on HN, often not even looking whether anyone replied to my comments because What If I'm confronted with something.
I'm sure I'd have a much cushier job if I was more extroverted (alongside my current skill level, I'm no genius but I get the job done). Maybe one day I'll go self-employed or work remote for wealthy US companies, idk.
Conversely working for FAANG or even just a generic corporate job can land you in a position where you can be comfortably mediocre. Are those people failures too?
Going solo means you have to get shit done, and you have to pick a viable niche. There's no inertia to rely on, and no safety net.
So the tech stack makes a difference. Because if it takes you months of learning before you can start making a site out of cloud + containers + automation + components you've failed before you started.
These are fair points, and you are very likely correct about the ratio of success to failure. Survival bias is strong on HN.
I would add though that "shipping it" greatly increases your odds of success, and choosing a simple stack that lets you ship an idea quickly is a good thing.
I feel like his choice of a super basic tech stack likely contributed to Pieter's success in some way.
And it's a very tenuous dream at that, I'd say. It requires constant handholding, upkeep, juggling, whatever you want to call it, to manage all of the visas, plane tickets, bookings, finding remote work, finding a network of people for which reason you allegedly moved to the country :)
Call me square but it's much easier to just overpay for rent in the USA and just focus on building "bulletproof" skills for a long career here.
After all, nobody stands up postgres on EC2 anymore right, we all just use redshift and lambdas? right? ok well maybe not all of us :)
The success of his business niche doesn't have much to do with tech stack or even programming, but rather Instagram style lifestyle businesses.