The Economy of Exit: Building to leave

I’m looking back at everything that happened in 2025, and frankly, I’m tired. We are living in an Economy of Exit, and it is a disease. Everyone in our space is trying to make a name just to survive, but the goal isn’t to build something that lasts here - it’s to build a ladder to get out. It’s everywhere. You see people with barely two years of experience giving keynote presentations on complex Docker orchestration and Kubernetes clusters for apps that don't even have 2k users. Why? Because it looks good on a LinkedIn profile aimed at a recruiter in San Francisco or London. We are playing the show-show game. They aren’t learning what they need to solve local problems; they are learning what they need to be "noticed" so they can leave the community that raised them.

This isn't just a tech problem; it’s the same story for NGOs and activism. People learn the "talk," show the world how much they "care" on social media, and attend just enough international conferences to convince someone to pull them over to the West. The cause doesn't matter. The impact doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is the visa. If they get that first visit, they disappear into the immigration system to struggle for a new life or continue the talk till they are recurrent visitors enough to be convince the white man to let them stay.

We cannot build a real economy on this model. As much as we point fingers at politics and "shake-shake" we just had in 2025 with the election results and the ongoing crisis - we have to look at ourselves too. Yes, the political climate is a mess but if the private sector keeps this "waiting room" mindset, we are doomed. We can’t blame the government for everything while we refuse to build the fundamental infrastructure we lack. We need systems that are custom-built for our reality, designed for our people.

The good news? We don't need twenty years to catch up anymore. AI is the Great Equalizer. It gives us the power to jump through the technical debt and build that fundamental infrastructure in a few years, not decades. We have the tools to build things that work on a $3 server and actually serve our communities. But we have to decide to be here. We have to stop optimizing for "likes" from recruiters and start optimizing for "utility" for our neighbors.

If we keep building just to get noticed, eventually, there won’t be any "here" left to leave. It’s time to get back to the basics and build for the long road. If you’ve got a real idea - one that’s meant to work, not just look good on a slide deck - holla at spark@desgn.space. We promise to make it work.

first published on https://ngano.online/r/393453045104340992