Developer launches exe.dev cloud platform startup
Original: I am building a cloud
Why This Matters
Represents new competition in cloud infrastructure challenging established players
Software developer David Crawshaw announces fundraising for exe.dev, a new cloud computing startup aimed at fixing fundamental issues with current cloud architectures. Crawshaw criticizes existing platforms for wrong-shaped abstractions.
David Crawshaw, co-founder of an existing successful startup, announced fundraising for exe.dev, his new cloud computing venture. Despite warnings from fellow founders about startup challenges, Crawshaw says his motivation stems from loving computers but disliking current cloud offerings. He argues existing cloud products have fundamental architectural problems, particularly VMs tied to CPU/memory resources rather than allowing flexible allocation. Crawshaw criticizes PaaS systems as less powerful abstractions with vendor lock-in and hidden limitations. He specifically targets cloud storage, noting providers push remote block devices suited for hard drives but problematic for modern SSDs where 1ms network latency significantly impacts performance compared to microsecond local access times.