[patorick002]

Yep. If you build a worse version of commercially available product in a market that has viable incumbents, just because you felt like building something, that probably wouldn't be a good foundation for a startup. It probably wouldn't be a good idea for an internal tool either; even if it wins you some short-term recognition. I've also seen people get promoted for shutting stuff like that down.

Of the many engineering roles I've held over the years, building internal applications was one of the most enjoyable, mainly because I could directly observe whether our software was working well for its customers. It strikes me as an advantage to serve an internal customer first, if you get the opportunity to know them really really well and then use that knowledge effectively.