Let users build it: wikis, mods and crowdsourced products that last
October 5, 2026 · 15 min read
Jimmy Wales made contributing to Wikipedia easy and welcoming to newcomers, Todd Howard credits mods for games that last decades, Pieter Levels crowdsources data for his sites, and FFmpeg and VLC run on volunteers. The pattern shows how lowering friction for contributors can outlast a company's own effort.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Lasting products let outsiders add to them with little friction.
- Wales: a wiki did more in two weeks than a reviewed encyclopedia in almost two years.
- Wales: make the system forgiving, so an imperfect contribution still works.
- Wales: welcome newcomers; explain before you punish.
- Howard: release the same tools the studio uses, and hire the best modders.
- Howard: mods are central to an 11-year-old game staying widely played, in his judgment.
- Levels: an editable public spreadsheet was enough to start.
- Levels: crowdsourced ratings got gamed; use public datasets where people have a motive.
- Levels: open input brings spam, so plan moderation.
- Kempf: the license is a social contract; a more permissive one lets companies build on it.
- Kempf refused ad money; selling out would have caused a fork.
- Kunhya: teach the hard parts with lessons instead of lowering the standard.
- Risks: bias, blind spots, burnout, free riding and cost without revenue.
- If you depend on volunteers, send fixes and funding, not just bug reports.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.