I like this framing, but I think tech is a really interesting counter-example.

In most areas you mentioned, compounding works because the rules stay mostly stable. Skills stack. Experience keeps paying dividends. The past still matters.

In technology, I’ve seen compounding break again and again because the system resets. Platforms change, cost curves flip, and suddenly a lot of prior advantage stops carrying forward. You don’t fail, you just stop compounding.

That contrast is what pushed me to write about this recently in an article here on Substack. Compounding only works if the environment allows your past effort to keep paying off. In tech, that permission expires more often than we like to admit.

Curious if others have seen similar “reset moments” in their own careers or industries.