Frosteryd

The Folkabuss: Building Real Impact with 9 People

· frosteryd.me

Folkabuss - A 9-person team that fits in a Volkswagen bus

There’s a phrase that keeps resurfacing in Microsoft research circles:

“1 engineer, 1 month, 1 million lines of code.”

It’s an intentionally absurd North Star. Spearheaded by Distinguished Engineer Galen Hunt, it isn’t really about lines of code — it’s about compression. How much impact a single engineer can create when judgment, tooling, and ownership compound.

But the idea gets more interesting when you zoom out just a little.

If one exceptional engineer can do that much…
what does the smallest possible team of exceptional engineers look like?

Not a startup’s “first 50.”
Not a matrixed org with specialists and handoffs.

I mean a team so small that:

  • Everyone knows what everyone else is doing
  • One bad hire is existential
  • Communication cost dominates everything
  • Impact is visible, immediate, and real

Not a bus.

a VW folkabuss.

We’ve been calling this idea folkabuss — the team that can fit into a single VW bus, doors closed, windows down, engine rattling, moving in one direction.

The first rough sketch of the folkabuss - simple but clear

Here’s how you build a team that delivers real impact, not just valuation.

First: Personality Is Infrastructure

In a folkabuss, there’s nowhere to hide.

No back rows.
No “that’s not my area.”
No room for emotional exhaust fumes.

Personality traits aren’t culture here — they’re load-bearing.

1. Low Ego, High Ownership (Non-Negotiable)

Folkabuss inspired by Porsche - Copy with pride and precision

These engineers:

  • Say “that was my mistake” without defensiveness
  • Say “this is broken and I’ll fix it” without waiting
  • Don’t need to win arguments, only outcomes
  • Copy with pride and precision — learn from the best without ego

The folkabuss takes inspiration from Porsche’s engineering excellence, but makes it accessible. There’s no shame in learning from what works. The best ideas deserve to be copied, improved, and made your own.

In a vehicle this small, ego isn’t annoying — it’s dangerous.

One ego takes up one seat.
You only have nine.

2. Grit, With Judgment

This is not about working longer hours.

It’s about knowing:

  • When to push through discomfort
  • When to stop and rethink
  • When not to hero a bad decision

You want people who survive ugly on-call nights without turning into martyrs or cowboys.

The folkabuss doesn’t survive heroics. It survives judgment.

3. High-Signal Communicators

In a team this small, communication is the architecture.

Strong signals look like:

  • Explaining complex ideas simply
  • Saying “I don’t know yet” early
  • Writing Slack messages that are clear, short, and decisive

No essays. No riddles. No performative cleverness.

If people can’t understand each other instantly, the folkabuss veers off the road.

4. Default to Trust

Trust isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s fuel.

These people:

  • Assume positive intent
  • Share information freely
  • Don’t hoard context or need constant validation

If trust breaks down, you’re no longer building.
You’re driving with the handbrake on.

5. Product-Minded Engineers

Everyone in the folkabuss must care about:

  • Why this exists
  • What tradeoffs are being made
  • Whether something actually makes sense

They push back — respectfully — when needed.

There is no room for ticket-takers in a vehicle this small.

Second: Skills That Overlap (On Purpose)

A folkabuss team doesn’t need mythical creatures.
It needs overlapping competence and shared ownership.

1. T-Shaped, Not Precious

Each person should have:

  • One clear strength (backend, infra, data, frontend, domain)
  • Willingness to work outside it without drama

If someone refuses to touch “that part of the codebase,”
they’re too big for the folkabuss.

Everyone helps push when the engine stalls.

2. Comfort With Ambiguity

Small teams live in fog. Permanently.

Strong engineers:

  • Start with fuzzy problems
  • Make progress without perfect requirements
  • Adapt when the route changes mid-week

If ambiguity causes paralysis, the folkabuss doesn’t move.

3. Debugging Beats Raw Coding

At this scale, debugging is the real superpower.

Look for people who:

  • Reason from symptoms to causes
  • Instrument before guessing
  • Narrow scope instead of flailing

Debuggers scale. Coders don’t.

When something rattles in a folkabuss, you need someone who can find the sound — not rev the engine harder.

Third: Dynamics You Must Design, Not Hope For

In a folkabuss, dynamics don’t “emerge.”
They either get designed — or they fail quietly.

1. Psychological Safety > Brilliance

People must feel safe to:

  • Ask “stupid” questions
  • Admit uncertainty
  • Call out risk early

Silent fear kills small teams faster than bad code.

2. Shared Standards, Not Rigid Rules

Judgment beats process at this size.

That means:

  • “We care about quality” beats “always do X”
  • Reviews focus on reasoning, not style
  • Process supports thinking — it doesn’t replace it

Process bloat is how you turn a folkabuss into a parked museum piece.

3. Fast Feedback Is Sacred

Speed is the only real advantage you have.

Protect it by:

  • Keeping PRs small
  • Making decisions quickly
  • Course-correcting often

If feedback loops slow down, the folkabuss doesn’t just slow — it overheats.

The Real North Star

“1 engineer, 1 month, 1 million lines of code” is a fun provocation.

But the real metric for a folkabuss team is this:

How much impact can nine people create without losing trust, speed, or judgment?

A team like this isn’t meant to scale indefinitely.
It’s meant to move impossibly fast in one direction and deliver real results.

The folkabuss isn’t about building for investors.
It’s about building for impact — shipping products that matter, solving problems that count, and doing it with a team small enough that everyone knows what everyone else is doing.

Windows down, engine humming, everyone pushing together.
That’s how you build something that actually matters.