Volasail

“So let me guess,” she says, “you are the guy doing the software.”

“Yeah,” he admits, a little defensive, “but the software is the only interesting part of this whole project.  All the rest is making license plates.”

That wakes her up a little. “Making license plates?”

“It’s an expression that my business partner and I use,” Randy says.  “With any job there’s some creative work that needs to be done — new technology to be developed or whatever.  Everything else — ninety-nine percent of it — is making deals, raising capital, going to meetings, marketing and sales.  We call that stuff making license plates.”

– Crytonomicon, Neal Stephenson