There is a market opportunity for an alternative to k8s. You won’t “beat” it, but you don’t have to. You just have to decide to compete. Right now nobody even tries. Nomad is closest, and even their marketing is complimentary at heart.

To be clear - I’m not building one

Also, it’s not because k8s is bad. It’s because it’s such a success, the groundwork for the market is laid. People don’t question its place in the stack. They do question the implementation complexity. Operability.

Find a unique and delightful angle, and push. You’ll have to actually push, though - and you’ll get a lot of “fuck you” in the beginning. But you’ll find allies. It’ll work.

If you want to do this, and you have the expertise and an angle, I will help you get it funded. It should exist.