I'm pretty sure that the "work" Linus is referring to is work on the project, no...

mtdewcmu on Feb 16, 2017 | parent | context | favorite | on: Linus Torvalds: Successful projects are 99% perspi...

I'm pretty sure that the "work" Linus is referring to is work on the project, not work educating yourself and building up your abilities ahead of time.