by michaelfeathers on 2/22/23, 9:40 PM with 9 comments
by juancn on 2/24/23, 1:00 AM
For example, in an early startup, you make a decision that will be somewhat expensive to pay for later, but now, doing it "right" may be unaffordable (e.g. too late to market, not enough features, etc.).
An experienced technical leader can make a conscious risk assessment and choose to incur in tech debt now and pay the cost later and focus the meagre resources of the startup in parts that have a higher chance of ensuring the survival and success of the company.
If they're right, and you succeed, if the risk calculation was correct, you now have enough resources to repay that debt, if not, nothing was really lost.
Tech debt can be accidental too, for example due to lack of experience with the codebase by some engineers, or by accumulation of unintended consequences.
In these cases, once it's discovered an experienced technical leader should make the risk assessment: do we invest now or later? Is this good enough for now?
In any case, it should always be managed to your advantage and paid when it's best for the team.
by berkle4455 on 2/24/23, 2:56 AM