what i have learnt
working with
startups.
phil calçado
@pcalcado
http://philcalcado.com

hi, i am phil.

i work here:

mandatory “we are hiring” plug:
http://soundcloud.com/jobs

but i used to work here:

“we are in trouble.
get those agile people
in.”

often too late.

how it all begins

startups take on debt

startups take on debt
financial
technical

financial debt
(oversimplified)

Weekend hack

Uh? People are
using this...

We are on
TechCrunch!

Pump in new features!

More people!

A-Round
Investment

tech debt
(oversimplified)
http://martinfowler.com/bliki/TechnicalDebt.html

Weekend hack

Uh? People are
using this...

We are on
TechCrunch!

Pump in new features!

More people!

A-Round
Investment

More
engineers!

More
Features!
Fast!

we solve financial
problems with re$ources

technical problems
require re$ources and
time

why it happens

cause #1:
getting shit out.
http://martinfowler.com/bliki/TechnicalDebt.html

you don't want to be

“I thought we were
going to build a better
Facebook,[But] within
30 minutes I realized,
Oh my God, it's broken.
Holy shit, we totally
fucked up.”
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/160/bill-nguyen-startups

a startup
needs to
validate
its idea.
soon.
http://tinyurl.com/leanstartupbook

we all know what that
means

cause #2:
we like it easy.

simple:
●one role
●one task
●one concept
●one dimension
http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Simple-Made-Easy

easy:
●near, at hand
●near to our
understanding,
skill set
http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Simple-Made-Easy

top 3 measures for
minimising damage

#1
don't stop the world.
the industry won't wait
●
until you have it all
fixed.

#2
careful with interest
vs. principal.
measure investment made
●
because of tech debt;
paying principal may be
cheaper in the medium
term.

#3
break the big ball of
mud.
componentise your
●
infrastructure; even if
this means duplicated
code for a while. use
queues and webservices.