The Allure of Speed
in MVP Development
Startups are under immense pressure to ship quickly and prove market fit, which often leads to technology decisions made in haste. Founders might default to whatever language or framework the first engineer knows best, or skip formal architecture in favour of rapid prototyping. While this can work for quick iteration, these choices create hidden liabilities. Dependencies that seemed fine at a small scale can crumble under real user load, and duct-taped codebases become harder to maintain as teams grow.
The Allure of Speed
in MVP Development
Startups are under immense pressure to ship quickly and prove market fit, which often leads to technology decisions made in haste. Founders might default to whatever language or framework the first engineer knows best, or skip formal architecture in favour of rapid prototyping. While this can work for quick iteration, these choices create hidden liabilities. Dependencies that seemed fine at a small scale can crumble under real user load, and duct-taped codebases become harder to maintain as teams grow.
When Quick Wins
Become Technical Debt
What works for 100 users rarely works for 100,000. MVPs built on lightweight stacks, like Firebase or low-code tools, often lack flexibility when customisation, data ownership, or complex business logic become essential. Similarly, early database schemas, if not designed with growth in mind, may lead to painful migrations. Technical debt piles up silently until teams face rewrites, outages, or major re-architecture efforts, often at a time when growth matters most.
When Quick Wins
Become Technical Debt
What works for 100 users rarely works for 100,000. MVPs built on lightweight stacks, like Firebase or low-code tools, often lack flexibility when customisation, data ownership, or complex business logic become essential. Similarly, early database schemas, if not designed with growth in mind, may lead to painful migrations. Technical debt piles up silently until teams face rewrites, outages, or major re-architecture efforts, often at a time when growth matters most.
Making Better Choices
Without Losing Speed
Startups don’t have to choose between agility and foresight. Teams can mitigate risk by adopting modular, loosely coupled architectures, even at the MVP stage. Favouring open standards and scalable infrastructure, even in small doses, sets a better foundation. Also, documenting assumptions and constraints (e.g., “this works for now, but not beyond 10k users”) keeps the team aligned. It’s not about overengineering—it's about being intentional, so today’s scrappy wins don’t become tomorrow’s blockers.
Making Better Choices
Without Losing Speed
Startups don’t have to choose between agility and foresight. Teams can mitigate risk by adopting modular, loosely coupled architectures, even at the MVP stage. Favouring open standards and scalable infrastructure, even in small doses, sets a better foundation. Also, documenting assumptions and constraints (e.g., “this works for now, but not beyond 10k users”) keeps the team aligned. It’s not about overengineering—it's about being intentional, so today’s scrappy wins don’t become tomorrow’s blockers.
