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ASSumption of SCALE


During a recent Skype meeting with one of our lead developer, I heard him say "what if we have 100 times ... " Now don't get me wrong, I have been there and done exactly the same, various time myself. But not having been involved directly, gifted me an opportunity to look at the software development process a bit objectively, over the past year. And I have come to this, unshaken realization, which is to "stop daydreaming on SCALE" and consequently make costly assumptions that will leave its ripple effects throughout the project. Unnecessary "Tech Debt" in other words.

Imagine a 10-year kid planning on opening a lemonade factory after selling just 10 lemonade, of which 5 are bought by own family and friends. This is not only naive but also super dangerous thought that developers think of more than they should, especially, young ones.



I will like to remind and request all startup developers to remember a principle namely "Do Things that Don't Scale" Take a pause for 5 min, an hour or even a day and let this sink in deep, deep, deep within you, cause if you don't, your subconscious will keep repeating the same mistakes.

Technology is changing at an incredible speed. New third-party APIs, packages are coming in the market almost every day. Hence, when planning to build a project, plan for the coming next quarter, rather than imagining "what if we have 100 times ..." syndrome. Spend all your energy on building a project that just works flawlessly and has 0 bugs, as fast as you can. Measure anything and everything along the way, that will help you decide if you are on the verge of hitting SCALE issue.

Unless you see some initial numbers, and it has to be NUMBERS not someone's opinion, no matter the seniority. That clearly shows you that you on a path of a j-curve, ignore the SCALE. Prioritize failing fast but failing often instead. It's your biggest superpower, use it, again and again, and again. Don't let SCALE come into the picture unless you have a working model that has a direct impact on the company revenue. Planning based on SCALE paralyzes the growth, initially.

A chef knife in toddlers hand has predictable outcomes, isn't it? Try to objectively realize, if you are doing just that. It is very demeaning to look at the mirror and see ourselves closely. Our immediate gut reaction will not let us and the next thing we will do is assume what we wish to see. So instead of learning from reality and keeping ourselves grounded, we choose to imagine and build a fort on an ice sheet.

Keep in mind I am not proposing to taboo SCALE forever. Instead, what I am recommending is to use the limited and most important commodity that startups have, which is the TIME in a wise manner. Measure how much time can be afforded and build solutions accordingly. 

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