Early in my career, I wrote my share of crappy code. There’s always room to improve. If you keep at it, you eventually end up in a room with other top experts arguing about various methodologies.

Please, stop the madness

I’ve noticed a disturbing new trend, or a Malcolm Gladwell-esque epidemic actually. Rather than developers and startup entrepreneurs saying ‘we wrote it poorly because we’re new and lack experience’ they’ll say ‘we built an MVP’. Nope, you’ve built a MESS.

Ideally I’d snap my fingers and turn everyone into quality programmers instantly, problem solved. Oh well, I guess I’ll settle for trying to get the word out about what is not an MVP.

No excuse for crappy code

Minimally viable product is a heuristic for building only what is needed to carry out the task in the most basic form. MVP + Users + Feedback + Release = Version 1. Notice nowhere in that equation is fixing a broken spaghetti mess.

Own your mess

If you rushed something out on the cheap to get a proof of concept to raise money, that’s understandable. I get it. But when you raise money, make sure to ask for enough to do the project right with a stellar team. If you aren’t sure how much is enough, reach out to me. You want to form a team that delivers a Fortune 500 level product that doesn’t need to be rewritten.

You only get one shot with someone else’s money. If the business side doesn’t work out, so be it. But if you delivered a quality product your reputation grows, and more opportunities will come your way. If you build a crappy, unstable product, and the business limps along or fails, all fingers point at you.

What should you do?

Have a spaghetti code base? It might not be clear exactly what to do and this can be tricky. The people at the top in life are always working, growing and improving with the help of others. It’s how you got to where you are, and it’s how you will get up through the next stage on your journey.

I have experience that you can leverage. If you don’t use me, use someone else. The point is for you to get what is on your mind resolved immediately, don’t wait. Set an appointment with me and tell me about your situation so I can help. Click this link to reach out. Something else on your mind? Whatever you need, I’m here. Life is meant to be done together, just reach out.

Fresh CTO Content 24/7 Stay aware of what Modern CTOs are discussing. Get fresh, relevant Modern CTO content delivered to your inbox. SUBSCRIBE! You have Successfully Subscribed!