Halt and Don’t Catch Fire

Every young systems team (regardless if it’s in a startup or not) is burdened with someone else’s decisions, good and bad.

Startups have the uniqueness where most of the people that contributed to their technical debt are still there. They are flexible, and, in many cases, still can create a solid foundation (both cultural and technological) for the future. On the other hand, they are fragile, change fast, and frequently adopt new technologies prematurely. New systems teams in medium-sized companies face even harder challenges. They must keep everything running, take care of an unknown complex infrastructure and development team while dealing with the lack of original information.

We will discuss how we can slow down the generation of technical debt in new teams, put it in perspective using practical examples and real-life stories, and how small iterations, and changes in culture can lead to more sustainable systems and teams.