What a non-technical founder should know about software development
Even the simplest technical task can be implemented in many ways. Each available approach has pros and cons, and its cost - you can make automation for a penny, or you can spend a fortune.
Typically, engineers and software companies strive to accomplish the task with the highest quality they are capable of. Depending on their experience and the current stage of the startup, the resulting “high” quality may not be sufficient, ideally corresponding to the moment, or a waste of time and money.
Therefore, in order to act as quickly and efficiently as possible, it is very important to change the approach to development depending on the stage of the startup’s evolution.
')
Start: finding your place in the market
This is the very beginning when a new organization is looking for its market. The main goal at this stage is to test new business models as quickly as possible, without paying much attention to the quality of the system implementation.
During this period, platform requirements can dramatically change several times. Most of the code is likely to be thrown away afterwards. The impact of errors is small, since the platform has almost no users, as a rule it is family and friends.
At this stage, it is useless to invest a lot of resources in a quality implementation of the system. It’s even dangerous to pay for good quality, as it slows down the speed of market research and spends money rapidly.
Priority : Speed ​​of development.
Recommendations :
Startup has found its market and the number of customers is constantly growing.
At this stage, there are fewer cardinal changes in the system. Usually new functionality is added. However, as the number of customers grows, the impact of errors increases.
Service users should see that the solution is stable and constantly evolving. Therefore, the quality development of the platform comes to the fore.
Priority : quality of the development process.
Recommendations :
Startup has built a successful business model. It's time to scale it to new markets.
At this stage, existing requirements rarely change. New features are still emerging, but non-functional requirements, such as bandwidth, response speed, and system availability, are becoming more important.
The impact of errors is enormous, and platform reliability is critical.
Priority : quality architecture.
Recommendations :
Know your stage clearly - every person in the team must understand the current focus of development. Develop a habit before each decision-making on the implementation of a list of options that differ in time, cost and quality. Choose the most effective for your current stage:
PS : The evolution of a startup is not always so simple and linear. The transition from one stage to another takes time and effort. A successful product (MVP) at launch may not work for a wider audience during the development phase. An effective solution for one niche may not scale well in new markets. These cases return the bootstrap to its roots, and development priority should change accordingly.
Typically, engineers and software companies strive to accomplish the task with the highest quality they are capable of. Depending on their experience and the current stage of the startup, the resulting “high” quality may not be sufficient, ideally corresponding to the moment, or a waste of time and money.
Therefore, in order to act as quickly and efficiently as possible, it is very important to change the approach to development depending on the stage of the startup’s evolution.
')
Start: finding your place in the market
(search for market fit)
This is the very beginning when a new organization is looking for its market. The main goal at this stage is to test new business models as quickly as possible, without paying much attention to the quality of the system implementation.
During this period, platform requirements can dramatically change several times. Most of the code is likely to be thrown away afterwards. The impact of errors is small, since the platform has almost no users, as a rule it is family and friends.
At this stage, it is useless to invest a lot of resources in a quality implementation of the system. It’s even dangerous to pay for good quality, as it slows down the speed of market research and spends money rapidly.
Priority : Speed ​​of development.
Recommendations :
- Look for the easiest and fastest way to test your ideas.
- Explore the market, there may already be ready-made systems or services that you can use.
- Be on the alert every time you hear talk about solution quality, performance, scalability, etc. Take notes for the future and forget for the moment.
- Resist the temptation to invest in good quality too soon. After all, each time you will be convinced that the current solution to the problem will surely shoot.
- After the appearance of customers and the transition to the next stage, be prepared for beginners to talk about how great it would be to use this or that architectural approach from the very beginning. Better than spending all the money and creating the perfect product that no one needs.
Development: Niche Capture
Startup has found its market and the number of customers is constantly growing.
At this stage, there are fewer cardinal changes in the system. Usually new functionality is added. However, as the number of customers grows, the impact of errors increases.
Service users should see that the solution is stable and constantly evolving. Therefore, the quality development of the platform comes to the fore.
Priority : quality of the development process.
Recommendations :
- Start investing in platform quality more.
- Provide the following elements of the development process:
- Frequent and regular system updates.
- Automated change deployment.
- All changes go through the code review stage.
- High-quality testing of new and old functionality.
- Get ready for massive architectural changes in the next step.
Scaling: expansion into the global market
Startup has built a successful business model. It's time to scale it to new markets.
At this stage, existing requirements rarely change. New features are still emerging, but non-functional requirements, such as bandwidth, response speed, and system availability, are becoming more important.
The impact of errors is enormous, and platform reliability is critical.
Priority : quality architecture.
Recommendations :
- It's time for maximum investment in the quality of the platform.
- If necessary, rewrite some of the modules to improve the architecture.
- Provide the following elements of the development process:
- Quality stress testing.
- Vertical teams - teams can independently release new functionality.
- Horizontal scaling - each platform module can be scaled by adding new instances of it.
- Trial deployment (Canary deployment) - new features can be tested on a small part of real users.
Summary:
Know your stage clearly - every person in the team must understand the current focus of development. Develop a habit before each decision-making on the implementation of a list of options that differ in time, cost and quality. Choose the most effective for your current stage:
- Cut corners to test hypotheses as quickly as possible at the stage of finding your place in the market.
- Build a high-quality development process and ensure a steady stream of improvements during intensive development.
- Upgrade your system architecture to scale a successful business model into new markets.
PS : The evolution of a startup is not always so simple and linear. The transition from one stage to another takes time and effort. A successful product (MVP) at launch may not work for a wider audience during the development phase. An effective solution for one niche may not scale well in new markets. These cases return the bootstrap to its roots, and development priority should change accordingly.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/461601/
All Articles