The founder was proud of their speed. Twelve weeks from idea to launch. A working product. Real users.
"We move fast," they told me. "We're not afraid of technical debt."
I looked at their codebase. They had debt, alright. But they also had something worse: they had no idea what kind of debt it was.
Some of it was smart. Purposeful shortcuts taken to validate an idea fast. That was fine.
Most of it was neither. It was accidental complexity. Decisions made without understanding the consequences. Code that was confusing not because it was fast but because no one had thought it through.
The founder called it "moving fast." I called it "building quicksand."
What Is Technical Debt, Really
The term "technical debt" gets thrown around so much that it's lost meaning. Everything is "debt." Everything is a "problem to solve."
But not all technical debt is the same. And treating it all the same way is a mistake.
Technical debt is a metaphor. It means taking shortcuts now that you'll have to pay back later—with interest.
But here's what people miss: sometimes taking the shortcut is the right choice. Sometimes it's not a debt at all—it's an investment.
The difference matters.
The Two Types of Debt
Type #1: Intentional Debt (The Smart Kind)
This is debt you take on deliberately. You know what you're skipping. You know why. And you have a plan to address it later.
A founder I worked with had a simple rule: "Ship the MVP on a Monday. Fix the ugly code by Friday."
He knew what he was shipping. He knew what he'd need to fix. And he actually fixed it.
That's not debt that's killing you. That's debt that's buying you time.
Examples of intentional debt:
- Hardcoding values that should be configurable (but you'll configure later)
- Skipping authentication for an internal tool
- Using a simple database instead of the "right" one
- Writing minimal tests because you're still figuring out what the product should do
The key question: Can you articulate what debt you've taken on and when you'll pay it back?
Type #2: Accidental Debt (The Dangerous Kind)
This is debt you didn't mean to take. Code that got messy because no one was paying attention. Architecture that evolved through accident rather than intention.
This is the dangerous kind. It doesn't feel like debt. It feels like normal development. But it compounds.
A team I consulted with had a problem: every new feature took twice as long as the one before. They thought they were just "growing pains." They were actually drowning in accidental debt.
Examples of accidental debt:
- Inconsistent patterns across the codebase (no one established standards)
- Duplicate logic scattered across files
- No documentation for how anything works
- Classes that do too many things
- Tests that test nothing useful
The key question: Do you even know what debt you have?
The Spectrum of Debt
Not all debt is equally problematic. Think of it as a spectrum:
Safe Debt (Accept It)
- Temporary shortcuts with a clear payback plan
- Code that will be replaced, not maintained
- Decisions made under genuine uncertainty
Caution Debt (Monitor It)
- Debt you're aware of but haven't had time to address
- Debt that affects non-critical parts of the system
- Debt that can be contained
Danger Debt (Fix It Now)
- Debt in core business logic
- Debt that affects user experience
- Debt that makes developers afraid to change code
- Debt you don't know you have
When Debt Is Fine
I've seen startups succeed with significant technical debt. Here's what they had in common:
Condition #1: You Know What You Have
A founder once showed me a spreadsheet of every shortcut they'd taken. Every assumption. Every quick-and-dirty solution.
"We'll need to fix these eventually," she said. "But right now, we know what we're dealing with."
That's not dangerous debt. That's managed debt.
Condition #2: It's in the Right Place
Some parts of your product matter more than others. Smart teams put their debt in the less-critical areas.
The checkout flow? Clean code. Thorough tests. The admin dashboard that three people use? Good enough is fine.
Condition #3: You're Actually Going to Fix It
I met a startup that had a "technical debt sprint" every quarter. One week, no new features. Just fixing things.
They had debt. But they were paying it down.
Contrast that with the startup that "would refactor when we have time." They've been saying that for two years. They have no time because they're constantly fighting the debt they never fixed.
Condition #4: It's Not Slowing You Down
If you can still move fast, you might be fine. The moment you notice:
- Features taking longer than they should
- Developers complaining about the codebase
- Fear of changing anything
- Bugs appearing where you didn't expect them
That's when debt stops being "fine" and starts being a problem.
When Debt Becomes Dangerous
Here are the warning signs that your debt has crossed from "acceptable" to "critical":
Warning #1: New Developers Can't Contribute
I joined a startup once as an advisor. The first week, I watched a new hire try to make a simple change. It took them three days.
Not because they weren't capable. Because the codebase was so confusing that finding where to make the change was harder than making the change itself.
If new developers spend more time understanding the code than writing it, you have a debt problem.
Warning #2: Everything Is "A Small Change"
Everything takes longer than it should. Every feature request is met with "that might be tricky."
That's not complexity in the problem domain. That's complexity in the code.
Warning #3: Developers Are Quitting
Technical people will put up with a lot. But they won't put up forever with code that makes them look bad.
If your developers are leaving because they're "frustrated with the codebase," you're in debt crisis mode.
Warning #4: You Can't Deploy Without Breaking Something
The deployment process used to be smooth. Now it's a weekly anxiety attack.
Every release introduces new bugs. Every release requires manual intervention.
That's not scaling issues. That's accumulated debt.
A Framework for Managing Debt
Here's what I recommend to founders who want to be smart about debt:
1. Create a Debt Log
Simple document. Every shortcut, every compromise, every "we'll fix this later."
Review it monthly. Know what you have.
2. Tag Your Debt
When you add to the log, categorize it:
- Red: Must fix soon, affects core functionality
- Yellow: Should address, affects some workflows
- Green: Can wait, low impact
3. Pay Interest Regularly
Every sprint, allocate 10-20% of time to debt reduction. Not "when we have time." Scheduled time.
4. Contain New Debt
Before adding any debt, ask:
- Do we need this shortcut?
- Where should we put it?
- When will we fix it?
Make debt a conscious decision, not an accident.
5. Know Your Deadlines
Some deadlines justify more debt than others. A demo for investors? Take the shortcut. A critical launch? Be more careful.
Context matters.
The Refactoring Illusion
Here's where founders go wrong: they think the solution to debt is a refactor.
"We'll just rewrite it."
That's almost never the right answer. Refactoring takes time, introduces risk, and doesn't add user value. It's the debt solution that feels good but usually isn't.
Instead of refactoring, try:
- Incremental improvement: Fix one thing at a time
- Strangler pattern: Replace components gradually
- Containment: Isolate the debt so it doesn't spread
- Acceptance: Some code just needs to be good enough
What This Founder Learned
The founder who was "proud of moving fast"? We spent three months cleaning up their accidental debt.
Not refactoring everything. Just making the codebase understandable. Adding tests to the critical paths. Creating patterns that developers could follow.
The result: developers who could actually work. Features that shipped on time. A product that could grow.
Was it worth it? Absolutely. But it was expensive—three months of work that could have been avoided with better practices from the start.
The Bottom Line
Technical debt isn't good or bad. It's a tool. Used deliberately, it helps you move fast when you need to. Used accidentally, it slows you down until you stop entirely.
The founders who succeed are the ones who know the difference. They take on debt with their eyes open. They pay it back before it compounds. And they never let accidental debt accumulate without noticing.
Your codebase is an asset. Treat it like one.
Need Help Assessing Your Technical Debt?
At Startupbricks, we help startups understand what debt they have, what it means, and how to address it—without the drama of unnecessary rewrites.
If you're not sure whether your debt is acceptable or critical, let's take a look.