Article

What Is Technical Debt? A Pragmatic Guide for Startup Teams

Damian Galarza · damiangalarza.com Free Beginner

Written by a fractional CTO for exactly your stage, this frames debt as a trade you make on purpose, not a moral failing. It draws the line between debt taken knowingly with a plan and mess that piles up while everyone pretends it is fine. A grounded read for founders deciding where the clean parts of the codebase have to be.

  • Intentional debt with a plan is rarely the problem
  • Debt turns toxic when the team pretends it does not exist
  • Protect quality in areas tied to revenue, like login and checkout
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The question it answers

  1. We ship fast but our codebase is turning into a mess. How much should a two-person startup care about tech debt?

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