Technical debt is the silent killer of startup velocity. While founders focus on product-market fit, engineering teams accumulate shortcuts that eventually become expensive to fix. Our analysis of 150 startups reveals the true cost of this hidden liability.

Defining Technical Debt

Technical debt isn't just "messy code"—it's the implied cost of choosing quick solutions over well-designed ones. Like financial debt, it compounds over time.

Common forms include:

  • Hardcoded configuration values
  • Missing automated tests
  • Outdated dependencies
  • Copy-pasted code blocks
  • Inadequate documentation
  • Monolithic architectures that should be modular