[_jal]

I think a lot of companies don't realize the damage they do to themselves. I can understand the appeal to startup managers; to be blunt and a bit uncharitable, hire youngins' and you get cheaper people whom you can push around more and train up in your own particular pathologies, instead of dealing with imported ones.

But if the firm survives the startup phase, you really want anchors, both in technical and cultural dimensions. A certain type of tech-manager feels threatened by that, I think, so they jettison anyone who might be too independent.

Not to mention, experience matters. There are a few folks on my team who are the go-to folks, not because of their title, but because they tend to know the correct answer/are able to diagnose and fix your weird issue. Those people, without exception, are neither young nor managers.

"Sonny, that reminds me of the time I canceled a 3 month reporting project with two hour's worth of awk..."

[scarface74]

Firms aren’t trying to survive the startup phase. That’s just it. A minuscule number of startups ever survive as an ongoing independent entity especially if they are venture backed. Their main goal is to get acquired. Look no further than YC funded companies. Only one has ever gone public.

I used to be idealistic about software development and architecture and wanted to do things “right”. When I realized that venture capital backed companies wanted me to just apply enough duck tape to get customers to survive until they got their next round of funding or got acquired, I stopped thinking long term.

[pm90]

There are still companies that build good products and focus on core engineering. Maybe not (all) startups, but despite the preponderance of every kind of startup, there are still many who at their core are solving difficult engineering problems.

Of course, reality gets in the way and they often have to cut corners every now and then.

[scarface74]

That may be the case, but if they take outside funding, their primary focus is by definition not to be a “lifestyle company”, but to have an exit strategy. Statistically, that exit strategy is to get acquired.

Your investors don’t care about how well architected your code is or the amount of automated test coverage you have.