this assumes that there’s a buyer of software, and that the buyer decides which software to build. In those cases estimates might make sense But in many other

this assumes that there’s a buyer of software, and that the buyer decides which software to build. In those cases estimates might make sense But in many other instances (product/engineering led companies, start-ups) software isn’t built for a buyer, it’s build for a user - and a user doesn’t care if it took 5 days or 15 weeks to build their favourite feature. What they care about is that you build features those users actually want. In those cases estimates form part of a whole basket of mechanisms and rules designed to ‘shield’ developers from users and vice versa, which imo is among the biggest mistakes one can make in such software companies.