3 ms·

> while this is a massive productivity boost, the code itself doesn't scale Then it's not a productivity boost imo "Produces more tech debt faster" is the wor

> while this is a massive productivity boost, the code itself doesn't scale Then it's not a productivity boost imo "Produces more tech debt faster" is the worst possible outcome of a 'productivity' tool

scarface_74 2y ago
I think you misunderstand the purpose. Who cares if it adds technical debt later if your goal is just to have something to show off to get investments? The goal of every startup is to get funding and an exit. The concern is not long term maintainability.
- bluefirebrand 2y ago
  > Who cares if it adds technical debt later if your goal is just to have something to show off to get investments? The goal of every startup is to get funding and an exit. The concern is not long term maintainability Not everyone works in startups, specifically to avoid this disgusting mentality If I had to deal with this "build garbage quickly to get money and run before the house of cards collapses" mentality in my day to day life I would put my face into a wood chipper I loathe people who think this way, and it is so miserable that all tech is becoming just a vehicle for this sort of grift Robbing banks at gunpoint is more honest
  - JustExAWS 2y ago
    The article is specifically about YC companies - by definition early stage startups.
- WJW 2y ago
  Even for the small subset of companies for which this is true, you need to have a successful exit at all. Technical debt is fine from that perspective, but only if the whole thing comes crashing down AFTER you sell. If it comes crashing down too soon, you have done nothing but waste a few years of your life. Remember that most successful exits happen more than 5 years after founding. Having an AI vomit out a prototype in a week vs doing it yourself in 4 might get you seed funding marginally faster, but if it delays product development more than 3 weeks over the next 4-5 years it's still not worth it.
threecheese 2y ago
Nobody cares about tech debt when large orgs are happy to rewrite every workload each decade. Every reorg finds the debt, blames it on “the last guy” (now in management), and they replace some components with new tech. Rinse and repeat. Source code just isn’t an asset anymore, and it’s been slowly growing since Serverless; genai just accelerated it, and “bucket o’ lambdas” is a valid architecture now.
OriginalMrPink 2y ago
It actually is. The trick is to be in charge of architecture and scope. But this is not a 100% AI build like stated in the article.

scarface_74 2y ago

I think you misunderstand the purpose. Who cares if it adds technical debt later if your goal is just to have something to show off to get investments? The goal of every startup is to get funding and an exit. The concern is not long term maintainability.

bluefirebrand 2y ago
> Who cares if it adds technical debt later if your goal is just to have something to show off to get investments? The goal of every startup is to get funding and an exit. The concern is not long term maintainability Not everyone works in startups, specifically to avoid this disgusting mentality If I had to deal with this "build garbage quickly to get money and run before the house of cards collapses" mentality in my day to day life I would put my face into a wood chipper I loathe people who think this way, and it is so miserable that all tech is becoming just a vehicle for this sort of grift Robbing banks at gunpoint is more honest
- JustExAWS 2y ago
  The article is specifically about YC companies - by definition early stage startups.
WJW 2y ago
Even for the small subset of companies for which this is true, you need to have a successful exit at all. Technical debt is fine from that perspective, but only if the whole thing comes crashing down AFTER you sell. If it comes crashing down too soon, you have done nothing but waste a few years of your life. Remember that most successful exits happen more than 5 years after founding. Having an AI vomit out a prototype in a week vs doing it yourself in 4 might get you seed funding marginally faster, but if it delays product development more than 3 weeks over the next 4-5 years it's still not worth it.

threecheese 2y ago

Nobody cares about tech debt when large orgs are happy to rewrite every workload each decade. Every reorg finds the debt, blames it on “the last guy” (now in management), and they replace some components with new tech. Rinse and repeat. Source code just isn’t an asset anymore, and it’s been slowly growing since Serverless; genai just accelerated it, and “bucket o’ lambdas” is a valid architecture now.

OriginalMrPink 2y ago

It actually is. The trick is to be in charge of architecture and scope. But this is not a 100% AI build like stated in the article.