The biggest reason you never have to pay back technical debt is because the company doesn't exist anymore. The next biggest reason is because that debt no long

The biggest reason you never have to pay back technical debt is because the company doesn't exist anymore. The next biggest reason is because that debt no longer applies - the idea, feature, or product you wrote that code for is unnecessary and has been scrapped. The original context of this whole "debt" conversation was startups. If you can't find product-market fit, you are dead, no matter how clean your code is. You have to move fast and iterate quickly because finding that fit is more important than clean code. All the rules change for established companies with clear product road maps.