“It works” is not enough
On the relation between Internet providers and the success of your startup
A few weeks ago, I decided to move into the 21st century and ordered fiber optic Internet. It took the technicians three visits and a lot of sweat to thread the fiber, but hey… it works! I have gigabit internet.
About a week ago, my neighbor called me and said, “Do you know that your fiber is laid out in the street flowerbed between the houses and completely exposed? Next time the municipality gardener comes to trim the bushes, he will cut your fiber too!”
Wait. What?
I checked, and indeed, 4 meters of the fiber (out of about 50 meters) were elegantly (not really!) laid out among the bushes on the street, coming out from under a pavement stone, and continuing four meters among the bushes into a pipe (as it should have been along the entire length).
Why did this happen? Because the technician couldn’t thread the fiber through the existing pipes all the way, so he bypassed part of the piping through the vegetation. At least he was creative and didn’t give up.
Why didn’t he bother to add a pipe to protect it? I can only guess that it would have taken more time, and since he’s paid for threading the fiber and not for the time it takes — his time and sweat are wasted.
As far as he’s concerned, he was paid to install the fiber.
Did he do it? Yes. Does it work? Yes.
When he left — everything worked, so what do I want from him?
Let’s talk about interests for a moment.
My goal is to have proper Internet from now on forever.
(I hope that…) The Internet provider’s goal is to have me with proper Internet from now until the next time they upgrade the infrastructure.
The reality is that Internet providers (at least in Israel) try to save money, so they employ subcontractors who only get paid for the deployment — and then…
The subcontractor’s goal is to install the fibers at the minimum cost and nothing more. Therefore, the technician’s goal is that the fiber is installed and works now. He doesn’t care at all about what happens in a week.
He and his bosses (the subcontractors) don’t care if there’s a mess in the wires or not. They did their part.
By the way, if you walk around the streets (of cities in Israel…) and look at the communication cabinets and poles, you’ll see quite a few exposed, messy wires, etc. — why? Exactly for this reason. The photo of this post is not mine, but it’s a representative sample.
Who gets screwed? The end customer (me) and the communication companies that employ the subcontractors.
Where does this meet us as entrepreneurs?
Let’s assume (this is true for many who have continued reading until now) that you are a startup developing some service or a product. What do you want? To quickly launch a successful service or product that will make your customers extremely satisfied (and of course pay for it).
And… for the system to continue functioning over time, even under load, And… to be able to continue expanding it without affecting your users’ enjoyment.
Suppose you chose to develop the product through a development company
What’s their interest? To deliver something that “works” — meets your functional requirements (assuming you were able to efficiently convey them — see also my post But this is not what I wanted), with minimum resources. And why is that their interest? Because they are a business that profits from software development. They need to give you the cheapest possible quote and also stick to it. This means if there are two ways to do a task — lay a fiber among the bushes or invest more time and effort to do it properly — they are betraying their KPIs if they choose the second way.
[I apologize to all the development company managers reading this. Of course, I do not speak about all development companies, and certainly not about you but mainly about your competitors]
In recent years, I’ve seen many cases of code developed by subcontractors, and in most cases (you simply won’t believe me if I say in all cases), there are fibers thrown in gardens, in the middle of the road, everywhere… Or in other words — code that just works (and not always!!), but is not supportable, maintainable, or expandable, and the chance that it won’t last long is high.
Who gets screwed? The end customer (your users) and you who employ the subcontractors.
Does it have to be this way?
Not really.
For it to work, the interests of the development company need to be aligned with yours — a few ideas:
- The specifications should include all non-functional aspects — for example, the deliverables should not only do what is needed but also be a basis for further development of the system. (And if you’re not technical enough, make sure you have someone to consult with).
- On a business level — create a linkage between the metrics by which you pay and the metrics by which you measure the company’s success over time.
- Create long-term relationships with the supplier, so they have an interest in producing outputs that last a long time (because they are the ones who also need to expand the system) And there are certainly more ways…
By the way, if you intended to create something minimal just to show that it works and then throw it away and start over — then ignore this suggestion…
This is also relevant if you have your own developers
I’ve also seen in-house developers who only cared about producing a working piece of code, no matter how it looks or whether it is maintainable.
This is usually characteristic of young or inexperienced developers who haven’t yet learned (or haven’t been taught) that “it works” is not enough. Do your developers understand the full picture (see also The Elephant in the Room)? Do they understand the company’s and product’s goal? Are they coming to develop the product or are they just coming in the morning to develop the feature they were asked to?
The bottom line
“It works” is not enough.
You need to employ people who understand your ultimate goal and will help you launch a successful service/product that can grow, improve, and become even more successful.
Make sure they’re not just coming in the morning to lay the fibers.
Agree? Disagree? Made you angry? Even better! Just drop me a message! I’d love your feedback. Any feedback!
