Architecting for Scale: The Case for Systematic Software Reuse in Managing Technical Debt in Start-ups

Most start-ups aspire to become non-start-ups someday. One would argue then that architecting for scale means doing it right the first time. However, start-ups usually start with a single idea in search of market fit. Taking time to design and implement a scalable architecture is time that is not spent responding to customer demands and is usually not a priority. This short-term vision may lead start-ups to accumulate technical debt. This work is geared towards understanding how start-ups find a viable trade-off between customer demands and long term goals. We conduct expert interviews at start-ups and scale-ups with the hypothesis that reusing software for the management of technical debt would allow a start-up to quickly respond to the demanding needs of the market in the long run.