Tech debt is a financial instrument.
You borrow speed from the future to survive today. But most founders let the interest rate wipe them out.
Don't apologize for bad code. Manage the loan.
Here is the system to treat your repo like a balance sheet:
- The philosophy
"We aren't sloppy. We are intentionally aggressive." You are buying time. Make sure you know the cost.
- The tech debt tolerance matrix
Categorize every issue ruthlessly:
→ Accept & hold (strategic shortcuts) → Manage (monitor closely) → Kill (blocks revenue)
- The 70-30 payback roadmap
Don't ask for refactoring time. Present a 70-30 split: 70% growth. 30% debt paydown.
- Revenue-based rewrites
"We rewrite the billing system at $2M ARR." "Before that, it's a waste of capital." Manual entry is more efficient than automation early on.
- The metric: velocity volatility
Founders don't care about clean code. You care about predictability. Devs must show you the volatility. "High debt = I can't tell you whether this feature takes 2 days or 2 weeks."
Perfect code is for art. Profitable code is for businesses.
Only if you pay the debt before foreclosure.