43. What's technical debt and why should non-techies care?

If code gets written, that usually means that there's technical debt. If it isn't dealt with regularly, the product doesn't work properly, engineers leave and you'll have a rebellion on your hands.

In this episode, you'll learn from Alexandre Omeyer, founder of Stepsize, the core concepts that non-technies need to know about technical debt.

This is must know concept for founders, product managers and smart investors.

Learning notes from this episode:

• Technical debt is the mess that gets left over from writing code and should be regularly cleaned up in order for the engineering team to work properly.
• Alexandre suggests thinking of the tech development process like a restaurant kitchen. Having spillage and potato peels dropping on the floor is a normal part of the cooking process. But if you do not have a regimen to clean up, you will end up with a filthy kitchen that will affect your food (i.e. your product) and your customers will get sick.
• Non-techies need to know that technical debt exists and that time needs to be buffered in to the development team’s work to run this clean-up effort regularly. This has an implication on cost because product development cost isn’t just about releasing new features, it is also cleaning up technical debt. 

Learn more about Stepsize here and say hi to Alexandre on Twitter.

If you want to transition into tech, but you are not sure how, join Sophia's FREE masterclass on How To Transition Into A Career In Tech on 26 April 2021.

You will see five different case studies of successful career transitions and get the chance to ask your questions live. 

Listen here on Apple Podcasts. 

Listen here on Spotify.

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