Venezuelan Founding Engineer’s Modular Monolith Outlasts CEO’s Microservice Fantasies for 87 Users

A founding engineer from Venezuela has shared a post-mortem analysis of their experience working with startups, highlighting key lessons learned. The engineer, who wishes to remain anonymous, recalls managing a database at 12pm on a Saturday due to broken SQL scripts and extreme technical debt. They emphasize the importance of negotiating scope, keeping software architecture simple, and avoiding overengineering. The engineer notes that for a minimum viable product, only 20% of techniques and patterns are necessary, citing the Pareto principle. They also stress the need for proper testing, particularly for authentication, payments, and input DTOs. The engineer's experience is significant, given the challenges of building a startup in a third-world country, and their insights offer valuable guidance for other entrepreneurs and engineers in the industry, particularly in regions with limited resources and infrastructure, such as Venezuela, where the engineer is based.