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Just as you should incur tech debt under uncertainty, you should incur product debt — shipping imperfect product decisions when the potential upside justifies the cost of being wrong.
What it means
Doyon extends the tech debt metaphor to product decisions. Under uncertainty, shipping a “wrong” feature that teaches you something is better than waiting for certainty that never comes. The key is being intentional about which debt you take on and having a plan to pay it down. This complements startups-and-uncertainty — uncertainty is the startup’s moat, and product debt is how you navigate it. simplicity-as-strategy means shipping fast to learn fast, which requires being willing to incur product debt. Speed creates a faster ooda-loop and buys time before competitors catch up. Eventually you’ll need to pay down the debt to reach product-market-fit, but the learning is worth the cost.