Our journey from enterprise thinking to startup speed

Monthly Update - July 2025

At Internode, we've been wrestling with one of the most fundamental challenges every startup faces: how do you balance speed with stability? This month, we want to share the hard-won lessons that transformed how we build our product.

The enterprise trap we almost fell into

When we started Internode, we fell into the enterprise trap - bringing methodologies focused on thorough planning, extensive documentation, and polished deliverables into our startup environment. We initially tried to apply these same approaches to our young company, and it nearly killed our momentum.

We found ourselves spending weeks perfecting processes, creating elaborate flowcharts, and building comprehensive systems before shipping anything to users. This approach works in large organizations with established markets and predictable timelines, but for a startup trying to find product-market fit, it's a recipe for disaster.

The wake-up call came when we realized we were optimizing for perfection instead of learning.

The human brain limitation

Here's a fascinating insight that fundamentally shaped Internode's development philosophy: humans can only hold approximately three pieces of information in their mind simultaneously. This cognitive limitation isn't a bug - it's a feature we can design around. This realization led us to completely restructure how we approach product development. Instead of building monolithic features, we break everything down into small, interconnected elements that can be iterated quickly. Each piece must be valuable on its own, not just a component waiting for other parts to be useful.

The wrong way to build an MVP

Here’s the classic car analogy, that perfectly illustrates where we went wrong:

The wrong approach

Building a car by starting with the chassis, then the engine, then the wheels, and finally the outer shell. You spend months creating components that can't provide any value until the entire system is complete. When you finally test the "car," you discover fundamental flaws that require rebuilding everything.

The right approach

Start with a skateboard. It gets users from point A to point B (solving the core transportation problem). Then iterate to a bicycle, then a motorcycle, and eventually a car. Each step provides immediate value while teaching you about user needs and technical constraints. The key insight: every iteration should solve the core problem, just at different levels of sophistication.

We know it sounds logical, but when you’re deep in the process, juggling multiple environments, projects, over 10 tasks, and upcoming deadlines your body and mind can easily switch back to safety mode because quick, iterative design is outside their comfort zone.

How we applied this to Internode

Our current alpha version looks nothing like our final vision. It's slow, it has bugs, and honestly, we weren't confident about showing it to users. But that discomfort was exactly the signal we needed to push forward.

Instead of waiting for perfection, we conducted user interviews with eight real users using our imperfect MVP. The results? It was the most valuable two weeks we've spent as a company. The feedback we received wasn't just helpful - it was transformational. Users highlighted problems we never anticipated and validated assumptions we weren't sure about. Most importantly, we could implement changes within hours or days, not weeks.

Our new blog post philosophy

We applied this same thinking to our content strategy. Initially, we spent three to four days creating elaborate processes for blog posts - optimizing distribution, creating visual assets, establishing review cycles. We were building a content factory before we knew what content worked. Quality isn't always the most important metric - time to value often matters more.

Now? This blog post took roughly one hour to write. Here's why that matters:

• Speed to value: We can share learnings immediately while they're fresh

• Lower stakes: Less time invested means we're more willing to experiment

• Feedback loops: We can test different approaches weekly instead of monthly

• Reduced perfectionism: Focus shifts from polish to value delivery

The sprint model that saved our sanity

We've embraced a sprint-based approach where every week must deliver tangible value to users. This isn't just about development cycles - it's a fundamental shift in how we think about progress.

Instead of asking "Is this feature complete?" we ask:
"What's the smallest valuable thing we can ship this week?"

This mindset change has been transformational:

• Feature requests get addressed in days, not months

• User feedback gets implemented immediately

• We test and iterate 2-3 times per week instead of once per month

• The entire team stays focused on user value, not internal perfection

Advice for Fellow Startup Founders

If you're building a startup and waiting for your product to be "ready" before showing users, you're making the same mistake we almost made. Here's what we've learned:

1. Ship the skateboard version:
   It doesn't matter if it's not pretty - does it solve the core problem?

2. Force yourself to lower time-to-value:
   If a feature takes more than a week to ship, break it down further.

3. Embrace imperfection:
   Perfect is the enemy of shipped. Ship early, get feedback, iterate.

4. Weekly value delivery:
   Every seven days, your users should see something new and valuable.

5. Use the three-piece rule:
   If you can't explain your feature in three simple concepts, it's too complex.

What's Next for Internode

We're not just preaching this philosophy - we're living it. Every week, we're shipping improvements based on user feedback. We're creating consistent content that shares our learnings in real-time. Most importantly, we're building a product that solves real problems for real people.

This monthly update is part of that commitment. We're sharing our journey, our mistakes, and our discoveries because we believe other founders can benefit from our experience. The bottom line: In the startup world, speed beats perfection, and feedback beats assumptions.

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This post represents our thinking as of July 2025. Next month, we'll probably have learned something that changes our perspective - and we'll share that too.

Want to follow our journey? We're always testing, always learning, and always sharing. Follow us for more real-time insights from the startup trenches.

— Internode Team