A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen
articleprincipleRare things become common at scale
19 May 2024Profit
Source excerpt
About A Smart BearSoftware doesn't scale through architecture and automation alone. New, more difficult problems appear that didn't exist before, causing new downstream consequences.
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Apollo layer
What a founder can learn
Founder takeaway
As your software scales, low-frequency failures and edge cases become routine operational problems. Don’t treat architecture and automation as the whole scaling plan; build a process for detecting newly significant issues and their downstream effects.
Why it matters
Volume changes the practical importance of rare events and can create consequences that were not visible earlier. Founders who monitor and adapt operating systems as usage grows can respond before these issues compound.
Relevant guides
Put it to work
List three issues that are harmless at today’s volume but costly if usage grows 10×. For each, define an early-warning metric, an owner, and the threshold that triggers action.