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Engineering#Software Strategy#Product#Discovery
Why Most Custom Software Projects Fail Before They Start
Most failed software projects don't fail in the code — they fail in the first two weeks, before a single line is written. Here's what actually predicts success.
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Nafiz Anam
Lead Software Engineer
January 12, 2024
6 min read
The Real Failure Point
By the time a project is "over budget and behind schedule," the outcome was often decided weeks earlier — in a discovery phase that got skipped or rushed.
What Predicts Success
- A written problem statement everyone agrees on
- A single owner who can say yes/no on scope
- A definition of done before the first sprint
Skip these and no amount of engineering talent saves the timeline.
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