From Engineer to Founder
June 8, 2025
1,117 views
the shift that changed everything for me:
i used to think the hardest part was the code.
making it scale.
writing it clean.
obsessing over architecture, testing and design patterns.
i thought if the code was good, the product would be good.
and if the product was good, people would come.
spoiler: they don’t.
engineering is about building it right.
founding is about building the right thing.
i used to ask:
> "how do we do this the right way?"
now i ask:
> "how fast can we test if anyone cares?"
my mindset flipped.
from: "is it scalable?"
to: "will this make us $1 today?"
from: polish and patterns
to: speed and signal
speed > polish
distribution > architecture
outcomes > features
as an engineer, i shipped code.
as a founder, i ship results.
test coverage doesn’t matter
if your landing page doesn’t convert.
clean architecture is useless
if no one’s using what you built.
most users don’t want your feature.
they want what it gives them.
more sales.
less friction.
saved time.
if that comes duct-taped together?
who cares — it works.
what changed?
i stopped chasing perfection.
i started chasing feedback.
no code is better than the wrong code.
velocity beats elegance.
i build to learn — not to impress.
i measure progress in traction — not commits.
founding didn't make me a worse engineer.
it made me a better one.
because now,
i know why i’m building.
and who it’s for.
-benja