Essays on software, products and complex systems.https://mdubakov.me/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/malleable-software-solid-bases-custom-code/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/malleable-software-solid-bases-custom-code/In 2019 I bet on the no-code revolution. That bet aged so-so. Here is the new one.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/what-is-success/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/what-is-success/Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/zero-bugs-policy-is-a-myth/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/zero-bugs-policy-is-a-myth/Zero-bugs policy sounds great — but it’s a myth. Even top projects have bugs. Fix the critical 80% instead of chasing every tiny issue.Fri, 26 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/saas-ethics-manifesto/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/saas-ethics-manifesto/Some SaaS tools give off good vibes (Notion, Ghost), others bad vibes (Motion, ClickUp). Why? It all comes down to ethicsFri, 12 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/malleable-software-code-low-code-no-code/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/malleable-software-code-low-code-no-code/Fri, 29 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/malleable-software-will-eat-the-saas-world/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/malleable-software-will-eat-the-saas-world/Wed, 27 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/abstraction-and-complexity/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/abstraction-and-complexity/Thu, 11 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/emigration/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/emigration/Sun, 19 May 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/connect-feedback-to-product-hierarchy/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/connect-feedback-to-product-hierarchy/Connect feedback to your product development faster and get the insights you need for building meaningful features.Tue, 17 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/be-different/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/be-different/Living organisms can coexist in the same area if they are different enough. This applies to markets and products as well. If a product is similar to others on the market, prioritize unique features to differentiate it and carve out a niche.Thu, 03 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/biggest-problems-in-software-development/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/biggest-problems-in-software-development/Whine with me about the biggest problems in software development. From user satisfaction to more profound issues, let's discuss it.Sat, 04 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/why-are-deadlines-important/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/why-are-deadlines-important/Why are deadlines important for software development—even if we all hate them sincerely? I’ve spent 10 years figuring it out. Enjoy the results of my research!Thu, 02 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/b2b-saas-product-feedback/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/b2b-saas-product-feedback/Feedback organization helps to prioritize features, build better solutions and engage customers. Let's explore how to do it right in a B2B SaaS product.Wed, 01 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-become-a-great-product-manager/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-become-a-great-product-manager/The best way to try out a product management role is to launch your own product. All other skills and qualities will gradually come. Or not.Tue, 28 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/bundling-and-unbundling/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/bundling-and-unbundling/In the age of specialization it looks like unbundling is the only viable strategy. Well, it is not.Mon, 27 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/product-idea-validation/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/product-idea-validation/There's only one way out: start creating the minimum viable product. This is the most effective strategy for product validation. Why? It brings you external feedback.Sat, 25 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-estimate-developers-productivity/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-estimate-developers-productivity/Measuring developer productivity by hours is an attempt to reduce uncertainty by squeezing it into a simple model. Yet in our industry, we must accept uncertainty, learn to thrive with it.Fri, 24 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/start-with-a-niche/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/start-with-a-niche/The most popular products don’t become mass popular overnight. It’s a process. Usually they popularity is uneven, they are unknown in some niches, but very popular in another niches.Thu, 23 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-start-your-own-product/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-start-your-own-product/Read this if you had intrusive thoughts like: “dammit, this app is the same as I thought of a year ago!” or even “I’m fed up with my managers, time to do something of my own.”Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/steps-in-new-product-development/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/steps-in-new-product-development/Learn the insider’s rules and steps in new product development to launch your software product successfully in one year (maybe).Tue, 21 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/you-need-to-complete-features/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/you-need-to-complete-features/What happens to a product with multiple unfinished features? It simply cannot become people’s favorite. It’s much better to have just several finished Features in a product than loads and loads of unfinished ones.Mon, 20 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/google-please-do-something-with-your-ads-and-seo-spam/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/google-please-do-something-with-your-ads-and-seo-spam/Fri, 25 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/ceo-customer-success/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/ceo-customer-success/I spent two weeks in a customer support role, participated in 170 intercom chats, and survived.Wed, 29 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-fibery-will-transform-product-companies-work-and-knowledge/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-fibery-will-transform-product-companies-work-and-knowledge/Wed, 25 May 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/marketing-bullshit/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/marketing-bullshit/It's a rant. If you are not prepared for aggressive style, bad words, and existential crisis, don't read this article. It was a warning. It's a rant.Tue, 10 May 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/write-product-changelog/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/write-product-changelog/Why products changelogs are cool to have + some practices how to write them.Fri, 22 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/selection-theory-product-dev/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/selection-theory-product-dev/How to apply selection theory to new products development and new features.Mon, 11 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/genotype-and-phenotype-software-products/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/genotype-and-phenotype-software-products/How Genotype and Phenotype concept helps to build flexible products.Wed, 23 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-start-features/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-start-features/Every product manager loves new features. Feature start is not as easy as it looks. Let's dive into it and explore some best practices.Wed, 09 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/small-features/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/small-features/Product managers tend to focus on large cool features, but small features, improvements, and bugs are also important. This article describes various approaches to handle small things well.Fri, 25 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/green-grass-products/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/green-grass-products/How to balance between dynamic and static quality, and amplify new knowledge exploration in a new product development.Tue, 15 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/sync-vs-async-process-in-product-development/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/sync-vs-async-process-in-product-development/Sync processes for product planning, dependencies management and vision sharing are easier to run, but async processes are more performant. How to choose?Tue, 08 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/software-products-degradation/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/software-products-degradation/Software products get destroyed by 'More features' race, technical debt, technological progress and market changes. This post explores ways how product managers can keep products alive.Thu, 03 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/introverted-ceo/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/introverted-ceo/Does a CEO have to love small talk and networking? Behold eight tips on how to avoid it and still be a successful introverted CEO.Mon, 22 Nov 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-run-a-company-without-hr-department/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-run-a-company-without-hr-department/Imho, HR is overrated. Learn to run a company without HR department and with a high level of employee engagement and streamlined company culture.Thu, 11 Nov 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-accept-criticism/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-accept-criticism/How to accept criticism? I can be straightforward about it. Only through practicing a lot with it.Thu, 04 Nov 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/determinate-optimism/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/determinate-optimism/How to achieve the state of determinate optimism and why does it matter in Product Management.Thu, 28 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-motivate-team-by-reverse/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-motivate-team-by-reverse/How to motivate team without actually doing anything? Check out this article for 3 tips for employee motivation in software development.Thu, 07 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-split-equity-in-a-startup/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/how-to-split-equity-in-a-startup/Read this post to find out the only reasonable way of how to split equity in a startup fairly, efficiently, and without losing trust in your co-founders.Thu, 16 Sep 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/non-transparent-work-culture/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/non-transparent-work-culture/Achieve transparent work culture and mutual trust at your company in three hard, challenging, yet very efficient steps. Works for a remote team as well.Thu, 19 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/abolish-working-week/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/abolish-working-week/Why do we work from Monday to Friday and who said it’s optimal for software development or the creative industry?Thu, 05 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/the-role-of-luck-in-success/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/the-role-of-luck-in-success/I believe that luck (random positive events) plays a paramount role both on peronal and company levels. Read this blog post to see how even one random chance can have a great impact.Fri, 02 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/dissatisfaction-leads-to-progress-doesnt-it/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/dissatisfaction-leads-to-progress-doesnt-it/Sat, 12 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/kpis-and-goals/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/kpis-and-goals/Goals and KPIs can destroy the workflow. How can meaningful objectives be disruptive? Learn to avoid the mess in setting goals and KPIs in just one simple step.Thu, 03 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/entrepreneur-self-doubt-and-confidence/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/entrepreneur-self-doubt-and-confidence/Find out how a startup founder should profit from both entrepreneur self-doubt and confidence—especially when the product needs to be tested yet.Fri, 21 May 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/when-to-close-a-startup/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/when-to-close-a-startup/Use this easy rule of thumb to know when to close a startup instead of staying a “promising company” that won’t deliver anything in the next ten years.Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/hypertext-tools-from-the-80s/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/hypertext-tools-from-the-80s/The pre-internet era was full of wonderful and very powerful systems that are well forgotten now, but we definitely can learn from them, try to understand why we had an enormous degradation in the 1990s and 2000s, and why we are enjoying hypertext systems renaissance now.Tue, 06 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/augmenting-organizational-intelligence/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/augmenting-organizational-intelligence/In a knowledge economy, we compete with knowledge, not force. Our productivity tools should become knowledge management tools as well — thus, making companies more intelligent.Mon, 15 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/does-your-company-need-investment/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/does-your-company-need-investment/There is an important decision to make: build a lifestyle business or a startup? And the sooner you decide, the sooner you will stop worrying and start living.Thu, 25 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/startups-and-near-death-experience/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/startups-and-near-death-experience/Fri, 12 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/use-networks-to-prioritize-product-features/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/use-networks-to-prioritize-product-features/Wed, 29 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/automations-concepts-overview-for-no-code-tools/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/automations-concepts-overview-for-no-code-tools/Sun, 26 Apr 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/no-code-revolution-why-now/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/no-code-revolution-why-now/It seems no-code software is booming. Fast adoption, huge rounds, insane valuation 🦄, happy customers. Why now? Why not 20 years ago? Why…Wed, 04 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/features-composability/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/features-composability/Tue, 19 Mar 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/make-your-own-tools/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/make-your-own-tools/Not Invented Here is a popular mantra in many companies. Majority thinks that you should focus on business value, and all other things are…Fri, 01 Feb 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/strategy-implementation-mismatch/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/strategy-implementation-mismatch/JIRA is easy to hate. The latest article trashes JIRA and calls it an anti-pattern for software development. The main problem is work…Fri, 14 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/the-next-wave-of-work-management-software/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/the-next-wave-of-work-management-software/Work management software is boring. Innovations are rare and you may think that no cool new vendors appeared in the last 5 years. Indeed…Mon, 03 Dec 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/post-agile-process-agnosticism/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/post-agile-process-agnosticism/with Rick and Morty!Thu, 25 Oct 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/every-feature-is-considered-harmful/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/every-feature-is-considered-harmful/Fri, 12 May 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/io-people-classification/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/io-people-classification/Tue, 08 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/enterprise-software-vendors-have-no-taste/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/enterprise-software-vendors-have-no-taste/Thu, 12 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/create/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/create/Wed, 19 Nov 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/visual-specifications/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/visual-specifications/Why most software specifications suck and how to improve themSat, 26 Oct 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/1-click-vs-2-clicks/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/1-click-vs-2-clicks/Mon, 26 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/first-impression-failures/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/first-impression-failures/You don’t have a second chance to make a first impression. It’s important to design users’ flows and remove all obstacles on their way.Mon, 15 Jul 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/white-emptiness-problemsolving/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/white-emptiness-problemsolving/Sat, 15 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/software-development-fast-and-slow/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/software-development-fast-and-slow/How to use ideas from the great book by Daniel Kahneman Thinking, Fast and Slow.Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/agile-is-poisonous/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/agile-is-poisonous/Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/great-things-take-time/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/great-things-take-time/Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/q-curious-company/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/q-curious-company/Mon, 19 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/expertise-and-software-development/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/expertise-and-software-development/Sun, 02 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/visualization-and-memory/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/visualization-and-memory/Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/time-flow/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/time-flow/Tue, 26 May 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/simple-rules-complex-systems-software-development/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/simple-rules-complex-systems-software-development/Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/zero-defects/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/zero-defects/Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/edge-of-chaos-hyper-productive-teams/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/edge-of-chaos-hyper-productive-teams/Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/software-development-cas-2/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/software-development-cas-2/Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/are-we-agile-yet/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/are-we-agile-yet/Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/agile-development-future/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/agile-development-future/Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/agile-medecine/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/agile-medecine/Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/development-from-scratch/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/development-from-scratch/Fri, 21 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/where-development-moving/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/where-development-moving/Thu, 13 Jul 2006 00:00:00 GMThttps://mdubakov.me/en/essays/lessons-learned-from-my-first-xp-project/https://mdubakov.me/en/essays/lessons-learned-from-my-first-xp-project/Fri, 23 Jul 2004 00:00:00 GMT