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Global·66d ago
Startup Guides
Free
When to Rebuild vs Refactor Your MVP
What you'll learn The 4 signals that tell you it's time to rebuild your codebase, and the 6 that mean you should just refactor. Why it matters Founders rebuild too early (waste ₹5L) or too late (crushed by tech debt). Getting this decision right saves you a year. The playbook 1) Rebuild signals — MVP was built by a freelancer who's gone; adding a feature takes >2 weeks; site crashes weekly; can't hire because 'nobody wants to touch this code'. 2) Refactor signals — 1-2 slow endpoints; UI feels dated but works; DB queries take >500ms; onboarding new dev takes >1 week. 3) Rebuild timing — Only after ₹1L MRR or 1,000 weekly active users. Never before. 4) Rebuild strategy — Parallel build (keep old running), migrate customers in batches, decommission old. 5) Best time — Between raising rounds (angel to seed), so investor money funds the rebuild. Common mistakes Rebuilding to use 'newer, shinier' tech (bad reason). Rebuilding at 100 users (too early). Big-bang rebuilds (always fail — do parallel). Next action List your top 5 tech pain points. Score each: quick refactor (1-2 days) or rebuild (>1 month). Attack the refactors this week; defer rebuilds till you have traction.