"Complexity does kill companies... It's never too early to plant the seeds of simplicity." — Dharmesh Shah
What It Is
A deliberate imposition of artificial constraints and simplification rules to counteract the natural organizational drift toward complexity (the Second Law of Thermodynamics applied to business).
When To Use
- During periods of rapid growth
- When considering expanding the product portfolio
- When processes feel increasingly bureaucratic
- Before adding new product lines or features
The Problem: Entropy
STARTUP SCALED COMPANY
Simple ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ →→→→ ▓▓▓░░░░░░░░░░ Complex Fast ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ →→→→ ▓▓▓▓░░░░░░░░░ Slow Decisive ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓ →→→→ ▓▓░░░░░░░░░░░ Political
Without intervention, entropy wins.
## Core Principles
### 1. Acknowledge the Drift
Accept that without intervention, the company will become slower and more complex.
### 2. Impose Artificial Constraints
Use **binary rules** to force simplicity:
- "No meetings before 11am"
- "One feature in, one feature out"
- "All or nothing" policies (no permission management)
### 3. Calculate Dimensional Complexity
When adding a new product line, factor in that **every future decision** now requires choosing between A and B.
### 4. Simplify Binary Decisions
Make policies "all or nothing" (e.g., everyone is an insider) to remove administrative overhead.
## How To Apply
STEP 1: Identify Complexity Sources └── What decisions require the most meetings? └── Where are processes slowing down?
STEP 2: Create Binary Rules └── Turn gray areas into black/white └── "If X, then always Y" rules
STEP 3: Measure Carrying Cost └── New feature = Dev time + Future maintenance + Sales training + Support complexity + Every future decision now A vs B
STEP 4: Enforce "One In, One Out" └── Add a feature? Remove one. └── Add a product line? Kill one.
## Common Mistakes
❌ Measuring cost of new features **only by engineering hours**
❌ Adding "just one more" exception to binary rules
❌ Waiting until complexity is **already painful** to act
## Real-World Example
In the early days, HubSpot enforced a rule where adding a new UI element required removing an existing one to maintain a constant level of complexity.
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*Source: Dharmesh Shah, Lenny's Podcast*