What the Soviet Space Program Taught Me About Digital Product Development - Dean Schuster

Speed and being first often comes at the cost of quality - the Soviet space program demonstrated how prioritizing speed over safety and testing led to critical failures

Dependence on individual “superstar” contributors is risky - when chief Soviet designer Korolev died, the program fell into disarray because too much knowledge and control was concentrated in one person

A deliberate, process-driven approach (like NASA’s) may be slower initially but leads to better long-term results and sustainability

Marketing/propaganda shouldn’t overshadow actual product quality - the Soviets were great at propaganda but ultimately couldn’t match US space capabilities

Novel problems require novel solutions - both space programs had to invent new processes and technologies, similar to modern digital product development

Quality should be redefined as a baseline requirement rather than a “nice to have” - fewer bugs and better user experience should be minimum expectations

Team influence can come from anywhere - sometimes junior team members can drive positive process changes from the bottom up

Artificial timelines driven by external factors (politics, competition, etc.) often lead to cut corners and technical debt

Building sustainable products requires good processes, quality standards, and distributed knowledge rather than relying on individual heroes

The way you think about and approach development (philosophy) directly affects the end results - rushing to be first versus taking time to do things right