Why You Should Discuss Microservices Architecture With Your Tech Team Before You Start

Microservices, Simply Explained

In a "monolithic" architecture, every part of your application — users, orders, payments — runs as a single program. In a microservices architecture, each part becomes an independent service with its own database and deployment.

Why So Many Teams Get This Wrong

Microservices were designed for large companies with many teams and heavy traffic. But many startups reach for them on day one, before their product is even validated. The result: excessive complexity, higher infrastructure costs, and slower feature development — the exact opposite of what an early-stage startup needs.

When You Actually Need Them

• When multiple separate teams work on different parts of the product and a monolith is blocking their coordination.
• When one specific part (like image processing) needs to scale very differently from the rest.
• When you have an experienced DevOps team to manage the added operational complexity.

Practical Advice

For most new projects, starting with a "modular monolith" — clean, well-separated code within a single deployment — is the smarter choice. Once the product grows and real boundaries emerge, you can split specific parts into microservices. Not the other way around.