“Speed and quality aren’t at odds - they’re often positively correlated.” - Nan Yu, Linear

When I first started out as an engineer, I assumed that “moving fast” meant rushing, cutting corners, or skipping due diligence. Sure, sometimes it does if you’re careless. However, over time, especially working in a startup environment, I’ve learned something that surprised me:

Speed can actually improve quality.

Not in a reckless way, but in a focused, practiced, high-feedback-loop kind of way. The best engineers and teams I’ve worked with move quickly because they care about quality. They know what matters, what can wait, and how to learn through iteration. They don’t aim for perfect upfront. They aim to learn fast and improve continuously.

Speed is not sloppiness, it’s focus

Fast teams aren’t chaotic. In fact, they tend to be more intentional. Speedy shipping doesn’t mean cutting corners - it means:

  • Shipping a clear V1, not a half-built V5
  • Getting feedback from real usage, not just internal debates
  • Avoiding overengineering when the problem is still being shaped

The difference is focus over perfectionism, and in practice, it leads to better results.

What enables speed without sacrificing quality?

Here’s what I’ve seen work, put into practice and found effective:

  • Small scopes, clear outcomes - define what “good enough” or my favorite term, the “minimal lovable product” means for a V1
  • Strong feedback loop from customers, teammates, and your own dogfooding
  • Good observability so you’re confident in what happens post-launch. It tells a story and you can’t fix what you can’t see
  • A culture of reflection, blamelessness, and low ego. Speed isn’t the enemy of care; blame and ego are. They create friction, slow decision-making, and lead to worse systems

Speed isn’t about skipping craft, it’s about knowing where to invest and when to move.

Final thought: speed is a skill you build

Just like in badminton (which I love), speed comes with experience. At first, you hesitate. Later, you move without thinking, not because you’re rushing, but because your instincts have been shaped by reps.

Engineering is the same.

The more you ship, the sharper you get. The sharper you get, the faster you move. And the faster you move, the faster you learn what actually matters.

That’s what leads to quality - not slowness, but confidence paired with momentum.

Ship fast. Listen hard. Get better.