The bigger your product gets, the more its shadow grows.

The product getting bigger is made up of things like features, number of users, tech infrastructure, design processes.
The shadow getting bigger is tech debt, feature requests, roadmaps, backlogs.

As the product gets bigger, so does the shadow. This is unavoidable. As such, being aware of the shadow is important.

Think of your shadow. What are the things that are in it? Do you have loads of bugs? Is your roadmap fuzzy and unclear? Do you have too many feature requests from demanding customers?

It can be fun building product, but don’t forget about the shadow.