Microservices vs. Monoliths: Why Startups Are Getting "Nano-Services" All Wrong
From Monoliths to Microservices: Why Startups Should Avoid Premature Complexity
So, you've launched a startup. You've got the idea, the team, and maybe even a bit of funding. Now comes the fun part: building the product. And like any tech-savvy entrepreneur, you've heard the gospel of microservices—"It's scalable!" "It's future-proof!" "Even Google and Netflix use it!"
But here's the thing: you're not Google or Netflix. And jumping into microservices too soon might just be one of the worst decisions you could make as a budding startup. In fact, some startups are taking it so far that they've invented what I like to call "nano-services"—tiny, fragmented services that create complexity where there should be simplicity.
Let's talk about why this is a problem.
The Rise of Microservices—And Why They’re Not for Everyone
Before we dive into the nano-service rabbit hole, let's revisit why microservices became the darling of the tech world. In a microservice architecture, your product is broken down into smaller, independent services that communicate over a network (usually via APIs). Each service is responsible for a single function—whether that's user authentication, payment processing, or product search.
Microservices are great for big companies with massive, complex systems. They offer scalability, flexibility, and fault isolation. Netflix, for example, can update its recommendation engine without disrupting its entire platform because each feature operates independently.
But what about a very early-stage startup? You're probably working with a small team, a limited budget, and—let's be real—just trying to get people to care about your product. In this stage, microservices can introduce overhead and complexity that you don't need.
The Nano-Service Nightmare
Here's where it gets tricky: in their quest to follow "best practices," some startups are breaking their product down into so many microservices that the architecture becomes a tangled web of tiny, granular functions—what I call "nano-services."
Imagine breaking down your system into not just an authentication service, but a separate microservice for each tiny function within that service. One for username verification. One for password validation. One for generating CAPTCHA. Sounds ridiculous, right? That's because it is.
This leads to several problems:
Excessive Overhead: Suddenly, you're responsible for managing, testing, and deploying dozens of tiny services. Each with its own dependencies, deployment process, and potential points of failure. Startups don't need this level of complexity when they're moving fast and iterating quickly.
DevOps Chaos: Microservices require a well-oiled DevOps machine. I'm talking about containerization, orchestration, and continuous deployment pipelines that can handle dozens of services simultaneously. Most startups don't have dedicated teams for this. Fun fact: According to a survey from DataDog, 55% of companies using microservices reported that they needed to improve their monitoring and alerting processes just to keep up with the complexity.
Premature Optimization: One of the most dangerous traps startups fall into is optimizing for scale before they need to. I get it—you want to build a product that can handle millions of users. But in reality, you're probably still figuring out whether anyone even wants to use your product. A study by CB Insights (CB Insights report) found that 42% of startups fail because there's no market need for their product. So instead of focusing on microservices and scalability, your priority should be product-market fit.
Complexity Over Time
Here's a simple graph to illustrate the impact of different architectures over time:
Graph Idea:
X-axis: Startup Stage (Idea, MVP, Scaling, Growth)
Y-axis: Architecture Complexity (Low, Moderate, High)
When it comes to architecture, complexity is inevitable as your startup grows. The key is knowing when to embrace it. Early on, during the Idea and MVP stages, simplicity is your best friend. A monolithic architecture allows you to iterate quickly, fix bugs easily, and focus on product-market fit without worrying about managing a complex DevOps pipeline.
As your startup enters the Scaling and Growth stages, complexity becomes necessary—and even beneficial. At this point, your product is validated, you've got a growing user base, and you're adding features at a faster pace. Now is when microservices can shine:
Scalability Becomes Crucial: You can scale specific parts of your system independently.
Fault Isolation: Failure in one service shouldn't take down the entire product.
Flexibility for Teams: Different teams can work on different services independently, speeding up development and deployment.
The Great Debate: My Conversation with John, the Microservices Evangelist
After I posted about this on LinkedIn, I had a great conversation with John*, a software engineer and microservices advocate. He made some excellent points that highlight the nuances of this debate.
John argued:
Microservices don't inherently mean more services. It's just about how you organize features.
Deployment is easier today with platforms like AWS managing services for you.
Scalability should be baked in from the start, even in early-stage startups.
My response: While John's points are valid in theory, the reality I'm seeing is different. Startups are taking microservices to extremes, breaking down services into nano-level units. This increases overhead, DevOps complexity, and slows down iteration speed.
Yes, deployment has gotten easier, but not every early-stage team is equipped to manage a microservice architecture effectively. If your team has the skills, awesome—go for it. But if not, which is the majority of startups out there, start simple and scale as needed.
And on scalability: while it's essential, the focus in the early days should be on product-market fit. Scale comes later. Prematurely optimizing for scale can slow you down when you should be speeding up.
*Name changed because I can't afford another lawsuit.
Start Simple, Scale Later
Here's my takeaway for startups: Start simple! Build a monolith, validate your product, and iterate quickly. Once you've got traction and users are banging on the door for more features, then consider scaling out to microservices. But don't fall into the nano-service trap, where you create unnecessary complexity and burn time managing overhead instead of building value.
That's all folks! What about you? Have you seen this trend in startups? Let me know in the comments, or better yet, hit that "subscribe" button to keep the conversation going.
Cheers,
- Thiago
About the author: Former Microsoft engineer, current startup junkie. I've sold one company, building another, and spend way too much time thinking about tech. My opinions are like my code – they might have bugs, but they're open source.