Tech Essentials: Key Terms Everyone Should Know

In this episode of The Missing Kei, host Edie Woelfle, a Fractional CTO and the founder of Keiboarder, discusses the importance and proper use of common tech terms like Agile, Codebase, Prototype, MVP, and Roadmap. She demystifies Agile as a method to continually progress in software development, codebase as the foundation of a software product, and prototype as a preliminary model to gather user feedback. Woelfle further simplifies the concept of MVP (Minimum Viable Product) as a scaled-back yet functional version of a product and emphasizes the Role of a roadmap in planning the product’s development journey. The host also gives practical tips on how to ensure these concepts are implemented effectively in a startup, making the episode a valuable start-to-finish guide for tech entrepreneurs. Lastly, she gives a sneak peek into the next week's episode, which will discuss top paid tools beneficial for anyone working with tech.

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• Tech Essentials: Key Terms Everyone Should Know

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to The Missing Key, the podcast where I d Wellflee.
Fractional CTO, founder of Keyborder and self proclaimed tech janitor,
turned startup tech chaos into scale ready clarity. Today, we're
going to tackle some common tech terms that can feel
like a foreign language. If you're not a developer, By
the end of this episode, you'll have a clearer understanding

(00:24):
of concepts like agile, code based prototype, MVP, and roadmap.
So let's dive in. First. Up is agile Now. If
you've ever found yourself in a meeting where people throw
around the word agile like it's some sort of magic spell,
you're not alone. Agile is basically a way to build
software piece by piece instead of all at once. Picture this.

(00:45):
Your team meets every two weeks to show what they've
built and then decides what to work on next. This way,
instead of waiting six months to see any progress, you
get to see working parts of your product every few weeks.
This kind of method helps your team deliver real, usable
pieces of your product regularly, no more waiting around for
ages only to find out that half of what you
built is outdated. To put it simply, agile is your

(01:07):
ticket to keeping things moving and staying on track. So
next time you're chatting with your team, try asking what
will you finish by next Friday. It's a great way
to start building some accountability, all right. Moving on to
our next term, codebase. Imagine your codebase like the foundation
of your house. It's all the code that makes your
product tick. Think of it as a super organized digital
filing cabinet that holds everything your application needs to work. Code, instructions, images, icons, buttons,

(01:33):
you name it. Now. Why does this matter? Because if
your codebase is messy or poorly organized, everything built on
top of it becomes unstable. Many founders overlook this and
don't keep track of where their code is stored or
who has access. Big mistake. Avoid future headaches by asking
your developer where's our code stored and who else can
access it? Make sure it's not sitting on someone's personal

(01:55):
computer where it could disappear in the blink of an eye.
Next stop prototype. Think of a prototype as the movie
set of your product. Looks real from the front, but
doesn't actually do anything behind the scenes. It's a clickable
mockup that resembles your real app, but without all the
back end functionality. Why is this so crucial. A good
prototype lets you test out your ideas without splurging on

(02:15):
building the real thing. Tools like Figma are fantastic for
creating these clickable prototypes, So before you get too deep
into hiring developers, create a prototype and show it to
potential users. Their feedback might just save you from creating
a product no one wants. Simulate before you create, folks,
let's talk MVP, minimum viable product. Think of your MVP
as a food truck rather than a five star restaurant.

(02:37):
It's the simplest version of your product that still solves
the main problem you're trying to address. This way, you
get to the market faster and start learning from real
users right away. One major pitfall to avoid is cramming
too many features into your MVP. You end up wasting
time and resources on stuff that customers might not even
care about. Keep it simple, Write down the one problem
your product solves, and focus solely on the features needed

(02:58):
to fix that problem. Everything else can wait for future versions,
and finally we land on roadmap. A roadmap is like
your GPS for product development. It's a visual timeline that
shows what you're working on now, what's coming up next?
In the next two to three months and future ideas
for later on. This gives everyone a clear understanding of
what's happening and why. Sharing parts of your roadmap with

(03:19):
users can even get them excited about what's to come.
Tools like candy dot Io can help you organize and
collect useful feedback. Here's a quick tip. List your top
three feature ideas on a piece of paper and then prioritize.
Pick one to focus on first and move the others
to a maybe later pile. This keeps you focused and efficient.
And that's it for today's episode. You've now got a
solid understanding of agile, codebase, prototype, MVP, and roadmap terms

(03:44):
that will make your tech journey a whole lot smoother.
If you enjoyed this episode of the Missing Key, leave
a review and share it with your friends. Got questions
or feedback, just send me a message and don't forget
to check the show notes for any links or articles
mentioned today. Stay tuned for next week's episode, where we'll
dive into the top five paid tools that are worth
every penny for anyone working with tech. This is Edie

(04:06):
well Flee signing off. Talk to you next time.