Evolving with patterns: A 31-month startup experience report

Software startups develop innovative products under extreme conditions of uncertainty. At the same time they represent a fast-growing sector in the economy and scale up research and technological advancement. This paper describes findings after observing a startup during its first 31 months of life. The data was collected through observations, unstructured interviews as well as from technical and managerial documentation of the startup. The findings are based on a deductive analysis and summarized in 24 contextualized patterns that concern communication, interaction with customer, teamwork, and management. Furthermore, 13 lessons learned are presented with the aim of sharing experience with other startups. This industry report contributes to understanding the applicability and usefulness of startups' patterns, providing valuable knowledge for the startup software engineering community.