The Varstatt Principles

The principles that separate work that ships from work that drifts.

33 principles · 5 chapters · updated October 2026

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Models against the thing: on the left, under a grey pill Models with a red cross, six grey models of the work in a grid: a video call, a meeting invite, a proposal, a plan, a task board and a mockup; on the right, under a violet pill The Thing with a green tick, one working app in full colour.
Models don't ship.

Most software projects fail the same way. Unclear scope turns six weeks into six months. A $15K budget becomes $50K. Developers build the wrong thing beautifully, on time, exactly as specified.

Most of that time goes into models of the work: calls, meetings, proposals, plans, boards, mockups. Models don't ship. The only thing that matters is the thing itself: working software in production.

After building software since 2011, five areas separate work that ships from work that drifts: Discovery, Delivery, Diligence, Partnership, and Philosophy.