I was thinking about this article in a meta sense. Why was it written? From my perspective there is nothing special about their process. Then it dawned on me: Payroll is critical business software. When I think of a startup, I think of a couple of guys who built something in their garage with a lot of comments that look like this:
//TODO fix this later
//Major hack, but seems to work for now<p>In that sense, the word "startup" is a stigma for a company that is trying to create an impression of a stable, reliable, responsible business. Then I noticed this:<p><i>We’re building our company to last 50 years or more, and we want our code to last just as long.</i><p>It's so over the top. Writing code that will still be used in 50 years would be more of an exercise in predicting the future than writing the code itself. None the less, it fits the same narrative. It's all a branding play to show that they are a stable, reliable, responsible company. (not a move fast and break things kind of startup that we've all been hearing about)