Why Is Software Always Ninety Percent Done?

It’s one of the great mysteries of information technology.

Karl Wiegers
The Startup
Published in
5 min readJun 16, 2019

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A series of thermometers showing 30, 50, 70, 90, 90, 90
Graphic by Author

“Hey, Phil, how are you coming on that subsystem?”

“Pretty good. I’m about 90 percent done.”

“Oh. Weren’t you 90 percent done a couple of weeks ago?”

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Karl Wiegers
The Startup

Author of 14 books, mostly on software. PhD in organic chemistry. Guitars, wine, and military history fill the voids. karlwiegers.com and processimpact.com