Flywheel Model vs Waterfall Model

Developers should learn the Flywheel Model to understand how iterative improvements in software, user experience, or team processes can compound into major successes, such as in agile development or growth hacking meets developers should learn the waterfall model to understand traditional project management approaches, especially for projects with well-defined, stable requirements and low uncertainty, such as government contracts or safety-critical systems. Here's our take.

Flywheel Model

Nice Pick

Developers should learn the Flywheel Model to understand how iterative improvements in software, user experience, or team processes can compound into major successes, such as in agile development or growth hacking

Pros

• It is particularly useful for building scalable systems, optimizing feedback loops in DevOps, or designing products that encourage user engagement and retention, like in SaaS platforms
• Related to: agile-methodology, growth-hacking

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

Waterfall Model

Developers should learn the Waterfall Model to understand traditional project management approaches, especially for projects with well-defined, stable requirements and low uncertainty, such as government contracts or safety-critical systems

Pros

• It is useful in contexts where regulatory compliance, detailed documentation, and predictable timelines are prioritized over flexibility, making it relevant for legacy systems or industries like aerospace and healthcare
• Related to: software-development-life-cycle, project-management

Cons

• Specific tradeoffs depend on your use case

The Verdict

These tools serve different purposes. Flywheel Model is a concept while Waterfall Model is a methodology. We picked Flywheel Model based on overall popularity, but your choice depends on what you're building.

The Bottom Line

Flywheel Model wins

Based on overall popularity. Flywheel Model is more widely used, but Waterfall Model excels in its own space.