But that doesn't mean your product isn't awesome. Only projects that were good enough to stick around have the chance to reflect and realize the missteps of the past.
Have you watched Indie Game: The Movie? No? Go do that now, I'll wait.
At its core, Indie Game is a tale of entrepreneurs and their dedication to their creations. Phil Fish, the creator of Fez, recalls that each year, he would look back on work he had done a year ago and know that it was worse than what he could do today. So he had to go back. Fix things. Make it perfect.
Businesses and products are the same. You're only best at doing something once you've already done it, which means that you will never be the best at what you're doing in the moment.
Practically, then, what does that mean? You need to do a couple of things.
1.) Reconsider the choices you've made.
Just because technology was a certain way a few years ago doesn't mean that the same is true today. All that code you wrote to store less data in your database? Possibly worthless. Your home-rolled test infrastructure? Better tools exist today.
2.) Remember that decision judgements are not product judgements
When an employee or outsider tells you that you made a bad decision, they're not calling your baby ugly. They care about your product, and that's why you're talking. Maybe your interaction design is flawed, or you're wasting money on a solr search feature no one understands. Disconnect these value statements from statements about you, your product, or your company - they're not related.
3.) Throw things away
This is crucial. Product features that don't make sense have to go. Home-grown tools that have been replaced by better commercial or open-source projects need to die. You need to focus on your product and your business, and you can't let the mistakes of your past slow the acceleration of your future.
Your product and business is more than the sum of the decisions you've made. It's the relationships and knowledge you've gained, the customers you've satisfied, and the momentum to keep building that you didn't have a year ago.
Why you made the choices you did doesn't matter. Focus on the future, and move forward.
