Ask HN: Manage Technical Debt in a Lean Start-Up?

[jpshackelford]

How does one balance rapid iteration with management of technical debt during early product development? (By debt I am specifically referring to test coverage, design problems associated with new features added at top speed, growth of code base with features that may not serve eventual core customer profile, etc.) If a product's GA is an important milestone, is the importance of managing debt the same both before and after. Are techniques for managing debt the same before and after? What has worked and not worked for you? What guidelines have you used or ignored and with what result?