--- title: "Let's Be Facebook!" url: https://daily.dev/posts/let-s-be-facebook--ajcc74owp source_url: https://thedailywtf.com/articles/let-s-be-facebook type: article source: "The Daily WTF" published: 2026-06-01T11:09:13.921Z updated: 2026-06-01T11:09:35.717Z tags: ["php", "project-management", "technical-debt"] reading_time: 3 upvotes: 19 comments: 2 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Let's Be Facebook! **[The Daily WTF](https://daily.dev/sources/thedailywtf)** · 3 min read · 19 upvotes · 2 comments ## Summary A cautionary tale from circa 2012 about a poorly managed web project that spiraled over budget and past deadlines. After a year and a half of development in C#, the CEO decided to rewrite the entire system in PHP because Facebook used it. Developers estimated 2–3 weeks for the rewrite; the experienced consultant said 5+ months. He was fired for being 'not forward-thinking enough.' The rewrite took nearly 8 months — validating his estimate exactly. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@gresakg** · 2 upvotes > So relatable! I got a very similar case. Later they hired me back later to get things actually working. **@baptistecrouzet** · 0 upvotes > Being a CEO dosn't mean you must only lead, and make decison, it means you have to listen your team... > By firing some people for not giving the answers he wanted, he illustrated how much he was not able to listen. > > Announced a 5 month rewrite, it took 8, so he probably learned this time ! --- Tags: [#php](https://daily.dev/tags/php), [#project-management](https://daily.dev/tags/project-management), [#technical-debt](https://daily.dev/tags/technical-debt) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/let-s-be-facebook--ajcc74owp)