After a failed startup, I stopped trying to build the next big thing and started shipping tiny ones.
A QR-code integration. A screenshot tool. A WhatsApp bot. Each small enough to finish in a weekend, real enough to put in front of someone the same week.
Momentum compounds faster than scope
The thing nobody tells you: five shipped tools teach you more than one unshipped masterpiece —
- about pricing
- about users
- about which problems are actually worth solving
And they pay rent while they teach. The unshipped masterpiece teaches you nothing except how to start over.
Ship the smallest version that's real. Let reality tell you what to build next.
So now my default is simple: what's the smallest version of this I can put live this week?