The 3-Month Rule: A Strategic Approach to Non-Scalable Development
In the world of startups, there’s a popular mantra espoused by Paul Graham: “Do things that don’t scale.” However, the challenge for developers lies in the practical application of this principle. After dedicating eight months to building my AI podcast platform, I’ve established a straightforward framework known as the 3-Month Rule. The essence of this concept is simple: each non-scalable tactic is given a trial period of three months. At the end of this timeframe, we assess its effectiveness; it either gets a full-fledged implementation or is phased out entirely.
Understanding the Engineer’s Dilemma
As engineers, our training typically empowers us to create scalable solutions from the outset. We’re taught to implement complex architectures such as microservices and distributed systems, all designed to accommodate vast user bases. However, this mindset can lead to obstacles in startup environments where premature optimization often serves as a hindrance rather than a help. The 3-Month Rule encourages me to embrace more straightforward, potentially “inefficient” coding practices that yield real-world insights into user needs.
Insightful Infrastructure Choices
1. Unified Virtual Machine
My platform’s database, web server, background processes, and caching layer all operate from a single virtual machine costing $40 per month. While this lacks redundancy and relies on manual backups, it has provided invaluable insights into actual resource requirement patterns. Surprisingly, my application’s peak memory usage is only 4GB, and the elaborate Kubernetes setup I initially considered would have involved managing redundant resources that I didn’t actually need. Each crash (which has happened twice) revealed unexpected breaking points, yielding genuine learning opportunities.
2. Simplified Configuration Management
Gone are the days of convoluted configuration files and environment variables. I’ve opted for hardcoded constants scattered throughout my code. While this approach might seem archaic, it allows for rapid identification of configuration values with a simple search. Github’s version control tracks any modifications over time, and revisiting these changes requires far less time than constructing an elaborate configuration service. In just three months, I’ve only adjusted my constants three times, making this simple model highly effective.
3. Production Use of SQLite
Yes, I’ve chosen to run SQLite for my multi-user application, and it has performed admirably with just 47MB of data, even supporting 50 concurrent users seamlessly. This decision was informed by my user access patterns, which revealed
One Comment
This is a highly practical and insightful approach to balancing the need for experimentation with the realities of early-stage development. The 3-Month Rule effectively encourages a disciplined mindset—allowing teams to test bold, non-scalable solutions quickly and decisively. I especially appreciate the emphasis on learning through real-world usage, as this often uncovers assumptions that theoretical planning can overlook.
Your example of using a single VM and SQLite for initial deployment underscores the value of simplicity—saving time and resources upfront, while still gaining meaningful insights. It reminds me that in early product validation, the goal isn’t perfection but learning fast and iterating efficiently.
Would be interesting to see how you plan to transition from these initial choices as user growth accelerates—perhaps adopting more scalable solutions only once the core value proposition is validated and user behaviors confirm the need for them. Thanks for sharing this pragmatic framework!