The 3-Month Rule: A Pragmatic Approach to Scaling Your Startup

In the entrepreneurial world, it’s often advised to “do things that don’t scale.” This wisdom, as Paul Graham suggests, encourages innovation and creativity during the early stages of a startup. However, the challenge arises in understanding how to effectively implement this principle, especially from a technical perspective.

After spending the last eight months developing my AI podcast platform, I have refined a straightforward framework: any unscalable solution gets a lifespan of just three months. At the end of that period, we determine whether it offers valuable insights and deserves to be properly built, or if it’s time to sunset it.

Why startups Require a Different Mindset

As engineers, our training often inclines us to design scalable solutions right from the outset. We spend time crafting intricate architecture like microservices and distributed systems that can respond to millions of users. However, this kind of thinking is more suited to established companies than nimble startups.

In a startup setting, focusing on scalability too soon can lead to unnecessary delays and inefficiencies. Instead of building for potential users, we should prioritize simple, actionable code that enables us to learn what our actual users need. The 3-month rule keeps me focused on developing straightforward yet effective solutions, allowing the platform to evolve based on real experience and feedback.

My Strategies for Agile Development

Here are some of the unconventional methods I’ve adopted that have proven to be both smart and effective:

1. Centralized Resource Management on a Single VM

I run everything—from the database to the web server—on a single VM costing just $40/month. This approach may lack redundancy, and requires manual backups, but it has offered invaluable insights into my resource usage. In just two months, I learned that my platform typically operates on 4GB of RAM, which spared me the trouble of managing an overly complex Kubernetes setup that I had initially considered.

This simplicity also provides clarity during crashes, revealing the true points of failure—none of which were what I expected.

2. Hardcoded Configuration—A Surprising Advantage

Instead of relying on complicated configuration systems, I use hardcoded constants throughout my code. While some would argue this is impractical, it allows for incredibly swift retrieval of configuration values and keeps a complete history of changes via Git. In three months, I’ve only altered these values three times, a far cry from the hours it would take to establish