The 3-Month Rule: A Pragmatic Approach to Non-Scalable Solutions
The advice from entrepreneurs like Paul Graham to “do things that don’t scale” resonates with many, yet few discuss its practical application in the realm of software development. Over the past eight months, while developing my AI podcast platform, I’ve devised a straightforward methodology: each non-scalable approach is allowed a lifespan of three months. After this period, we assess its impact—if it demonstrates value, we enhance it; if not, we eliminate it.
As developers, we are often encouraged to focus on scalable solutions from the outset, exploring sophisticated design patterns and complex systems intended to accommodate millions of users. However, in a startup environment, focusing on scalability too soon can lead to unnecessary delays—spending time optimizing for future users who may not even materialize. My three-month rule compels me to implement straightforward, even rudimentary, code that is deployable, allowing me to better understand the authentic needs of my users.
Tactical Infrastructure Decisions That Yield Insights
1. Consolidated Operations on a Single VM
I host my database, web server, background jobs, and caching all on one $40-per-month virtual machine, with zero redundancy and manual backups to my local environment.
Here’s the brilliance behind this approach: in a mere two months, I’ve gathered more insights about my actual resource needs than any elaborate planning document could provide. My platform, which I initially anticipated would be resource-intensive, peaks at just 4GB of RAM. The Kubernetes setup I contemplated would have led to the management of idle containers rather than addressing real issues.
Whenever my system crashes (which has occurred twice), I acquire valuable data about failure points—often revealing unexpected culprits.
2. Hardcoded Configuration Throughout
Config settings such as price tiers and user limits are directly embedded in my code, eliminating the need for external configuration files or environment variables.
This design choice enhances my efficiency: I can quickly search through my codebase for any setting, and every configuration change is logged in the Git history, ensuring that my modifications are transparent. Instead of spending countless hours developing a configuration service—something I would have executed in a week—I’ve optimized hours of engineering time with just a few minutes of redeployment.
3. Utilizing SQLite in Production
Yes, my multi-user application operates on SQLite, which has proven capable of managing 50 concurrent users with ease, sitting at a compact size
One Comment
This is a compelling approach that highlights the importance of rapid experimentation and learning in the early stages of a startup. Your 3-month rule serves as a pragmatic method to balance agility with informed decision-making—allowing you to test assumptions quickly, gather real user data, and adapt without getting bogged down by premature optimizations.
I particularly appreciate your emphasis on simplicity—using a single VM, hardcoded configs, and SQLite in production. These choices enable fast iteration and clear insight into actual system behavior, which is often underestimated in favor of more complex, scalable architectures that can delay valuable feedback. As your data shows, understanding real resource consumption and failure points early on helps inform future infrastructure decisions more effectively than theoretical plans.
This approach resonates well with lean startup principles, emphasizing that initial success often comes from doing “less” with more focus rather than over-engineering from day one. It would be interesting to see how you plan to transition these learnings into more scalable solutions as your user base grows, but I agree that prioritizing learning over speed-of-scaling early on is both efficient and smart. Thanks for sharing this practical framework!