The 3-Month Rule: A Practical Approach to Unscalable Solutions in Tech Development

In the tech world, it’s no secret that Paul Graham famously advocates for doing things that don’t scale. However, the challenge lies in how to actually implement this mindset, especially in the realm of coding and software development.

After dedicating eight months to developing an AI podcast platform, I devised a straightforward framework: I give every unscalable solution a lifespan of three months. This timeframe allows me to evaluate its effectiveness and decide whether it deserves a more robust implementation or should be phased out.

Understanding the Journey from Scalable to Usable

As developers, we are often conditioned to focus on scalable solutions from the outset. Concepts like design patterns, microservices, and distributed systems reside in our toolbox, crafted to accommodate a vast user base. Yet, in a startup environment, designing for scalability can sometimes equate to costly delays, addressing user needs that may not yet exist. My three-month principle encourages me to embrace simple, albeit imperfect code that can be swiftly deployed, providing clear insights into what users genuinely require.

Current Infrastructure Hacks: Smart Choices for Learning

1. All-In-One VM Architecture

My entire platform runs on a single, $40 per month virtual machine, housing everything from the database to background jobs. While this lacks redundancy and relies on manual backups, the benefit has been immense. I’ve gained significant clarity on my actual resource requirements in just two months, surpassing what any traditional capacity planning document could offer. When crashes occur—admittedly, twice so far—they provide invaluable data on true system vulnerabilities.

2. Hardcoded Configurations

Instead of utilizing complex configuration files or environment variables, I’ve implemented hardcoded constants throughout my codebase, such as:

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PRICE_TIER_1 = 9.99
PRICE_TIER_2 = 19.99
MAX_USERS = 100
AI_MODEL = "gpt-4"

While this may seem primitive, the ease of quickly searching and tracking these values in my code offers notable advantages. In the past three months, I’ve only modified prices three times—spending just 15 minutes redeploying instead of 40 hours designing a configuration service.

3. SQLite as My Production Database

Yes, I am using SQLite for a multi-user application with a database size of merely 47MB, successfully accommodating 50 simultaneous users. Through this setup, I