Article · 6 min read

Getting Real: Epicenter Design

37signals · 37signals (Getting Real) Free Beginner

37signals argues for building less software and starting from the core of the product rather than the frame. That philosophy directly counters the second-system urge to make the rebuild bigger and more general than the thing it replaces. A short, opinionated read on keeping scope honest.

  • Build less software, not more flexibility for imagined needs
  • Start from the core of the product, not the scaffolding
  • Extra generality is usually cost, not value
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The question it answers

  1. When is the right moment to stop iterating on the MVP and rebuild it properly, and how do I avoid the second-system rewrite trap?

Read with it

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  3. The customer-development originator's clearest statement on scoping the minimum feature set to reach your earliest believers.... steveblank.com Article · ~8 min read Perfection by Subtraction, The Minimum Feature Set Steve Blank
  4. Long-form, candid interviews with Indian founders and investors on how they actually grew, distributed and built brand, one of... The Neon Show / Neon Fund Podcast · 200+ episodes The Neon Show (100x Entrepreneur Podcast) Siddhartha Ahluwalia
  5. Michael Seibel, who ran YC, makes the blunt case for shipping something almost embarrassingly simple and learning from real... Y Combinator Startup Library Video · ~10 min video How to Build an MVP Michael Seibel
  6. This is the canonical warning against throwing away working code and rebuilding from scratch, told through Netscape's rewrite... Joel on Software Essay · ~10 min read Things You Should Never Do, Part I Joel Spolsky
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