
## The Quiet Room Problem

You’ve probably been in a meeting where something felt off.

A decision was being made, a metric was being ignored, or someone said something that just... didn't sit right. Maybe you said nothing - because no one else did. Rocking the boat is uncomfortable; maybe you weren’t sure if it was worth it.

In the 1950s, psychologist Solomon Asch ran an experiment where people sat in a room and were shown a simple image - one line segment on a card, then three lines of varying length on a separate card. The task: say which line matches the original. Easy.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/the-quiet-room-problem/asch-experiment"
  caption="What if I told you everyone else picked A?"
  alt="A card with one line segment and three lines of varying length"
/>

There was a catch, though: everyone else in the room was a plant. They all intentionally picked the wrong answer. And in trial after trial, study participants changed their answers to match the group, even when the truth was obvious.

This is conformity in action: molding your opinion to match the group around you, even when you know it's wrong.

You've seen this in products you use, and in teams you've worked on. Concensus-driven features get built, metrics get cherry-picked, and established norms go unchallenged. "We've always done it this way" is a powerful force.

The result -- A quiet room. Quiet is not the same as agreement.

## Your role as a nonconformist

If you're reading Tiny Improvements, you're probably not chasing a quiet life in a beige office. You're here because you're curious. Because you question things. That instinct that makes you want to tweak, push, and rebuild is a _feature,_ not a bug.

On a team, it can be your superpower.

Too often, dissent is treated like a personality flaw. But when wielded thoughtfully, it's can be oe of the most valuable tools at your disposal. The best product builders don’t just ship what they’re told. They ask why. They look for holes. They call out blind spots.

It means pushing back when your team starts building without defining the problem. It means raising your hand when a decision doesn’t sit right - not because you want to be right, but because you want to get it right.

Disruptive ideas rarely start with consensus. They start with someone willing to say, "I see it differently."

## Surgical dissent

Your dissent is a pointed tool. Use it wisely, or risk quickly dulling its edge.

If you argue every decision endlessly, people will stop listening. If you're constantly poking holes, your feedback turns into background noise. Don't fall into the trap of just trying to _win_ debates - the goal is to improve the outcome, not to be right.

1. **Pick your moments.** Not every disagreement is worth a full-on pushback. Focus on high-leverage decisions: those that impact the product's direction, user experience, or team dynamics. If it’s a minor detail, sometimes it's okay to let it go.

2. **Dissent and commit.** Raise your concerns, share your thinking, then back the team’s decision. This is how strong teams stay aligned without always agreeing.

3. **Leave breadcrumbs.** If the group disagrees on a path forward, document the reasons for the decision. You’re not keeping receipts - you’re creating context. If this resurfaces later, the team will have shared context to revisit with more data and insight.

The goal is never to be the loudest voice, or to have the wildest ideas. It is to further the pursuit of the best possible outcome for your community of users, your product, and your team.

## Don’t stay quiet when it matters

Conformity feels safe, but safe rarely ships the right thing.

<PullQuote author="Ruth Bader Ginsburg">
  Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead
  others to join you.
</PullQuote>

Your job isn’t to blend in - It’s to speak up with care, listen with humility, and to move the needle forward. The quiet room is a trap. It’s where good intentions go to die.


The Quiet Room Problem


## The Big Idea

The way you get your work done has a direct impact on how well it gets done, especially when working with teams on problems of increasing complexity. Time spent planning multiplies your productivity.

<a
  href="https://tiny.outlier.ai/yckz3zcs"
  className="text-xs lg:text-xs xl:text-xs"
>
  Brought to you by Outlier AI
</a>

The title of this post is inspired by a Frank Lloyd Wright quote that became a mantra for my team while I was working at Gymnasium:

> An architect's most useful tools are an eraser at the drafting board and a wrecking ball at the jobsite.

Planning is **everything**.

## The virtuous product cycle

Building products for real people is a really hard. Even if you've found an audience and a product idea that you're confident in, doing a _great job of building the thing_ is always going to be challenging. I had the great fortune of working at Microsoft in my first job after university, where I was able to work on some pretty incredible teams of experienced engineers.

One of the most important things I learned in that job was a framework for building products in small, iterative cycles, which I've been using ever since. It breaks down each project, milestone, and feature into a few simple phases:

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/eraser-or-wrecking-ball/product-cycle"
  alt="The virtuous product cycle"
  caption="The virtuous product cycle"
/>

### Envision - understand the problem

In the **envision** phase, you're trying to understand the problem. This is where you capture the hopes and dreams of the people who will be using your product. This is where you get your baseline requirements from, in the form of user stories, feature lists, diagrams for workflows, and other documentation.

### Plan - break it down

In the **planning** phase, your job is to break down a complex problem into smaller parts. Ideally, this is a list of small tasks that can be completed relatively quickly. I usually shoot for no longer than 1 day. It's helpful here to think about inter-dependencies between tasks, and to capture things that aren't _strictly_ code: documentation, updated test cases, API endpoints that may change, UX work that needs to be done, and so on. You'll want to capture dev tasks, too - list out everything that needs to be done to get the feature working, even if it feels pedantic.

This is a critical bit of work, especially if you're working with non-technical people: this list of tasks is your best reference point when someone asks "what's left to do?" or "why isn't this done yet?". Combined with the details you captured during the **envisioning** phase, you should have a clear picture of what you're going to build, as well as the decisions made to get there.

Most importantly - at this point, **anyone** on your team should be able to read through this list and understand the work ahead, and even pick it up and run with it if needed. It means you won't have to answer questions in JIRA while you're sitting on your next vacation.

Planning is the step that we all tend to resist; it's easy to do. Fueled by excitement of something new, this step is the most likely to be overlooked. I've absolutely done it, and more often than not it

Skipping this step is a surefire way to miss important details; it's common during planning to unearth requirements that were missed in the envisioning phase - and it's a lot easier to fix them at this stage.

### Build - get it done

This is the one we're all chomping at the bit to do: coding away furiously to make the feature come to life, and to build out all of the exciting bits that comprise it.

### Stabilize - the one where you fix the bugs

This is the pre-deployment step where you write tests, conduct QA and acceptance testing, and make sure everything is working as expected. It's a good time to check in with the team to make sure everyone is on the same page, and to make sure you're not missing anything (even if it wasn't documented before!).

This is also a good moment to prepare documentation, demo videos, and other materials that will help your launch be a success.

### Deploy

🚀 Launch it!

### Analyze

Get your feature into the hands of your users, share documentation and demos with the world, and start gathering feedback. This is a great time to use product analytics and the telemetry you have available to learn whatever you can from the way people are using your feature, and to plan the next version.

Then go back to the start: the whole cycle starts again.

It takes practice and discipline to get this right, but it's worth it.

---

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  href="https://tiny.outlier.ai/yckz3zcs"
  target="_blank"
  rel="noopener noreferrer sponsored"
>
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    publicId="sponsors/scale-ai/contribute-sq"
    alt="Outlier by Scale AI"
    className="max-w-sm"
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</a>

---

## Great ideas from people smarter than me

Earlier this week, I came across [Debug with Notes](https://coolsoftware.dev/blog/debug-with-notes/), by [Tyler Williams](https://bsky.app/profile/coolsoftware.dev/post/3lqljgta5cs2j) on BlueSky. His process involves taking detailed notes while working through a bug; it's a super helpful pattern for tackling situations where you're unfamiliar with the codebase, and to give yourself a point of reference if you get pulled away from a problem before fixing it.

LeadDev has a great article on [a tech lead's guide to effective communication](https://leaddev.com/communication/tech-leads-guide-effective-communication) that I keep bookmarked. It's a great reminder that communication is a skill which can be improved with practice.

## Farewell, Gymnasium

This is normally where I'd shout out the free courses offered by the gang I used to work with at Gymnasium, but I'm sad to say that Gymnasium was shuttered at the end of May.

**If you're hiring for UX leadership, marketing or technical learning**, my former colleagues from Gymnasium are world-class. [Drop me a line](mailto:hello@mikebifulco.com), I'd love to set up an introduction.


Eraser or the Wrecking Ball? Planning is everything

Stabilize - the one where you fix the bugs

Front-end Devs: Get Paid to Critique AI-Generated Code


## The Big Idea

Open source is an open invitation to plug into a global braintrust of brilliant people building the future. What you get out of it has a lot to do with what you put in.

<a
  href="https://tiny.outlier.ai/yckz3zcs"
  className="text-xs lg:text-xs xl:text-xs"
>
  Brought to you by Outlier AI
</a>

---

Source control services like GitHub and GitLab are more than just a place to store code. They provide a living, breathing network of ideas, collaboration, and discovery. Contributing to open source is a great way to build your network, learn new things, and get paid. People get hung up on the idea that the _only_ way to contribute to OSS is by opening pull requests or reviewing other peoples' code.

If you're not ready for that yet, that's okay! There are countless ways to contribute that shape the direction of tools you depend on. Active participation can benefit the libraries you rely on _and_ help you get your work done.

## Feedback is fuel

Open source runs on participation. You don't need to submit a Pull Request to be helpful. Star the repos you like, vote on issues that matter to you. Subscribe to threads where you can add meaningful context. Maintainers often decide what to work on based on what gets the most attention. Quiet enthusiasm doesn’t move roadmaps-clicks and comments do.

### Curation is a superpower

Finding great open source tools is a skill, and frankly, it can be a competitive edge. You won’t always be looking for a new library, but building your own mental Rolodex of interesting tools helps when you're deep in a problem later. I run [OpenAPI.Tools](https://openapi.tools/) to share and surface great projects in for API devs, thanks to hundreds of contributors. Day to day, I find most of my favorite new things from Bluesky, YouTube deep dives, and Discord messages that start with "I made a thing."

### Your activity is your brand

No one cares how many green squares you have, but when it really matters, people will notice if you’re actually _doing_ interesting work. When hiring, I take the time to brows every candidate's GitHub profile. If everything’s private, you disappear into the noise. I wrote about this in ["Your Resume Sucks"](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/your-resume-sucks), but the TL;DR is: your public footprint matters. Not for the numbers, but for the narrative.

GitHub is more than source control. It’s where modern builders show their work-and shape what gets built next.

---

## Front-end Devs: Get Paid to Critique AI-Generated Code

Outlier (by Scale AI) is hiring frontend devs to help train cutting-edge AI—no AI experience needed. Work remotely, set your own hours, and earn up to $50/hr reviewing code and UI, with weekly payouts.

Help shape the future of dev tools - [apply now](https://tiny.outlier.ai/yckz3zcs)

<a
  href="https://tiny.outlier.ai/yckz3zcs"
  target="_blank"
  rel="noopener noreferrer sponsored"
>
  <Image
    publicId="sponsors/scale-ai/contribute-sq"
    alt="Outlier by Scale AI"
    className="max-w-sm"
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</a>

---

## Repos for you to check out

On any given week, there's probably a half dozen repos that I've been sifting through for documentation, examples, or known bugs (as well as the occasional contribution). Here's the ones that have been on my mind this week:

- [Expo](https://github.com/expo/expo) - At [Craftwork](https://craftwork.com?utm_source=mikebifulco&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=open-source-for-everything) we use Expo with React Native to build the mobile app that our team uses. React-native has come _such_ a long way in the past few years, thanks in no small part to the geniuses on the Expo team.
- [React Native Reusables](https://github.com/mrzachnugent/react-native-reusables) - Is a brilliant collection of reusable components for React Native, that uses tailwind (via the Nativewind library) to recreate Shad CN UI components for react-native. React Native apps can't use `<div>` and other HTML elements, so this library is a huge benefit for us.
- I've spent quite a bit of time usingtThe Typescript SDK for the [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/typescript-sdk) as research for connecting AI tools to Craftwork's business logic; I think it's safe to say that I'm squarely in the _early adopted_ phase for this library. It's been a bit bumpy, but it's been evolving quickly.


Open Source your learning with GitHub


## The Big Idea

The secret sauce of successful AI prompts is out in the open, and comes down to job, context, capabilities, constraints, and flavor. What sets apart the winners, though, is User Experience.

## LLMs are spilling their guts

Every week or so lately, I've seen a headline about one of the popular LLMs leaking its prompts - whether it's Claude, v0, Cursor, or something else. This is a side-effect of the way that LLMs work. There's no guarantee that they take instructions from [someone], and do their best to follow them.

As such, there are hordes of clever people out there trying to get LLMs to leak their own instructions to the world... and from time to time, they're succeeding.

Here's some snippets cribbed from (supposedly\*) leaked prompts (github repos linked below) that I found interesting:

From a leak of ChatGPT's prompts, on image generation:

```md
Not Allowed: Giving away or revealing the identity or name of real people in images, even if they are famous - you should NOT identify real people (just say you don't know).
```

Manus's approach to breaking down specific tasks:

```md
## Task Approach Methodology

### Understanding Requirements

- Analyzing user requests to identify core needs
- Asking clarifying questions when requirements are ambiguous
- Breaking down complex requests into manageable components
- Identifying potential challenges before beginning work
```

_Ask clarifying questions_ - I can't tell you how many times _that_ has been an important unlock while doing UX work!

### The basic shape of great prompts

- **Job**: _You are a [coding assistant] from [company name], using [some LLM technology] to [help people do some thing]_
- **Context**: _This is your goal, and this is why your human counterpart is using you_
- **Capabilities**: _You have these tools at your disposal (edit, code reference, image generation, etc.)_
- **Constraints**: _Always do this, never do that_
- **Flavor**: _You are [casual, friendly, professional, etc.]_

Of these ingredients, it's impossible to say which is the _most_ important, but it's clear that the combination of all of them makes for a successful prompt.

I do find it charming that so many prompts feature very-human-sounding language like "you're _the best in the world_ at..." -- part of me feels like this is developers trying to affirm their own value.

Part prompt, part therapy - why not!

### These are secrets of the past

The companies that builds these LLM tools and prompts are _constantly_ improving them. They use sophisticated observability tooling like [Langchain](https://www.langchain.com/) to measure the success of their prompts and iterate on them.

There are teams of engineers and linguists (and probably also other LLMs) working on these prompts, making countless of small changes to make them work better, more safely, and more effectively.

The prompts you've found online were likely out of date the instant they were leaked. In fact, it's possible (if not likely) that at least some of these _leaked_ prompts are themselves hallucinations; results that _look_ believable, but are not entirely correct. That's the nature of LLM technology.

### Prompt engineering and the LLM ecosystem

The wildest thing about all of this is that you can just _take_ these right now. You can start using all or part of any of them within your LLM workflows. Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, and others will all take custom instructions; you can just copy and paste the parts you like into your tool of choice.

"Prompt engineering" is the term that has been coined for folks who spend their days figuring out how to squeeze a little more juice out of LLMs by writing custom instructions. It's interesting to me that this has become so same-y; this convergence across corporations is a likely indication that we've reached a point of diminishing returns. You're unlikely to prompt your way to the next echelon of functionality with the current generation of LLMs.

### For product builders, it comes down to UX

The tools that rise to prominence are those that have been built around great user experience - the ones that are most pleasant for us meatbags to use ergonomically to get our work done.

If you're setting out to add AI magic to a product that you're building, I'd advise you to borrow _heavily_ from what's been leaked in these prompts. Spend 80% of your time making it _really nice_ to use your AI tools, and the other 20% iterating on your prompt.

You'll do best if you can measure the success of your prompt by the number of people who actually use it, the number of times they use it, and how often they come back vs. drop off.

### We're all fighting our own laziness

For me, the most revealing thing about all these leaked prompts is just _how long_ they all are. LLMs can process so much more context now than they could a few years ago.I think OpenAI's models were limited to something like 1000 tokens in 2021. Now, instructions alone are crossing 50k tokens!

When you're working with an LLM, your laziness is a likely failure point. LLMs aren't magic, they're just _really well informed_ word-guessers. The more context you give them, the better they'll do.

If you're providing two sentence instructions to the tools you're using, you'll get two sentence responses.

So, treat them like you would treat a new teammate, or like you would want to be treated when you're learning something new: the more detailed instructions you can provide, the better chance they have of doing a decent job.

---

## Go read some prompts

- [Claude's prompt](https://github.com/asgeirtj/system_prompts_leaks/blob/main/claude.txt) is about 24k tokens long, and is stored alongside a collection of other leaked LLM prompts in this repo from GitHub user `@asgeirtj`
- You can read v0's [model and prompts](https://github.com/x1xhlol/system-prompts-and-models-of-ai-tools/tree/main/v0%20Prompts%20and%20Tools) thanks to another repo from GitHub user `@x1xhlol`

That's all for me this week, gang - if you found this useful, I'd love it if you shared it with your people.


AI Prompt Secrets - what the leaks tell us

For product builders, it comes down to UX


# The Big Idea

It's not divine intervention; it's just someone who did a damn good job.

<a
  href="https://www.paddle.com/events/webinars/web-revenue-labs-what-to-do-in-this-post-apple-ruling-landscape?utm_medium=website&utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=webinars_fy2025_q2_apples_app_store_ruling&utm_content=tiny-improvements"
  className="text-xs lg:text-xs xl:text-xs"
>
  Brought to you by Paddle
</a>

## Go on, put your back into it

North Carolina summers are like being slowly baked inside a damp sock. Triple-digit heat. Humidity so thick you could bottle it and sell it as soup. It’s the kind of weather that makes you question your life choices.

But the moment you step into a perfectly air-conditioned room: one that hits you with that crisp, fresh chill on a blistering day - that is what salvation feels like. Not just relief, but a stark, physical reminder of the incredible effort that has gone into the built environment.

Now and then, I get the same feeling from software, too. When someone really puts every bit of their intellectual might into making something that feels _alive_.

### Creative works that just feel different

**[Blue Prince](https://www.blueprincegame.com/)** and **[Animal Well](https://www.animalwell.net/)** are two recent games that twist themselves into meta-puzzles, daring you to notice every pixel. I hardly play games at all nowadays, but I can feel the love in every corner of these worlds. It’s intoxicating.

**Small touches added to Android** - instant translation of any text on any screen (even from an image!), no app-switching needed. Spam calls? Silenced. Texts from bots? Blocked. It feels like magic, but it’s just good design.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/passion-and-the-hand-of-the-creator/google-translate"
  alt="Translation feature on Android"
  caption="Translation in-app is such a thoughtful feature."
/>

[PostHog's new AI Wizard](https://posthog.com/docs/getting-started/install?tab=wizard) - I ran a single npx command and it read my codebase, set up analytics, and configured AI suggestions like it knew exactly what was needed for Craftwork's specific architecture. That’s not a fluke - that’s care, craftsmanship, and context-awareness built into the bones.

<small clasName="text-xs italic text-gray-500">
  (side note: posthog is a past sponsor of Tiny Improvements - but this is not a
  sponsored message. I'm just that damn impressed..)
</small>

### Now go do the damn thing

These examples are more than just little features. They’re evidence of effort, of risk, of someone pushing past “good enough.”

And that’s the work that sticks with me; because it has a **pulse**.

Recreating that sensation... the feeling of a blast of AC on a boiling day - is what I want to do with every product I work on.

**What will it take** to give your work a pulse?

## Mobile app revolution: What to do in this post-Apple ruling landscape

In the latest turn in the Epic Games v Apple legal saga, Apple is now required to allow developers to link to external payment options without imposing additional fees or restrictions. With the freedom and the complexities of taking payments for your app on the web, the real question is: what to do next? Join Paddle as they answer your burning questions and give practical advice you can execute today.

📆 Live Webinar: May 13, 12–1pm EDT
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## Links plucked from my gray matter

One of the things I like most about my job is being able to take inspiration from all over the place. These are some of the things that have stuck with me recently:

- [Unreasonable Hospitality](https://amzn.to/4idMvHZ) is The best book I've read in the past year, hands down. I liked it so much I read it twice, [wrote a newsletter about it](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/unreasonable-hospitality-and-design), and bought copies for friends and teammates.
- The [Besties Podcast on Blue Prince](https://thebesties.substack.com/p/blue-prince-is-the-first-must-play) is what convinced me that there was something special in the source code for the game. Host Justin McElroy's quote about "feeling the hand of the creator" sold me on it. What a masterpiece.


I want to feel the hand of the f%#king creator

Mobile app revolution: What to do in this post-Apple ruling landscape


## The Big Idea

<a
  href="https://www.paddle.com/events/webinars/lessons-from-saas-founders-whove-done-it?utm_medium=website&utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=webinars_fy2025_q2_core_fireside_founder_chat_30apr&utm_content=tiny-improvements"
  className="text-xs lg:text-xs xl:text-xs"
>
  Brought to you by Paddle
</a>

Opportunities don't "just happen" - they come from staying connected, helping others generously, and trusting your instincts when the right path shows up.

## Serendipity isn't magic

Opportunities don't "just happen" - they come from staying connected, helping others generously, and trusting your instincts when the right path shows up.

Years ago, when I was fresh out of college and living on my own for the first time, I read a book called _Never Eat Alone,_ by Keith Ferrazzi.

I don’t agree with everything in it - the title alone feels a little over the top - but the core idea stuck with me: Stay connected. Help when you can. Introduce people who can help each other.

I've carried that theme with me ever since.

Whether it’s friends, colleagues, or online pals (like the [developer community](https://apisyouaonthate.com) I run with two people I've never met in person), I try to be helpful when I can - without keeping score.

## Choosing to be helpful

Around 2018, I had the opportunity to watch some friends complete the Techstars startup accelerator, where I picked up another mantra:

_Give without the expectation of receiving._

Many people people are doing mental accounting all the time - who owes who what, who's "worth it." It's exhausting. For me, it misses the point.

The people I've encountered who seem to have endless opportunity around them are the ones who _help_ first, without asking what’s in it for them.

## Some people do suck

This is important - **you don't owe everyone your time.**

If someone makes a habit of taking advantage, wasting your energy, or treating you poorly, you are not obligated to stay engaged. Good faith should be earned - and kept.

Trust your internal barometer, use your powers for good.

### A framework for building your own luck

- Help people when you can. Make intros. Cheer people on. Share what you genuinely admire.
- Be open to new people and ideas. Take introductions seriously - you never know which one will change your life.
- Trust your instincts. Only you know the full context of your life and goals. When something feels right, follow it.

Most of all, **protect your time**. Being generous doesn’t mean being a doormat.

Serendipity isn’t magic. It’s built by your choices and actions over a longer period of time than you might expect.

---

## From Idea to Exit: SaaS Founders Spill Their Secrets

Why do some SaaS ideas soar while others stall? Paddle's panel of seasoned SaaS founders will talk on idea validation, bootstrapping vs VC funding, scaling tactics & hard-won lessons. It’s a founder therapy session disguised as a webinar.

**📆 Live Webinar**: April 30, 12–1pm EDT

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---

## What I'm reading

**[Never Eat Alone](https://amzn.to/4cSy23f)** by Keith Ferrazzi, helped forge my outlook on building a strong network, as a bright eyed college grad.

I just finished **[Careless People](https://amzn.to/3GubN7A)**, a memoir by Facebook's first Director of Public Policy. It is a gut-punch of a book, divulging some serious details about the casual relationship that Zuck and company had with ethics as they grew to an incomprehensibly large company. The book had me doing karate kicks in my living room.

A while back, I published a treatise on hiring called **[Your Resume Sucks](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/your-resume-sucks)**. A reader this week reached out with a great example of someone going the distance to stand out from other applicants: check out [The unhinged application I used to get a job at a fast-growing startup](https://userobsession.substack.com/p/the-unhinged-application-i-used-to) from Finn Lobsien.

Shout out to Rusty in Seattle for sharing!


Serendipity isn't an accident

From Idea to Exit: SaaS Founders Spill Their Secrets


## The Big Idea

<a
  href="https://www.paddle.com/events/webinars/lessons-from-saas-founders-whove-done-it?utm_medium=website&utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=webinars_fy2025_q2_core_fireside_founder_chat_30apr&utm_content=tiny-improvements"
  className="text-xs lg:text-xs xl:text-xs"
>
  Brought to you by Paddle
</a>

**Freedom builds trust.** People don’t want to feel trapped by the products they use. In an ecosystem full of walled gardens, openness and interoperability are your competitive advantage.

---

## Freedom Is a Feature

**Platform lock-in is one of the tools of the trade for companies building products without a real moat.**

If you can’t win on quality or experience, maybe you can trap people just long enough to squeeze some revenue out of them.

But people feel it: Lock-in creates friction; it quietly drains trust.

The better path? Leave the door open, and make a product so good people don't want to leave.

### Enter MCP

That’s what makes **MCP** such a fascinating case study.

Introduced by Anthropic in 2024, **MCP (Model Context Protocol)** is an open standard that helps developers guide LLM agents to use specific tools and workflows-no more spray-and-pray guessing. It brought structure and predictability to AI automation in a way that hadn’t been possible before.

And crucially: **Anthropic [open-sourced](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction) it.**

This has quickly sparked a shift across the industry. Since its launch in November 2024, MCP has become _the_ way to build reliable, agent-powered workflows.

Adoption has been explosive. It's gained so much traction, so quickly, that every major player has adopted it.

**OpenAI included.**

With $62B in funding and a massive head start (vs. Anthropic’s ~$18B), OpenAI could’ve tried to ignore MCP, or bury it with their own proprietary solution.

Instead, they embraced it.

Supporting MCP was the only reasonable move - and ultimately, a smart one.

**Openness won,** and builders, developers, and end users are all better off for it.

### Meanwhile, in Cupertino…

Apple’s absence from the LLM conversation is starting to look more and more like Microsoft’s infamous fumble on mobile in the early 2000s. Siri has missed the moment - and unless Apple makes a major acquisition soon or has a surprise launch in their back pocket, they may be sitting out the next platform shift entirely. 🍎

---

## From Idea to Exit: SaaS Founders Spill Their Secrets

Why do some SaaS ideas soar while others stall? Paddle's panel of seasoned SaaS founders will talk on idea validation, bootstrapping vs VC funding, scaling tactics & hard-won lessons. It’s a founder therapy session disguised as a webinar.

**📆 Live Webinar**: April 30, 12–1pm EDT

[Save your seat](https://www.paddle.com/events/webinars/lessons-from-saas-founders-whove-done-it?utm_medium=website&utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=webinars_fy2025_q2_core_fireside_founder_chat_30apr&utm_content=tiny-improvements)

---

## 🧠 Further Reading

- [**Model Context Protocol (MCP) Docs**](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction)
  The official intro to MCP; it's still early days and these docs are evolving quickly, but they are _the_ place to start.

- [**OpenAI Agents SDK – MCP Support**](https://openai.github.io/openai-agents-python/mcp/)
  OpenAI’s implementation of MCP, complete with setup and examples.

- [Google's Agent Development Kit](https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/build-and-manage-multi-system-agents-with-vertex-ai) mentions support for MCP as part of their three-pillar approach to building production AI products.

- 🎙️ [**Accidental Tech Podcast – Ep. 635: An Effective Operator**](https://atp.fm/635)
  ATP digs into Apple’s LLM absence, and why it might haunt them long-term. (Marco’s comments on this feel… prophetic.)

---

## Sensing some subtext here?

For my 🇺🇸 readers:

Republicans in Congress have introduced the _SAVE Act_ - a bill that would make it nearly impossible for millions of eligible Americans to register to vote.

This bill would require in-person registration with a passport or birth certificate-which tens of millions of Americans don’t have easy access to. It's not about security. It’s about suppression.

So much for openness and freedom.

They’re counting on you to be too tired, too distracted, or too polite to fight back. Prove them wrong.

Save yourself from the worst type of vendor lock-in imaginable.

Call your goddamn senator, and give 'em hell.

👉 [5calls.org/issue/save-act-voter-suppression](https://5calls.org/issue/save-act-voter-suppression)


Freedom is a Feature: why competition is a good thing


## The Big Idea

When the world feels shaky, your steadiness matters more than ever.

<a
  href="https://www.vpdae.com/redirect/svufr105vnsrt8wft6ggddi6gpl"
  className="text-xs lg:text-xs xl:text-xs"
>
  Brought to you by Whalesync
</a>

---

Last weekend I saw [The Tallest Man on Earth](https://thetallestmanonearth.com/) play in Saxapahaw, NC. It was the first day of the Swedish singer-songwriter's North American tour, at a modest venue in a quaint mill town in the middle of nowhere.

Throughout the show, it ws obvious that he was going through something. Between songs, he talked about how he lived in the US for years, and that it's a country he's always loved - and that it's felt different lately.

I'll second that.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/what-to-do-when-the-bottom-falls-out/tallest-man"
  alt="The Tallest Man on Earth"
/>

He also said something that really stuck with me: if we could all just focus on being cooler humans, we'd live in a much better world.

I can't stop thinking about that.

I'm the first to tell you that I can't fix other people - but who I am is squarely in my locus of control.

So, let's start there.

## Never let a good crisis go to waste

Here’s the truth: we can’t control the economy, or the stock market, or the news cycle.
But we can control how we show up.

When the bottom falls out, the instinct is to panic, to isolate, to hunker down and wait it out. But that’s not how we rebuild. Not really. What gets us through the hard stuff is community, clarity, and actions - even small ones.

So, what can you do?

- **Check in on your people.** Like, _really_ check on them, and listen to what they're saying.
- **Share what you’re learning.** You never know who might benefit from it; and personal growth tends to open doors.
- **Make introductions.** Serendipity can't be created, but it can be seeded. The right connection at the right time can change someone’s life.
- **Keep building.** Not for the headlines, but for the people who’ll benefit from what you make - and for yourself.

The builders who keep showing up - kindly, consistently, with purpose - tend to be sources of support and community when it matters most.

tl;dr: Give without expecting anything in return, and be a cooler human.

---

## Get it done with Supabase + Airtable + Vibe Coding

Wasting time trying to build an admin dashboard from scratch?

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Use the tools you already love. Keep your data in sync. Skip the boilerplate.

Ship faster. Stay in flow. [Try Whalesync free →](https://www.vpdae.com/redirect/svufr105vnsrt8wft6ggddi6gpl) <img src='https://www.vpdae.com/open/9be07c5e.gif?opens=1' width='1' height='1' />

---

## Making a case for doing good things

If you need evidence benevolent behavior is good for business, look at who’s done it before:

- [Ben & Jerry’s](https://www.benjerry.com/values) has built their brand by showing up for people who can’t always speak up for themselves. They've made advocacy part of their product.
- [Notion](https://www.notion.com/product/notion-for-education) gives away tools to students and teachers as part of their mission to help people learn and grow.
- [Fastly](https://www.fastly.com/company)'s devtools platform is accompanied by a strong mission to make the internet a better place.

You don’t need an underground bunker. You just need to be one of the people who gives a damn when things feel uncertain.

This is when it matters most. ✌️

Give 'em hell out there,

- Mike


A realist's guide to flattening out unexpected downturns

What to do when the bottom falls out

Get it done with Supabase + Airtable + Vibe Coding


## The Big Idea

The best developer tools make you faster and make you look good. Resend does both - for email, of all things.

## Let's talk about tools

I've had a few conversations lately with other founders and indie hackers about the stack behind my site-and one thing always comes up: how I send emails.

To be clear: **this isn't a sponsored post**. Nobody paid me to write this. I just really like using Resend, and I think more developers should know it exists.

As a startup founder, every one of my days is time-constrained. I’ve always got too much to do, and too little time to do it. That’s why I’m a sucker for tools that do two things at once: save me time and help me look polished.

[Resend](https://resend.com) is one of those rare tools. It makes sending beautiful, functional emails from your app almost feel… fun? Which, if you’ve ever wrestled with email templates, you’ll know is not a word we usually associate with this stuff.

## Why the heck is email so hard?

If you've never tried designing email, it sounds simple-just HTML and CSS, right?

Not quite.

Email clients (Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook) all render things differently. There’s no real standard, and the rules are weird and inconsistent.

Why? Because email is ancient tech. Email has been morphing and evolving since the 1980s - and once you start trying to send nice-looking emails, you will feel it.

### Resend to the rescue

I use Resend to send my newsletter, as well as transactional emails -- like the confirmation message that new subscribers get. I designed my email templates in Figma like I would any other interface, and use Resend's open source [React Email](https://react.email/) library to bring it to life in code.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/tools-i-love-resend-react-email/figma-template"
  caption="My transactional email template started in Figma"
  alt="My transactional email template in Figma"
/>

I cannot overstate how difficult this process _used_ to be. That 👆🏾 is an extremely ambitious email format to build from scratch.

In the new world of Resend, it's a familiar pattern:

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/tools-i-love-resend-react-email/code-snippet"
  alt="My transactional email template in React Email"
/>

The code to ship it off to your inbox isn't bad either:

```tsx
const WelcomeMessage = <WelcomeEmail firstName={firstName} />;
const { data, error } = await resend.emails.send({
  from: '💌 Tiny Improvements <hello@mikebifulco.com>',
  to: [email],
  subject: "Subscription confirmed. I'm so glad you're here!",
  react: WelcomeMessage,
  text: await render(WelcomeMessage, { plainText: true }),
});
```

My next.js site is also set up to listen to a few webhooks from Resend, where I can track things like subscription events, opens, unsubscribes, and more.

There's more to it than that, and if you're interested in the nitty-gritty, my site's source code is [available on GitHub for you to check out](https://github.com/mbifulco/blog).

---

## What tools make you look good?

Tips, tricks, and recommendations from my dev-pals is something that I've always loved. When I get around to it, I've got a whole list of recommendations that I'm planning to share -- like the shortcuts I find most helpful with [Raycast](https://www.raycast.com/), and the process I'm using to make Cursor smarter while I code.

I'm really keen to hear from you.

What tools make you look good? What saves you time and makes your life easier? [Send me a note](mailto:hello@mikebifulco.com). I'm all ears!

---

## Some links to keep your brain wrinkling

I'll cop to it: I haven't had a lot of time for things other than work lately. When I have had some time to relax, these videos have stood out from the pack.

- [Frozen orange juice is actually super weird](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wSQ9Zk_9gQ) is a fascinating video essay from Phil Edwards about the surprising economics of something that seems so simple.
- [How do we feel the wind?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0_W4SWHeWY) - part of Complexly's recent video series where people ask Hank Green... well, anything. In this edition, musical supergenuis Jacob Collier does the asking. Really, really interesting to see to _absolutely brilliant_ people interact so candidly.


Tools I Love - Resend and React Email


## The Big Idea

Starting is harder than it looks. And it's easy to waste time doing the wrong things first.

I've had the same conversation a handful of times lately - with friends ready to publish, build, create. They're excited. They're asking about tools, hosting, platforms. They're planning _big_.

And they're already off track.

Here are the 3 mistakes I see most new creators make (and how to avoid them):

### 1. You can't buy creativity

New gear. Fancy tools. Premium subscriptions.

It _feels_ like progress, but it's not.

It's tempting to whip out your credit card from the jump, but you can't buy your way into being a creator.

Buying a domain, a newsletter service, podcast hosting, or a fancy camera _feels_ good, but doesn't move the needle.

<Aside>

**Do this instead:**
Harness your excitement and energy - use it to make something (a video, a blog post, a podcast, whatever it is you're trying to create), and share it. Then do that again. And again.

Your work will get better, and your audience will grow.

</Aside>

You can't buy creativity -- and you also can't buy more time. Don't waste your time and money on gear until it's the _only_ thing in the way of growth.

### 2. Don't skip the basics: how to find your niche

Many of the folks I talk to want to create something, and they fall on two extremes: (1) they want to create something on a _wide variety_ of topics, or (2) they can't decide what topic they want to create about.

These sound like different problems, but they're both symptoms of the same root cause: a lack of clarity on who you're creating for.

The most successful creators I know have a clear, focused niche, and a deep understanding of their audience.

<Aside>

**Do this instead:**

Do a deep audit of your interests, passions, and skills. For each, ask yourself:

**Where are people interested in this topic finding each other online?**
Look for forums, subreddits, youtube channels, social media accounts, etc. where people are talking about your interests, and see what they're saying.

**What do successful creators in this niche have in common? What do they do well?**
Look at the creators who are already successful in your niche. What do they do well? What do they say? What do they share?

**What perspective do I have that can add to the conversation?**
Answer these questions, and see where you fit in. You may be surprised at what you find.

</Aside>

### 3. There is no bar, but there should be a target

I'm the first to tell you that [there is no bar](https://chriscoyier.net/2022/06/27/there-is-no-bar/) when it comes to creating online. Step one is simple: publish. Put your work out there. Do it often.

Once you've built that habit, try aiming higher: create something a creator you admire would genuinely love. Seriously - keep them in mind as part of your process. When you share work you're proud of, and it resonates enough for someone you look up to to share it, that moment is both validating and a powerful way to grow your voice in your niche.

To be clear: this isn't about spamming people. It's about raising the bar for yourself - making something so thoughtful, useful, or entertaining that it naturally earns attention.

<Aside>

**Do this:**
Make a list of 20 people who shape the conversation in your niche. If they notice your work, it's a sign you're breaking through.

Next time you sit down to create, focus on one of them as the target audience for your work. Build something they'd love, and _share it_ in places where they're active.

</Aside>

## The Takeaway:

Get good at one thing first. Create. Publish. Share.

Earn your audience, once post at a time. Then, once people care, _maybe_ it's time for the podcast, the YouTube channel, the empire.

Until then: focus.

---

## Some great creators to follow

There is nothing I love more than learning from people smarter than me. Here's a couple of my favorite voices on the internet:

- [Tony Mastrorio](https://www.threads.net/@tonydotcoms) is a fellow YC founder who has been exploring new audiences regularly over the past few months. He's done a great job of sharing his journey on Threads. It's inspiring to see his process: he's trying new things, and sharing them with his audience.

- [Amy Hoy](https://bsky.app/profile/amyhoy.bsky.social) is a great example of someone who has been building online for _years_. She co-created [30x500](https://30x500.com/academy/), and has _deep_ expertise in launching products online. Her Bluesky posts are a masterclass in sharing what she's passionate about - from photography and emerging tech tools to supporting civic engagement and progressive causes.

---

## Some useful links

- The most recent episode of Citation Needed, about [Audie Murphy](https://www.citationpod.com/audie-murphy-the-most-decorated-combat-soldier-of-ww2/) is a great reminder of why I love the podcast so much: I can simultaneously unwind, learn, and laugh a bit.

- There's a [_super important security update_ for Next.js](https://nextjs.org/blog/cve-2025-29927) that you should know about if you're using the framework. Not the type of thing I'd typically share here, but -- this feels like a big one.

---

## Give 'em hell

It might feel like you're paddling a tiny canoe in the shadow of looming battleships - but keep paddling, and stay nimble. There's plenty of room in the pond for all of us.

Bet on yourself. Bet on the people around you.

I'm rooting for you - and I want to see you win. ✌🏾

- M


The 3 Mistakes New Creators Make

2. Don't skip the basics: how to find your niche

3. There is no bar, but there should be a target


## The Big Idea

Ideas are easy, but focus and execution are hard. There are endless public APIs with real problems waiting for you to solve - all you need to do is find an audience and start shipping.

## Steal These Ideas to Build New Products

As cofounder of [APIs You Won't Hate](https://apisyouwonthate.com), I've seen the playbook work repeatedly: Find public data. Solve a specific problem. Ship it. From [global news APIs](https://apisyouwonthate.com/podcast/building-an-api-for-global-news/) to [accounts payable management](https://apisyouwonthate.com/podcast/how-mercoa-built-a-platform-for-accounts-payable/), the winners aren't inventing data-they're making it useful.

Friends - these opportunities are _everywhere_, waiting for someone to execute.

### Why This Matters: Value > Hype

It's tempting to chase AI quick wins, but remember:

- Existing data streams = sustainable business opportunities
- Value-add to available information = competitive edge
- Focused problem-solving > tech novelty

### Case Study: Weather Data

Weather apps are commodity products since [Apple killed Dark Sky](https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/31/21201666/apple-acquires-weather-app-dark-sky-shut-down-android-wear-os-ios) (RIP).

There are plenty of untapped goldmines, like [NOAA](https://www.weather.gov/documentation/services-web-api) and [OpenWeatherMap](https://openweathermap.org/api) data for _specific_ use cases that people will pay for.

**The opportunity:** Niche weather apps for specific use cases:

- For pilots: Visibility conditions and wind patterns
- For gardeners: Frost alerts and growing condition forecasts
- For skiers: Snow quality predictions based on temperature patterns

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/steal-these-ideas-for-your-next-product/weather"
  alt="NOAA and OpenWeatherMap APIs"
/>

### Steal These Ideas

#### **1. Nutritional Intelligence with Edamam API**

[Edamam](https://www.edamam.com/) provides extensive APIs for nutritional data and analytics. The generic "calorie counter" app is done to death.

**The opportunity:** Build specialized nutrition tools for:

- Athletes tracking specific macros for performance
- People with medical conditions requiring dietary monitoring
- Parents checking if school lunches meet nutritional requirements

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/steal-these-ideas-for-your-next-product/edamam"
  alt="Edamam API"
/>

#### **2. Geolocation Magic with OpenAQ**

OpenAQ offers real-time air quality data from thousands of stations worldwide.

**The opportunity:** Create targeted apps for:

- Real estate buyers evaluating neighborhood health metrics
- Parents of children with respiratory conditions planning outdoor activities
- Researchers correlating air quality with public health outcomes

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/steal-these-ideas-for-your-next-product/openaq"
  alt="OpenAQ API"
/>

### The Secret Sauce: 3 Traits of Successful API Products

1. **Specific audience** - Target a niche who will benefit from your product
2. **Context transformation** - Don't just display data; interpret it and add value
3. **Workflow integration** - Make your product available whenever and wherever it will be most useful

...and price it accordingly. If you're saving news editors thousands of dollars every week, aim higher than $3.99/mo.

---

## Stop paying the app store tax.

Sell your app on the web with lower fees and full control. As a merchant of record, Paddle handles payments, taxes, and compliance - so you can focus on what matters: building your app.

Paddle acts as the reseller of your app, offering a solution similar to the App Store or Google Play Store but optimized for successfully selling your mobile app on the web, with significantly lower fees.

[Start selling smarter with Paddle.](https://www.paddle.com/resources/mobile-app-monetization-guide?utm_medium=website&utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=core_conversions_fy2025_web_monetization_brand_awareness&utm_content=tiny-improvements)

---

## Resources for finding new ideas

### Single APIs in your area!

There's a great collection of APIs waiting to be used on GitHub called [public-apis](https://github.com/public-apis/public-apis)

### Free design resources

I came across [Unblast](https://unblast.com/) recently - self-described as _A growing library of free design resources made by the world's best designers._ Can confirm - it is an exceptional collection. Give it a look as you build your brand or collateral.

### A chicken in every pot, and an SVG for every noun

[The Noun Project](https://thenounproject.com/) started with a simple goal: create a visual language for the world by building a repository of single color icons _for every noun._ Hell yeah. I use it _all the time._ You can use any icon on the site for free with attribution; licensing is either a dirt cheap per-icon fee, or a very reasonable monthly subscription.

---

The future is in your hands. Go on and build something great.

Give 'em hell,
Mike


Steal these ideas to build new products

**1. Nutritional Intelligence with Edamam API**

The Secret Sauce: 3 Traits of Successful API Products

A chicken in every pot, and an SVG for every noun


## The Big Idea

Your first product version needs to be smaller than you think. Much smaller. Probably embarrassingly small.

<a
  href="https://www.paddle.com/resources/mobile-app-monetization-guide?utm_medium=website&utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=core_conversions_fy2025_web_monetization_brand_awareness&utm_content=tiny-improvements"
  className="text-xs lg:text-xs xl:text-xs"
>
  Brought to you by Paddle
</a>

## Strip it bare

Earlier this week, I was invited to share my experience building companies with a class of promising entrepreneurship students, enrolled in the [Lean Startup course at Davidson University's Hurt Hub](https://hurthub.davidson.edu/event/building-a-lean-startup/), taught by [Rebecca Weeks Watson](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaweeks).

Many of them were working through planning out their first business, using a tool called the [Lean Canvas](https://leanstack.com/lean-canvas).

They'd interviewed potential customers and were defining their MVP. Their task: strip the idea to its core to test the riskiest assumption and find what customers would actually pay for.

When you have a big idea, it's tempting to spiral into features and complexity. But you don't need a fully-realized product to test if your idea has legs.

## Why we overreach

Most founders, especially first-timers, mis-scope their MVPs. About half the time, they add _way too much_ to their MVP for it to be built quickly. This is the trap of _it's not ready yet,_ or "if we build it, they will come". I have made this mistake - and I've seen it happen to others.

There's also at tendency to build an MVP that will lead to a `yes` no matter what. This usually means an MVP that's designed to reinforce the founder's belief in their idea, rather than challenge it. After all, founders who have made it this far into the journey of building something _are_ convinced they're onto something meaningful.

Whether they admit it ot not, this sector of founders is often more focused on protecting their ego than validating their idea. Red flag. 🚩

## So what's an MVP for?

There are plenty of ways to look at the outcome of an MVP, but I like to think of it as 2 simple yes/no questions:

**Is there a small, focused group of people who are feeling this pain?**
**Would they pay for a product that helps them solve this problem?**

If you don't get a confident "yes" to both of these questions, then you need to rethink your plan. You can always build more, but you can't recover wasted time building features nobody wants.

This can be accomplished with less than you think. A landing page with a video demo, a sign-up form for a waitlist, or a non-functional prototype.

### MVP for a coworking SaaS

My last startup, smpl, was a SaaS for managing coworking spaces. Our MVP was boiled down to the basics: we took the pain of collecting monthly membership dues out of our customers' hands. Version 0 was nothing more than a few manually configured Stripe subscriptions.

What did we learn? Coworking operators are great communicators, and rarely great at balancing a budget. Collecting _all_ member payments on the same day of the month made it _far_ easier for them to budget, track growth, and plan for the future. We spent the next year building a product that made it easy for them to onboard new members immediately, and to start their recurring payments on the first of the month.

(Side note: this is a trivial problem in 2025, but in 2017 it was on us to figure it out. Timing _really_ helped us!)

### MVP for a service business

[Craftwork's](https://craftwork.com) MVP boiled down to a simple question: will people hire a painting service online? We tested this with a landing page and a typeform -- and spent a month painting houses _at-cost_ for friends and family.

The amount we learned from that experience was worth the cost of the paint, and helped guide the way we hire paint crews (which has since changed several times), and how we price our services (which has also changed several times).

We focused exclusively on residential repaints for homeowners (not renters, not businesses, not commercial buildings). In doing so, we became very familiar with what our competition was lacking - a focus on considered homeowner experience, pricing transparency, and a commitment to quality.

## The value of embarrassment

In both of these cases, we were able to steer product development based on what we learned.

For smpl, an initial focus on member onboarding and billing brought much more value than building out a tiny social network for community members of a given coworking space.

For Craftwork, we learned that price transparency _alone_ wasn't enough to win over skeptical homeowners -- trust is earned through thoughtful communication, and a self-serve price quote wasn't enough to get people to slap the `Buy` button. We pivoted to a more consultative approach, and focused on building trust through a more personalized service. This also meant dropping our self-serve estimate form in favor of a literal contact form... can you imagine the time we'd have saved with a smaller MVP?

## Your challenge

If you're designing an MVP, take a step back.

What's the absolute minimum you could build to test your idea?

Is it **actually** testing your idea? If there's no outcome from your MVP that will cause you to change course, you're doing it wrong.

Is your MVP **actually** as minimal as it can be? If you're not sure, ask yourself:

- Is there a way to test this without spending money?
- Is there a way to test this while spending less time?
- Is there a way to test this while using fewer resources?

If you can't answer yes to all of these questions, you're probably over-engineering your MVP.

Launch something so minimal it makes you uncomfortable. You can always build more, but you can't recover wasted time building features nobody wants.

Do more with less - you'll be glad you did.

---

## Stop paying the app store tax.

Sell your app on the web with lower fees and full control. As a merchant of record, Paddle handles payments, taxes, and compliance - so you can focus on what matters: building your app.

Paddle acts as the reseller of your app, offering a solution similar to the App Store or Google Play Store but optimized for successfully selling your mobile app on the web, with significantly lower fees.

[Start selling smarter with Paddle.](https://www.paddle.com/resources/mobile-app-monetization-guide?utm_medium=website&utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=core_conversions_fy2025_web_monetization_brand_awareness&utm_content=tiny-improvements)

---

## Some resources to help you build less

- **[The Mom Test](https://amzn.to/41uVYEI)** - From author Rob Fitzpatrick, on how to listen to potential customers without misleading yourself.
- **[The Lean Startup](https://amzn.to/41I5PZ1)** - A legendary tome from Eric Ries, on how to build more with less. It's a book so good there are literal college courses built around it.
- This video from [Y Combinator on How to Build an MVP](https://www.ycombinator.com/library/Io-how-to-build-an-mvp) is a great primer on the topic, with some really useful examples of MVPs from cpmpanies you know.

What are you building right now that could launch with half the features? Hit reply and tell me what you'd cut first.


💌 Tiny Improvements

Read past dispatches