Scope Ruthlessly
The art of saying no. Define your MVP, cut 80% of features, and ship in 60 days not 6 months.
The Scope Creep Monster
You start with a simple idea: "I'll build an AI tool that summarizes documents."
Three weeks later, you're planning: multi-language support, team collaboration, version history, Slack integration, mobile app, and a chrome extension.
Congratulations—you've just turned a 60-day project into a 2-year odyssey.
80% of the features you're planning won't matter for your POC. Cut them. All of them. You can add them later—after you've validated that anyone actually wants your core product.
Define Your One Thing
Your POC should do exactly one thing extremely well. Not three things okay. Not five things poorly. One thing brilliantly.
Ask yourself: "If my product could only do ONE thing, what would it be?"
The 60-Day Timeline
Why 60 days? Because it's long enough to build something real, but short enough to maintain urgency. Here's a rough breakdown:
- Week 1-2: Design and architecture decisions
- Week 3-6: Core development
- Week 7-8: Testing, polish, and deployment
For every feature, ask: "Does this help me validate my core hypothesis?" If not, it goes on the "Phase 2" list. Phase 2 might never happen—and that's okay.
One thing, done well. Your POC should excel at exactly one core function.
60 days is your deadline. Anything longer means you're overscoping.
Cut 80% of features. Be ruthless. You can always add them later.
Validate before you build. Don't spend months on features nobody wants.