Moments

“Validate fast, fail fast” — I finally feel like I truly understand this mindset now, which is essentially the MVP approach.

My old process used to be: confirm the idea, choose the tech stack, build the architecture, design the UI, and dive deep into details. Most of my time and energy were consumed by the technical side upfront, rather than validating the idea itself or testing feasibility. In the end, many of those projects still failed. It wasn’t a complete waste, but overall it wasn’t an efficient way to build products.

Recently, I’ve started shifting my mindset and practicing the MVP approach instead. I focus first on validating the core functionality. If the product works and the direction makes sense, then I can refine and polish it later. This saves a huge amount of time and energy, while also giving me feedback as quickly as possible.

I’d recommend a code agent product I’ve been using recently: OpenClacky. I topped up $20 and have been using the DeepSeek V4 Flash model. So far, it’s been surprisingly cheap — I haven’t even used up $1 a day.

One issue I’ve run into though: when the agent is actively working in the terminal, if I try to enter a new task at the same time, the whole thing just freezes and stops responding for quite a while. So now I usually wait for the current task to finish before sending the next instruction.

teco-lab.com, this website for learning spoken English through English vlogs is really well done. A lifetime membership only costs RMB 39.9. Since I watch English vlogs quite often, I had actually thought about building a similar English learning website myself. But now it seems I don’t need to anymore.

In the early stages of MVP, the priority should be on making rational decisions in business logic and focusing on running through core processes, with monolithic applications and local development being prioritized. UI, interaction, permissions, deployment, etc., should be addressed in subsequent phases.

It's crucial to avoid wasting energy on non-core aspects, reduce cognitive load, and quickly validate feasibility.

Threads has a great product feel—clean and minimal. It looks simple, yet feels very comfortable to use. It’s exactly the kind of style I like.

Its interaction design is also highly worth studying and learning from.

https://www.threads.com/