There is a trap most builders fall into early on. You discover a new framework, a new language, a new architecture pattern and suddenly the tool becomes the goal. You spend weeks configuring, optimizing, and perfecting the stack while the actual problem you set out to solve sits untouched.
I have been there. I used to pick technologies because they sounded impressive, not because they were the right fit. But shipping real products taught me something simple: nobody cares what you built it with. They care if it works.
The technology is not the product
When I started building NeuroLab, I could have spent months evaluating every possible AI framework and database. Instead, I picked what I already knew, what was fast to ship, and what let me focus on the thing that actually mattered: helping people access mental health support.
The stack was simple. The impact was not. That is the difference.
Impact is measured by who you help
A product built with basic tools that reaches thousands of people will always matter more than a technically perfect product that nobody uses. The best engineers I admire are not the ones with the most complex architectures. They are the ones whose work changes how people live, work, or think.
With Convy, we are not trying to use AI for the sake of using AI. We are using it because forms are broken. People hate filling them out. People hate making them. If AI can fix that experience, then it is the right tool. But the goal was never "build something with AI." The goal was "make forms not terrible."
Simple ships faster
Every unnecessary layer of complexity is time stolen from your users. Every week spent debating microservices vs monolith is a week your product is not in someone's hands. I have learned to ask one question before every technical decision: does this help me ship something that matters, faster?
If the answer is no, I skip it. There is always time to refactor later. There is never time to get back the momentum you lost over-engineering something nobody asked for.
Build for people, not for resumes
It is easy to pick a technology because it looks good on a resume. It is harder to pick the boring, proven tool that gets you to launch day. But the builders who make a real difference are the ones who choose the second option every time.
The technology should serve the product. The product should serve the people. Everything else is noise.
— Aine