Stop Obsessing Over the Perfect Stack

The Setup: A Familiar Scene

You have a brilliant idea, and excitement bubbles within you. You open your code editor, create a repository, and even design a logo.

But then a familiar dilemma arises:

“Should I choose Next.js or Remix?”

“Do I need TypeScript, or can plain JavaScript suffice?”

“Is Supabase superior to Firebase? Or should I set up Postgres myself?”

“Should I opt for a serverless architecture or a traditional backend?”

You reassure yourself that you’re “doing research.” Yet three weeks later, you find yourself buried in documentation, Twitter threads, and endless “2025 tech stack” blog posts, while your actual product remains nothing more than vaporware.

I call this the Stack Obsession Trap.

The Danger of the Stack Obsession Trap

This trap is perilous because it feels productive, but in reality, it is procrastination disguised as research.

Why We Obsess Over Stacks

1. It Feels Like Progress
   
   Engaging in tool selection gives an illusion of building. You create diagrams, weigh trade-offs, and compare benchmarks. Yet, despite all this activity, you haven't addressed a single user problem.

2. Identity Signaling
   
   In developer communities, stack choices serve as a status symbol. Mentioning that you use Bun, Drizzle, Postgres, and HTMX positions you as “in the know.” Rarely does anyone boast about using PHP and MySQL, even though these tools can deliver results faster.

3. Fear of the Unknown
   
   Choosing a tech stack feels like a permanent commitment. The fear of making the wrong choice leads to imagined future headaches—migrations, scaling issues, and rewrites. This anxiety can cause endless delays as you search for a “perfect” option that doesn’t exist.

4. Avoidance of User Interaction
   
   Marketing and user outreach can be uncomfortable. Building in public is daunting. Debating the merits of React Server Components feels far safer than engaging with potential users.

5. The Developer Mindset
   
   Developers are wired to optimize. We fix bugs before they manifest and minimize technical debt. As a result, we often over-optimize our projects before even acquiring our first users.

The Hard Truth

Ultimately, no user cares about your stack.

Airbnb didn’t succeed because of Rails, React, or MySQL—they thrived by addressing trust in home-sharing.

Notion’s growth wasn’t driven by their database choice; they succeeded by solving the chaos of managing countless documents.

Stripe didn’t dominate due to their internal language; they transformed the payment landscape, making a painful process more manageable.

It's not the tools that define a company’s success; it’s the problem they solve and the solutions they provide.

The Cost of Stack Obsession

Here’s what really happens when you become consumed by stack debates:

• You Lose Momentum
  
  Enthusiasm is highest at the beginning. If you squander it on stack discussions, you risk running out of steam before your launch.

• You Waste Time
  
  Every week spent comparing frameworks is a week you could have spent testing your idea with real users.

• You Avoid Reality
  
  The longer you delay, the more daunting it becomes to actually ship your product and gather feedback.

• You Sabotage Learning
  
  You won’t understand what users want until you put something in front of them. Prolonged stack debates only delay that crucial learning process.

The most significant threat isn’t choosing the “wrong” stack; it’s failing to launch at all.

Framework: How to Choose a Stack in 2 Hours

Here’s a decision framework to save you weeks of deliberation:

1. Anchor on Familiarity
   
   Choose tools you already know. If you excel in React, don’t waste time learning Svelte simply because it’s the latest trend.

2. Anchor on Speed
   
   Select a stack that enables you to build your MVP quickly. Productivity trumps elegance.

3. Anchor on Stability
   
   Consider whether the stack will still be relevant in two years. Avoid cutting-edge tools that could vanish.

4. Write It Down
   
   Once you make a choice, commit to it. Avoid revisiting the decision with “but maybe…” six weeks later.

5. Build, Don’t Theorize
   
   Real validation comes from building and testing, not from perfecting diagrams.

My Own War Stories

I once spent three weeks torn between MongoDB and Postgres for a SaaS project. I consumed 20 blogs, watched hours of YouTube comparisons, and even conducted fake benchmarks.

By the time I made my decision, I was burned out, and the app was barely halfway developed.

When I finally shared it, the first user didn’t mention the tech stack. They simply said, “Cool idea, but it doesn’t solve my problem.”

That moment was a wake-up call. The technology didn’t matter; my lack of user insight was the real issue.

The Psychology Behind It

• Perfectionism
  
  The belief that a “perfect” choice exists keeps you in a perpetual state of indecision.

• Control Illusion
  
  If you choose the perfect stack, you might convince yourself that your startup will succeed. (Spoiler: It won’t.)

• Ego
  
  A fancy stack can give the illusion of intelligence.

• Avoidance
  
  Deep down, you know the harder challenge isn’t the stack; it’s whether anyone wants your product.

Case Studies

• Twitter (Rails)
  
  Built on Ruby on Rails, Twitter scaled painfully but still achieved success. The stack was suboptimal for scaling but prioritized speed, which was more critical at the time.

• Basecamp (Rails)
  
  The same story applies. DHH created Rails for Basecamp, but its success stemmed from solving project chaos.

• Indie Hacker Apps Today
  
  Successful applications are built with varied stacks, including Bubble (no-code), WordPress, Next.js, Laravel, and even Google Sheets. The stack itself didn’t matter; execution did.

The Escape Plan

To break free from stack obsession, consider these steps:

1. Limit your research to two hours.
2. Choose the “boring” stack—boring often works best.
3. Set a launch deadline and make it public.
4. Build an MVP that’s intentionally rough around the edges.
5. Gather feedback quickly, even if it’s from just five people.
6. Iterate only after launching.

Closing

The perfect stack doesn’t exist. The perfect timing doesn’t exist. The perfect launch doesn’t exist.

What truly matters is momentum—shipping your product, gathering feedback, and iterating based on real user insights.

The sooner you stop obsessing over whether to use Supabase, Firebase, or Postgres, the sooner you can create something that genuinely meets user needs.

At the end of the day, your choice of stack is secondary to your users and the problems you solve for them.