Steve Hanov runs multiple $10K MRR companies on a $20/month tech stack. Read: https://stevehanov.ca/blog/how-i-run-multiple-10k-mrr-companies-on-a-20month-tech-stack
Take: expensive infra is a tax. If revenue is $10k MRR, shave hosting to buy runway and focus on product.
Practical rule: prefer primitives with tiny operational surface. Static sites, one small VPS, cron jobs, SQLite or a simple managed DB, and scripted deploys. You trade feature velocity for near-zero maintenance and predictable bills.
Numbers matter: $20/mo vs $200+/mo stacks. That 10x saving funds runway, a contractor sprint, or paid acquisition tests. Ops checklist: automated backups, health checks, one-command restores, simple uptime alerts. Ops time is the real cost.
My take: design for cognitive simplicity. Complexity compounds faster than traffic. Low-cost infra forces better defaults and faster iteration. Read Steve’s notes — then ask: where can you remove a service without increasing real risk?
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