I’ve come to learn something important about Proof of Concepts (POC)—a lesson I want to write down so I don’t forget.
When working on ambitious ideas like combining NFTs with AI, I used to think that a POC was just the smallest version of the idea. That if I could build anything at all, no matter how simple, I had done enough. But that's not how it works. Not really.
A POC is not about building the smallest thing possible. It's about building the smallest thing that matters. There’s a difference.
A Misstep I Took
Let me take the NFT and AI example.
At one point, I was excited about the idea of using AI to generate art and minting it as NFTs. I thought, "Let me just generate some AI art, mint it as NFTs, and call it my POC."
But here’s where I was wrong: just generating AI art and turning it into NFTs didn't prove anything useful. It wasn’t hard. It didn’t teach me anything about how my idea would work at scale, or whether it even had value. It was a shallow demo, not a real POC.
What I needed to test was "the part that makes my idea unique." Maybe it was the ability of the AI to customize art based on real-time inputs. Or maybe it was about creating rarity through AI learning from trends. That’s what my POC should have focused on.
What I Realized
A real POC proves the core of your idea. It’s not just a placeholder. It’s a checkpoint.
A good POC asks: "Can this concept work the way I think it will?"
It’s not: "Can I build anything at all that looks kind of like this?"
The smallest concept is often irrelevant if it doesn’t reflect what you actually need to validate.
So now, I approach POCs differently. I ask:
What is the minimum valuable learning I need from this build?
If I can answer that honestly, I can build a POC that actually moves me forward.
Final Reminder to Myself
Don't confuse action with progress.
Just because something is “built” doesn’t mean it’s useful. A POC is not a checkbox or a toy version of your big idea. It's a filter. It helps you know if your idea can stand on its own, even when stripped down.
From now on, I’ll remember:
A good POC is not the smallest thing I can make.
It’s the smallest thing I should make to prove the core of my concept.
Stay focused, test the right thing, and build smarter.
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