['Programmer', 'Computer nerd', 'Unix enthusiast'];

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A developer with 10 years of building experience shares three personal constraints applied before starting any project: writing a one-pager to limit complexity and ambiguity, ensuring the core technology is separable from the product to create reusable leverage, and defining one central product constraint to prevent feature creep and establish identity. Examples like git, HCL, Kubernetes, Minecraft, and IKEA illustrate how constraints drive focus and originality.

3 constraints before I build anything

The core tech must be separable from the product

One defining constraint must shape the product

The “core tech must be separable from the product” constraint is the one most founders learn the hard way. Great mental model.

This article is good because it reminds me to limit my project myself. This solves endless revisions and feature additions just because I feel like it. Fortunately I stopped that bad habit and learned it the hard way.
Also, I would like to try that one page technique. I feel like this is a good way to start a project. Not too much, not too little, just the right amount to be called deployable.

Interesting article. To convey these constraints author had to make many mistakes. It is always useful to read what did not work to pivot idea faster.