How I Build My Minimum Viable Products

BlogApr 19, 2026

Highlights

  • The toolchain is almost absurdly minimal — Sublime Text + CodeKit + Stocksy mocks + a MacBook mirroring Linux prod — because the whole point is to remove every excuse for not shipping
  • 'Scratching your own itch' is the starting move, not the ending one — Levels calls out that solo founders mostly ship products for other young white males, and to graduate you need to eventually ship for other people
  • Minimal UI is a forcing function, not an aesthetic choice — building small is what lets you ship 12 things a year; building big is how you end up shipping zero

Original excerpt

Since I’ve launched my 12 startups in 12 months challenge, the #1 question I get asked is about my work flow and how I can ship so fast. I don’t work particularly longer hours than most people (I think). I do work fast and rough. In this post, I’d like to show you the basics of how my I build my minimum viable products (or MVPs).

First, a public service announcement, I don’t do things conventionally and probably not according to the rules. Especially not with these 12 projects. So it’d be a bad idea to follow how I do things exactly. It’s probably better to just figure out your own workflow. That’s what I did.

I start with an idea. I built GoFuckingDoIt so I stopped procrastinating and was…

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