The Setup: A Familiar Scene
You have an idea. You are excited. You open your editor, set up a repo, maybe even design a logo.
Then it happens:
“Should I go with Next.js or Remix?”
“Do I need TypeScript or will plain JS do?”
“Is Supabase better than Firebase? Or should I just set up Postgres on my own?”
“Do I want serverless or a traditional backend?”
You tell yourself you are “doing research.” But three weeks later, you are still knee-deep in docs, Twitter threads, and endless “2025 tech stack” blog posts. Your actual product is still vaporware.
I call this the Stack Obsession Trap.
The reason it is dangerous is because it feels productive, but it is actually procrastination in disguise.
Why We Obsess Over Stacks
1. It feels like progress
When you are choosing tools, you feel like you are building. You are drawing diagrams, weighing tradeoffs, comparing benchmarks. But in reality, you have not solved a single user problem.
2. It is identity signaling
In dev circles, stack choices are status. Saying you use Bun, Drizzle, Postgres, and HTMX tells people you are “in the know.” Nobody brags about using PHP and MySQL, even if those tools ship faster.
3. It is fear of the unknown
Picking a stack feels permanent. If you choose wrong, you imagine future pain: migrations, scaling problems, rewrites. So you delay the decision endlessly, trying to find a “perfect” choice that does not exist.
4. It is easier than talking to users
Marketing is uncomfortable. Outreach is uncomfortable. Building in public is uncomfortable. Arguing about React Server Components feels safe by comparison.
5. It is the developer brain
We are trained to optimize. We fix bugs before they happen. We reduce tech debt. So when we start a project, we over-optimize before we even have customers.
The Hard Truth
No user cares about your stack.
Airbnb did not succeed because of Rails, React, or MySQL. They succeeded because they solved trust in home-sharing.
Notion did not grow because of their database choice. They succeeded because people hated juggling a million docs.
Stripe did not dominate because of their internal language. They dominated because payments were painful and they made the process bearable.
The tools did not make the company. The problem and the solution did.
The Cost of Stack Obsession
Here is what really happens when you obsess:
You lose momentum. Enthusiasm is highest at the start. If you waste it on stack debates, you will run out of steam before launch.
You burn time. Every week spent comparing frameworks is a week you could have spent testing with real users.
You avoid reality. The longer you delay, the scarier it gets to actually ship and get feedback.
You sabotage learning. You do not learn what users want until you put something in front of them. A stack debate delays that learning.
The deadliest trap is not choosing the “wrong” stack. The deadliest trap is never launching at all.
Framework: How to Choose a Stack in 2 Hours
Here is a decision framework that can save you weeks:
Step 1. Anchor on familiarity
Pick tools you already know. If you are fast in React, do not waste time learning Svelte just because it is trendy.
Step 2. Anchor on speed
Which stack lets you build an MVP fastest? Productivity is more important than elegance.
Step 3. Anchor on stability
Will this stack still exist in two years? Avoid bleeding-edge tools that may disappear.
Step 4. Write it down
Once you choose, lock it in. No revisiting, no “but maybe…” six weeks later.
Step 5. Build, not theorize
Your real validation comes from building and testing, not from perfecting diagrams.
My Own War Stories
I once spent three weeks deciding between MongoDB and Postgres for a SaaS project. I read 20 blogs, watched hours of YouTube comparisons, even ran fake benchmarks.
By the time I decided, I was burned out. The app was not even half-done.
When I finally shared it, the first user did not mention the stack. They simply said: “Cool idea, but it does not solve my problem.”
That was the gut punch. The tech did not matter. My lack of user insight did.
The Psychology Behind It
Perfectionism. Believing a “perfect” choice exists keeps you spinning.
Control illusion. If the stack is perfect, maybe the startup will succeed. (It will not.)
Ego. Fancy stack equals founder looks smart.
Avoidance. Deep down, you know the harder problem is not the stack. It is whether anyone wants your product.
Case Studies
Twitter (Rails)
Built on Ruby on Rails, scaled painfully, but still succeeded. The stack was wrong for scaling, but right for speed. Speed mattered more.
Basecamp (Rails)
Same story. DHH built Rails for Basecamp, but what made Basecamp stick was solving project chaos.
Indie Hacker apps today
Successful apps are shipped with:
Bubble (no code)
WordPress
Next.js
Laravel
Even Google Sheets
The stack did not matter. Execution did.
The Escape Plan
Here is how to break the cycle:
Limit research to two hours.
Choose the boring stack. Boring works.
Set a launch deadline and make it public.
Build ugly. Your MVP should be embarrassing.
Get feedback fast, even if only five people see it.
Iterate only after launch.
Closing
The perfect stack does not exist. The perfect timing does not exist. The perfect launch does not exist.
What is real is momentum. Shipping. Feedback. Iteration.
The sooner you stop obsessing over whether to use Supabase, Firebase, or Postgres, the sooner you will build something people can actually use.
Because at the end of the day, your stack does not matter. Your users do.