Don't put the LLM in your backend
After 6 weeks bundling the LLM call into our backend, I ripped it out and made customers bring their own via webhook. Lost a sales line. Cut support load 70%. Stripe's "be the rails, not the train" applies to AI infra harder than I expected.
Trending on Indie Hackers
This is one of the most accurate lessons for beginners.
Many people spend months comparing platforms, frameworks, and features before even validating whether customers want the product.
I’ve seen developers over-optimize tech stacks while ignoring:
traffic
distribution
SEO
customer acquisition
real business problems
Execution speed matters more than “perfect setup.”
Most successful businesses evolve their tools over time anyway.
The platform supports the business — it is not the business itself.