Hey there 👋
Should I use Kubernetes from day one?
I get messages from indie hackers all the time:
- Do I need microservices for my MVP?
- What if my app can't handle 10,000 users?
- Should I implement auto-scaling now?
Here's the truth: Your biggest risk isn't infrastructure failing. It's never launching at all.
Mindset First: Scale Later
Most indie founders overthink scale way too early.
It feels productive — but it usually just leads to .
Why Premature Scaling Kills Momentum
- Solving problems you don't have yet
- Complexity that slows iteration
- Maintenance overhead for unused features
- Does anyone want this?
- Will people pay for it?
- How to get first 100 users?
When to Think About Scale
Traffic Spikes
Users complain about slow load times during peak hours
Data Load
Database queries taking longer than 200ms
Frequent Outages
App goes down more than once a month
Infrastructure problems are good problems - they mean people are using your product!
Core Scaling Principles
1. Loosely Coupled Services
- Auth logic separate from billing
- Swap email providers easily
- Database changes don't break frontend
2. Stateless Design
- Session data in databases
- Stateless API endpoints
- External file storage
Tools That Scale With You
Start simple.
Choose tools that remove infrastructure headaches and scale with your product — so you don’t have to rebuild everything later.
From auth and databases to payments and logging, here are proven tools founders use to stay fast, lean, and focused on shipping.
Database:
Auth:
Storage:
Functions & Edge:
Emails:
Payments:
Logging & Monitoring:
Database Strategy
CREATE INDEX idx_user_email ON users(email);
- PostgreSQL on Neon/Supabase
- Proper indexing from start
Scaling Patterns
Horizontal vs Vertical Scaling
- Vertical: Add server power (start here)
- Simple to implement and maintain.
- Limited by hardware; potential single point of failure.
- Horizontal: Add servers (plan for later)
- More resilient and flexible; used by most cloud-native apps.
- Requires stateless design and load balancing.
Real-World Scaling Journey
- 100 users: Next.js + Supabase
- 1,000 users: Added Redis caching
- 10,000 users: Read replicas + queues
Scaled incrementally over
Your Scaling Action Plan
- Month 1-3: Managed services + basic monitoring
- Month 4-6: Add caching + error handling
- Month 6+: Scale bottlenecks as needed
Great products grow into scalability - they don't start with it.
Your turn: Build something people want first.
Scaling problems mean you're winning!
