By the end of the month, an MVP will be live.
Nothing perfect. Just something real.

Suggestions are more than welcome.

I don’t have a solution.
But I want to explore alternatives.

So this month, my challenge is simple :
Build a tool.
A place to list European tech alternatives.
Maybe the beginning of a community.

This month was a challenge in itself :
Professional obligations, including a full week in Detroit with Stellantis.

Still, this challenge wasn’t a failure.
It helped me reconnect with an old idea, test new tools, and clarify what I would do differently next time.

On to the next challenge.

I used Figma Make, explored a few visual styles, and pushed the design much further than the original version.

What I didn’t manage to do :
Integrate this new UI and the new features into the existing backend.

It wasn’t a capability issue.
January was tighter than expected, time-wise.

It’s exhausting and thrilling.
You learn a lot. And you lose a few hit points along the way.

And the story isn’t over yet.

3. Your past legitimacy doesn’t carry over.
Even after years of proving yourself, you often start from zero.
New faces, new rules, new battles to earn your place again.

2. Being more doesn’t mean moving faster.
Twice the people, twice the ideas, twice the resources ?
Not quite. More like : twice the meetings, twice the processes, twice the validation loops.
The real challenge isn’t headcount, it’s clarity of organization.

1. You don’t merge two legacies, you build a new one.
At first, everyone clings to their habits, tools, and beliefs.
But in a merger, no one really “wins.” You have to unlearn, reinvent, and be willing to start from scratch.
And it takes… much longer than you think.

Tech‑stack shake‑ups mid‑flight ?
Plot the course, share the map, and the journey turns from turbulence into exploration. 🧭

5. Keep ROI proof in your carry‑on.
When scope drifts or budgets shiver, quick metrics or a scrappy POC let you re‑justify the project plan on demand. Confidence travels fastest when it comes with numbers.

4. Broadcast far beyond the core crew.
Dependencies hide in unexpected places : legal, data, partners. A wide‑angle update cadence surfaces both blockers and brilliant side‑ideas before they become last‑minute gate holds.

3. Don’t just migrate : level up.
Each switch is a rare pause‑and‑rebuild moment. We refactor brittle flows, tighten design tokens, and automate what used to be ritual. The payoff isn’t the new stack, it’s the stronger system we land with.

2. Ask for advice before charging ahead.
A 30‑minute call with someone who’s survived the same turbulence can delete weeks of blind testing. Borrow their checklists ; you’ll still earn your scars, just not all of them.

1. Double the timeline, at least.
Every forced OS change blew past the rosy estimate, and even the toolchain project I drove clocked in at ~2×. Padding early preserves trust later, especially when surprises are baked into the ticket.

At Stellantis, I steered a full design‑toolchain overhaul, survived an unexpected OS swap, and now another major mid-project shift is on the way. Still exploring, never preaching, here’s what sticks 👇

Next steps :

Refine it and maybe open it up for feedback. If you’re curious or want to test it, let me know in the comments.

Enjoy the ride, and keep exploring !

15 minutes is enough… to get a functional MVP if you don’t overthink it. Iteration is key.

Why share this ?

I love sharing the behind-the-scenes process, because that’s where the real learning happens. If you’ve ever tried to spin up a plugin, you know the struggle, and the fun !

- Timelapse madness : You’ll see in the video I bounce between coding, debugging, and just hoping it runs.
- Refining on the way : I started with a simple “random candle graph” idea and ChatGPT coded some basic controls for it. It gave me ideas to improve the plugin iteration over iteration.