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How solving small, boring problems taught me more about making software than chasing the next big idea.
For a long time, I thought success meant building a huge SaaS platform. I had notebooks full of ideas: AI assistants, project management tools, social networks, and marketplaces. Every idea felt exciting — for a few days. Then I’d realize how much work it would take and move on to the next one.
Months passed.
I had nothing to show for all that planning.
At the same time, I noticed something interesting.
Almost every week, I was writing small Python scripts for myself.
One script renamed hundreds of files.
Another cleaned messy Excel sheets.
Another sent me an email when a website changed.
None of them were revolutionary.
But every one of them solved a real problem.
That’s when I changed my approach.
Instead of trying to build the next billion-dollar startup, I decided to build tiny tools that saved people time.
Here are eight of them.