I Stopped Waiting for the Perfect Startup and Built 8 Tiny Python Tools Instead

A developer abandoned plans for a large SaaS platform and instead built eight small Python tools that solve specific, practical problems, finding that tiny, focused projects taught more about software development than chasing big ideas.

Member-only story I Stopped Waiting for the Perfect Startup and Built 8 Tiny Python Tools Instead 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.