Know Thy Product (and Its Future)

Before we even mention tools, define your product's actual needs — and its growth ambitions.

  • Will it be content-heavy? → Look at headless CMSs like Strapi or Contentful.
  • Will it scale fast? → Choose something built for performance (hello, Laravel, Next.js, NestJS).
  • Will you add custom logic (billing, dashboards, APIs)? → You’re in framework territory now.

Pro tip: Don’t build a spaceship when all you need is a scooter. But don’t start with a scooter if you’ll soon need warp speed.

Open Source ≠ Free Forever

Yes, open source tools like WordPress or Drupal look attractive — until plugin conflicts make your devs cry.

What to ask:

  • How active is the community?
  • Can it survive without third-party extensions?
  • Does it have LTS (long-term support) versions?

If you’re using something obscure that hasn’t been updated since 2019, you’re not building on sand — you’re building on lava.

Avoid the “Senior Dev Trap”

Your lead developer loves Django. Cool. But what happens when they leave, and the new guy only speaks Node?

When choosing a tech stack, don’t go with personal preferences — go with ecosystem popularity, developer availability, and documentation quality.

Stack Overflow surveys are your friend here.

Performance Matters More Than You Think

That cute CMS with a shiny UI? Might die under 1k concurrent users. Frameworks like Laravel, FastAPI, and Next.js are battle-tested for performance.

Golden combo for early-stage SaaS: Next.js (frontend) + Laravel API (backend) + something like Storyblok if you need CMS flexibility.

Plan for Migration Before You Need One

If your stack makes migration impossible or painful, it’s a ticking time bomb.

Ask:

  • Is it headless-friendly?
  • Can it integrate with modern tools (Zapier, Stripe, analytics)?
  • Can you swap frontends or backends independently?

If you answered “no” to all of these — run.

Red Flags = Rewrites

Here’s your list of red flags that scream “you’ll be rebuilding this in a year”:

  • Platform requires constant plugin updates to function
  • No clear API support
  • Vendor lock-in
  • Templating system from 2007
  • Can’t deploy without a 10-step ritual and blood sacrifice

Final Thoughts: Play for the Long Game

Choosing a CMS or framework is like choosing a co-founder. It should be reliable, understandable, and ready for growth. Don’t marry the first one that looks pretty at a hackathon.

And remember: You’re not just building for today — you’re building for your Series A pitch deck, your team’s sanity, and your future engineers who will thank you (or curse you).