I Don’t Want to Scale—I Want to Matter

In tech circles, “scale or die” is a mantra. Everywhere you look it’s about user acquisition, hockey-stick growth, going big. But here’s something I’ve been pondering: I don’t want to scale; I want to matter. For me, mattering means creating things that genuinely impact someone (even if it’s just myself or a small community), rather than chasing vanity metrics or growth for growth’s sake.

I won’t lie—there was a time I felt the pull to turn one of my projects into “the next big thing.” It’s almost like a rite of passage in software: build an app, get users, raise funding, scale up. Yet the more I thought about it, the more it felt like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. My ideas tend to be personal, niche, sometimes odd (see: AI that texts me to work out). Trying to force them to appeal to millions would strip away exactly what makes them special. I realized I’d rather have a project that deeply matters to a few people (or even just to me) than a watered-down version that’s palatable to the masses.

This mindset shift changed how I define success. Instead of asking “How many users does it have?” I ask “Did this solve a real problem for me or someone I care about?” Instead of “Can it scale?” I ask “Does it feel meaningful?” By those measures, a tiny project with 10 delighted users can be a bigger win than a startup with a million indifferent ones.

Of course, choosing not to scale (at least not in the traditional sense) comes with trade-offs. It means my projects might only ever be a side gig, or self-funded labor of love, and that’s okay. It frees me from playing by someone else’s rules. I can iterate at my own pace, focus on quality and craftsmanship, and measure success in emails from friends saying “hey, this thing you built helped me,” rather than in investor pitch decks.

In a way, it’s a very indie approach to ambition. I’m not anti-growth; I’m pro-purpose. If something I build organically finds a bigger audience and grows, that’s fine. But I won’t sacrifice meaning on the altar of scale. I’d rather matter to a few than be just another app in everyone’s feed.