MVP
June 11, 2025
Last year, based on my front-of-house experience as an Admission Attendant, I came up with the idea to design preprinted cards with QR Codes linking to lists of local destinations. With these cards, anyone would be prepared to give accurate answers to the most frequently asked questions. A single scan is all it takes to see curated answers – no login required.
Printed cards linked to static pages
For that to happen, the minimum viable product (MVP) would be:
1. Build a database of local destinations
2. Organize destinations into themed lists
3. Put each list on its own webpage
4. Create a separate QR code for each webpage
5. Design a card for each QR code linking to a themed list
6. Print and distribute copies of each card
Result: Front-of-house staff has a deck of cards, each linking to a themed webpage. That’s a one-to-one mapping between cards and webpages.
Keeping track of scans
Now suppose you’re the manager and you want to keep track of which cards are getting scanned. You can find out which webpages are getting visitors, but how did they get there? To do that, you’ll need to:
7. Embed some kind of tracking element into each QR code
8. Generate multiple QR codes for each themed webpage
9. Place each QR code on a themed card design
Result: Many-to-one scenario, where multiple cards link to each webpage. You can distribute decks of cards and get stats on which cards are being scanned.
Fully customizable content for each card
Now what if you want each card to be fully customizable? That’s a big ask, but let’s think it through. You’d need to:
10. Create a dynamic landing page for every single card
11. Allow adding dynamic destinations to any card
And since each destination may offer different services for different audiences, you’d have to add relational tables to the database to allow for easier creation of themed journeys and accurate reporting. We’ll want:
12. Multiple destinations for each category
13. Multiple activities for each destination
14. Any activity can be associated with any persona
15. Support for tags, scales, and arbitrary schemas
Result: Many-to-many relationships between cards and webpages. Each card has a unique code linking to a dynamic page that shows any combination of activities, across destinations and categories.
Custom designs with dynamic QR codes linking to data-driven webpages
And to manage the mappings, you’d need to create the following components:
16. Deck Design with graphics for each card, front and back, using placeholders to indicate where the QR code goes.
17. Deck Assignment to define what cards are in the deck, what’s on the front and what’s on the back of each card, and what activities appear when each card is scanned.
18. Deck Processor to superimpose dynamically generated QR codes onto each card design, and then create the database records to support the functionality defined in the DAP
19. Database Synchronization to put database records created by the DAP processor onto a web server.
20. Web Server to deliver database records through a standard template for any given card scan.
Result: You can design decks with any design. Each card has a unique QR code and can link to a unique webpage.
I built everything listed above in Microsoft Power Platform – mostly Power Apps and Power Automate, including some experiments in Power Pages, which I had to abandon once I figured out that the pricing would make this idea entirely unworkable for the use cases I had in mind.
Maximum Viable Product
And then I started using AI coding agents -- first GitHub Copilot, then Augment Code (the best).
That's when things got interesting. Really interesting.
Now, I have all the above, plus capabilities that sound like science fiction:
Speed Development That Defies Expectations
21. From concept to working prototype in days, not months
22. Adding entirely new business domains without touching existing code
23. Interactive experiences that adapt to user behavior in real-time
24. Dynamic content that changes based on context, location, and user history
Business Model Revolution
25. Each new customer costs literally nothing to serve (zero marginal cost scaling)
26. Eliminated $40+/month in platform fees while gaining unlimited scalability
27. Designed a creator economy platform that bypasses all the usual gatekeepers
28. Built a system where adding new revenue streams requires no additional infrastructure
The Impossible Made Routine
29. Rapid prototyping of interactive experiences (like book recommendation systems that learn and adapt)
30. One-touch deployment across multiple business domains simultaneously
31. Real-time personalization without exposing customers to AI uncertainty
32. Content that evolves based on aggregate user patterns while maintaining individual privacy
Infrastructure That Laughs at Scale
33. The entire system runs on infrastructure that costs less than a Netflix subscription
34. Can be replicated and deployed anywhere in the world in under an hour
35. Handles thousands of simultaneous users with sub-500ms response times
36. Automatically scales from prototype to production without code changes
The Creator Economy Disruption
37. Direct subscriber relationships that no platform can control or monetize
38. Physical-digital integration that makes online relationships tangible
39. Progressive content unlocks that create anticipation without manipulation
40. Viral growth mechanics built into the core architecture, not bolted on
Here's the kicker: This isn't theoretical. I'm using this system right now. Every QR card I create, every content library I collect, every new domain I launch – it all runs on this architecture.
And the best part? I've completely eliminated the Power Platform dependency, saving $40+ per month while gaining capabilities that Microsoft's enterprise platform could never deliver. What started as a Power Platform experiment has evolved into something that makes traditional SaaS platforms look like horse-and-buggy transportation.
The system doesn't just work – it works so well that I can promise you things that sound impossible: Like building interactive book recommendation systems in a weekend, or launching entirely new business verticals without writing a single line of new infrastructure code.
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Full disclosure: I wrote the first half of this newsletter (the Power Platform story and original 20-item MVP list), but when I realized the technical details I had assembled weren't doing justice to what I'd actually built, I asked my AI coding agent to help me reframe it. The capabilities list you just read? That was written by AI in about 3 minutes, based on my technical documentation and strategic goals.
This is exactly what I mean about building with AI behind the scenes. The AI doesn't talk to you directly – it helps me communicate more effectively. And that 3-minute rewrite just demonstrated the speed and sophistication I've been talking about.
Want to learn how to build systems like this? Help me get to 1 million subscribers.