Insights by Stefan Sarbu

Stefan Sarbu - 29 Jun 2026

Five MVP decisions that turn an AI MVP into an enterprise AI platform

The MVP-to-platform transition fails not because the technical architecture is wrong, but because most teams treat it as a scaling problem when it is actually a redesign problem. The MVP gets you to one customer. The platform requires you to be honest about what was specific to that customer and what is genuinely transferable. The teams that get this right do not generalize reactively. They build the MVP knowing which decisions will need to be revisited at the platform stage, and they revisit them deliberately.

Technology Featured AI Architecture
Stefan Sarbu - 18 Jun 2026

How do you build RAG systems that work in production?

Most RAG implementations are built to produce answers. The ones that work in high-stakes environments are built to produce answers with calibrated confidence, source attribution the user can verify, and behavior that changes when confidence is low. The hard engineering work sits in four places most teams underestimate: chunking strategy, embedding quality, confidence calibration, and how the system surfaces its own uncertainty. The teams that get RAG into production treat confidence as a product feature rather than a model property, and they treat "I do not know" as a legitimate answer the system needs to be trusted to give.

Trending Featured AI
Stefan Sarbu - 6 Apr 2026

How to build a business case for AI before writing a line of code

A pre-development business case for an AI initiative functions as a technical constraint document: the cost of what is displaced, the accuracy threshold required to sustain that displacement, and the maximum allowable cost per unit of output together determine architectural decisions before any model is evaluated. Without these constraints defined in advance, accuracy targets become intuitive, infrastructure choices become arbitrary, and the decision to move to production becomes a matter of engineering preference rather than measurable evidence. The sequencing discipline, business case before technical evaluation, is what makes success criteria testable and completion definable.

Featured AI
Stefan Sarbu - 12 Mar 2026

Pivot or persevere? How to make startup decisions that drive success

Every successful founder faces this crossroads: your idea isn’t gaining traction, your metrics are flat, and the market feels like it’s slipping through your fingers. Do you keep pushing forward, or is it time to pivot? The difference between startups that thrive and those that fail often comes down to mastering this decision. Let’s break it down so you don’t have to second-guess your next move.

Featured Startup
Stefan Sarbu - 21 Jul 2025

The New Business Model Playbook for First-Time Founders

The term “business model” has evolved far beyond its traditional definition as a static framework for generating revenue. For modern startups, especially those in fintech and digital services, it now denotes a dynamic architecture, one that captures value creation, data flows, and stakeholder incentives in real-time. This shift reflects how companies must adapt not only to market volatility but also to evolving regulatory environments and continuous feedback loops.

Featured Startup
Stefan Sarbu - 27 May 2025

Market validation tactics for pre-seed and seed tech startups

Every startup begins with a hypothesis: there’s a real problem, and you have the right solution. But you haven't validated anything until someone outside your team cares enough to engage, sign up, pay, or even just respond. Still, this step often gets overlooked. Early-stage founders frequently jump straight into building, pitching, or scaling, driven by momentum or pressure to show progress. Validation becomes an afterthought, something to deal with once there’s a product or a few users.

Idea to MVP Featured Startup
Stefan Sarbu - 4 Nov 2024

From Idea to Reality: How to Identify a Market Gap

One of the key challenges entrepreneurs face is identifying a market gap—a unique area of opportunity that hasn't yet been tapped. But why are these gaps often referred to as goldmines for startups, and how can you conduct a thorough analysis to find them? This article delves into these crucial questions, offering practical guidance for budding entrepreneurs.

Idea to MVP Featured Startup
Stefan Sarbu - 19 Jun 2024

How much will my MVP cost?

The question “how much does it cost to build an MVP?” sounds straightforward, but in practice it rarely is. Teams looking for a quick estimate often end up with ranges that are either too generic to be useful or too optimistic to hold once real constraints emerge.

Idea to MVP
Stefan Sarbu - 15 Mar 2024

Guiding Early Stage Development with the Build-Measure-Learn Loop

A while back, we talked about designing lean business models for mobile startups, guided by Ash Maurya's wisdom on the perils of falling too deeply in love with our solutions prematurely. The resonance of that conversation within our community was both surprising and affirming. It turns out, many of us are navigating similar challenges, trying to strike the perfect balance between passion for our products and the practicality of market validation.

Idea to MVP
Stefan Sarbu - 8 Mar 2024

How To Navigate The Uncertainties Of The MVP Phase

As a tech founder, tackling the most uncertain aspects of your product early on is paramount. This approach builds investor confidence and validates the market need for your product.

Idea to MVP