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The Onsite Build & Product Craft1 / 2

2 min lesson

Cut scope, don't blow the budget

Start at the first move in "Cut scope, don't blow the budget" and carry it through to the proof.

Step 1 of 2

Cut scope, don't blow the budgetthe recovery move when you're behind

You will fall behind. The skill is cutting scope the moment you notice, not at the end. A working narrow slice always beats a broad broken one, because the narrow slice demos and the broad one doesn't.

  1. 1Set a checkpoint. At the end of the build block, ask: is the demo path working right now? If not, cut.
  2. 2Drop the second feature first. Anything beyond the core demo path is the first to go. Park it in the write-up as “next.”
  3. 3Fake the edges if needed. A hardcoded value or a stubbed model response that makes the demo real is fine, as long as you say so when you present.
  4. 4Protect polish time. Never let the build eat the final hour. A rough-but-complete demo wins; a half-finished ambitious one loses.
AI moves fast, judgment moves the needle

Use the agent to generate boilerplate, scaffold a component and write the obvious code so your hours go to the hard 20%. But vet every generated change - read it, run it and be able to explain why it's there. The onsite is judging your judgment and shipping AI output you can't defend is the one thing that reads worse than writing less by hand.

Say it like this

“I time-boxed the build and hit my checkpoint at hour five behind schedule, so I cut the batch-apply view and shipped the single-file path end-to-end. I'd rather show you something that works completely than two things that half-work.”