Build or Buy: A Tool Decision
Added 2026-11-01
Compare total cost, maintenance burden and differentiation, not just the price tag.
We are deciding whether to build a tool or buy one. I will give requirements, candidate prices, team skills and timeline. Do: 1) list the hidden costs of building — maintenance, upgrades, staff turnover, compliance; 2) estimate two-year total cost for both paths; 3) judge whether this tool is core to our differentiation (build if yes, buy if no); 4) propose two middle options — open source with hosting, or buy and extend; 5) give a checkpoint: what signal in six months would mean switching paths.
Site original
Chinese original
How to use
自建的成本大头在维护，不在开发。
Try tweaking it
- Have it state how the hypothesis could be falsified before discussing execution.
- Split the plan into a one-week testable experiment.
What you should get
- A small testable experiment with a failure threshold
- Costs, risks, and what needs outside confirmation
Common mistakes
- Asking for a "full business plan" and getting unverifiable optimistic assumptions.
- No failure threshold, so you never know whether to continue.
How to check the output
- There is a clear failure threshold, testable within a week.
- Costs, assumptions and risks are listed separately.
Where it works
- Good for: turning business assumptions into a small testable experiment with a failure threshold first.
- Watch out: for pricing, contracts and legal points, treat output as a draft needing professional review.