The Strangler Fig Pattern: Rebuild Everything, without losing your mind

## The Big Idea At some point, a successful prototype changes jobs. It stops being a fast way to prove an idea, and starts becoming the thing your business depends on. ## What happens when your prototype becomes a product? There is endless writing on the internet about building v0. Ship the MVP. Get something into people's hands. Find your first customers. Move fast enough to learn something before you run out of time, money, or emotional fortitude. I love that part of the work. I will probably spend the rest of my life building little v0s, because there are few feelings better than turning an idea into something real enough for someone else to touch. But there is a quiet threshold you cross if the product starts to work. One day, the scrappy prototype is no longer just a prototype. It is how people do their jobs. It is how your team answers questions. It is how customers get what they paid for. It is where the rules of the business live, even the rules no one remembers writing down.…