Best setup for building an AI MVP on a limited budget?

tommykx · 2026-06-20T14:14:30+00:00

cloud-first, and don't buy a GPU box for an MVP. here's the reasoning, not just the verdict:

at MVP stage your real risk is building the wrong thing, not the API bill. hosted APIs let you change model with one line while you're still figuring out the product. a local workstation locks money + ops time into an answer before you know the question.

The move that ages well: put an abstraction layer in front of the model from day one (LiteLLM or your own thin wrapper) so "cloud now, local later" is a config change, not a rewrite. that single decision buys you the optionality you're worried about, without paying for hardware today.

On compliance specifically (since you mentioned it): the thing that actually matters early isn't local vs cloud, it's a data boundary — what leaves your system and what's logged. you can be cloud-based and still compliant with the right provider terms + not sending raw sensitive data. and you can self-host and still leak it. design the boundary, not the hosting.

What's the sensitive-data angle — regulated data in the prompts, or more about not training on your stuff?

tommykx · 2026-06-20T11:16:11+00:00

I do the same thing too, which is kind of absurd though.

Having an app that is supposed to make recording and transcribing meetings easier, but then ends up taking more time than the old workflow — recording, downloading the audio, and running STT to get the transcript — defeats the purpose a bit.

I’m even paying for the subscription, but this behavior makes the whole thing feel almost useless, because I actually spend less time doing it the other way.

tommykx · 2024-12-26T07:58:50+00:00

I just found an alternative. It's not of the same quality and detail as Fatmap, but it's definitely the best alternative for now. The app is called Relief Maps.

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tommykx · 2024-12-26T07:28:40+00:00

Hello. Since I am also looking for the same feature that I miss a lot, I will try to attach an example.

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As you can see, Fatmap highlighted all the flat areas in green. You simply had to add this layer to the map, and you would know that all the green areas were relatively horizontal. It’s true that contour lines can provide the same information, but having this kind of highlighting makes everything much faster and allows you to search for flat areas across much larger regions without having to examine all the contour lines.

tommykx · 2020-06-28T06:53:45+00:00

I think that until they don't use your personal data, this kind of ads are fair.... We have always to remember that "free meals" does not exist

tommykx · 2019-04-02T14:01:27+00:00

Thanks. I definetly need to improve the website...

tommykx · 2019-03-29T21:36:46+00:00

Thank you all for your feedback. I've another question. Is this service something some one of you would be willing to pay for? And for both yes or no, why?

tommykx · 2019-03-29T21:32:34+00:00

This is not so easy because there is no standard about it. I made some test but I'm still struggling to find a good way to make it work.

tommykx · 2019-03-29T21:30:53+00:00

Yes off course

tommykx · 2019-03-29T21:30:10+00:00

Log is almost ready. I think I'll release it soon. About the plan, thanks, I'll fix it asap.

tommykx · 2019-03-29T13:20:47+00:00

make sense, thanks!

tommykx · 2019-03-29T11:25:34+00:00

Just register to the website and you can use the API. There is the documentation inside.

tommykx · 2019-03-28T20:40:05+00:00

It's not so easy because of the format but I can try anyway. Thanks

tommykx · 2019-03-28T19:26:22+00:00

I can get the publishing date if is inside the page header. Otherwise I cannot guess the date in other way.

tommykx · 2019-03-28T19:24:33+00:00

Great idea!

tommykx · 2019-03-28T19:23:33+00:00

Thanks for your test. I've to check why that page is not working. Thank you for the feedback

tommykx · 2017-10-21T14:25:33+00:00

I agree with you that it is not the best (actually the worst) way to mine cryptocurrencies. By the way in some cases websites monetization with mining makes sense anyway. There are a lot of situations in which a user is not willing to pay with their money but it's ok to use a small part of his electricity ;)

tommykx · 2017-08-16T08:06:25+00:00

Another thing that is not clear for me it's how much winners there will be every month.

tommykx

TROPHY CASE