[nodesocket]

This is exactly the developer behavior that can cause a good startup to fail. Stop trying to optimize every penny! Optimize what matters. Your business.

Sure, you can spin up two, three, four instances in AWS across multiple availability zones. Sure, you can install Ubuntu and manage servers. Sure, you can setup an ELB, or maybe you go the extra yard and configure NGINX. Sure you can deploy an open source rails or node status page app. All wasted energy and wasted cycles that should have been utilized on your idea directly.

I've seen this attitude of extreme frugalness/cheapness and it seems to be a trait that engineers are almost proud of, and brag about. Toxic behavior.

Disclosure: I am myself an engineer, but also founder.

[borski]

This is very dependent. Spinning up your own status page takes incredibly little time, rather than paying $99/mo.

On the other hand, spending more elsewhere, say, to keep good books or to acquire customers, makes perfect sense.

[OJFord]

A small amount of work that will save $90pm is "optimis[ing] your business"!

[tyre]

If we had millions of venture dollars, I might agree with you. When you're a small team with a small budget, those costs add up. We absolutely spend money on the things that matter, but as CEO I also have to worry about minimizing the costs that don't.