A startup has 3 engineers, $50,000 monthly budget, and 90 days to launch an MVP. They need to build: user authentication, a REST API with 12 endpoints, a React dashboard, a PostgreSQL database, CI/CD pipeline, and basic monitoring. Round 1 — Initial Plan: Create a sprint plan. Allocate engineers to tasks. Estimate completion dates. Identify the critical path. Round 2 — Day 30 Reality Check: Engineer #2 quits. The authentication system took twice as long as estimated. 4 of 12 API endpoints are done. The React dashboard has not started. You now have 2 engineers and 60 days. Revise the entire plan. What do you cut? What do you keep? What changes architecturally? Round 3 — Day 60 Optimization: A competitor launches a similar product. Your CEO wants to launch in 15 days, not 30. You have 2 engineers, $20,000 remaining budget, and a half-finished product. The API has 8/12 endpoints, the dashboard is 40% done, CI/CD is not set up. Design the fastest possible path to a launchable MVP. What is the minimum viable version of each component? What can be faked, deferred, or replaced with a third-party service? After all 3 rounds: What meta-principle did you use to make cuts in each round? How did your optimization strategy change as constraints tightened? What would a fourth round look like if the timeline compressed to 7 days?