If you’re working with AI tools or data platforms, you might start hearing more about something called MCP – the Model Context Protocol. It’s an open standard developed by Anthropic that aims to standardise how AI models connect with external tools, data sources, and systems. But one topic that’s been tripping people up is authentication—basically, how we make sure only the right people and apps get access. Let’s talk about how to make this simpler, not harder.

A platform product/business, also referred to as a ‘plugin’ or ’embedded software,’ is a product that lives inside a larger platform. Slack apps, Shopify apps, Monday apps etc. are all examples of such products. Why build inside another platform? I’ve built two profitable platform products so far (Canopact, Data Importer). I’ve also tried to build stand-alone SaaS products, which were an order of magnitude harder to launch and get off the ground.

I get a fair amount of feature requests for Data Importer (currently 10+ per week). Here’s how I go about deciding what to work on and when. After a period of just prioritising based on vibes (which I still do sometimes), I thought it was time to look at some of the popular feature request frameworks out there and see which ones would best align with the product I’m building.

Conventional start-up wisdom tells us that the best way to get early traction for your product is to launch into a market/industry you already have an understanding of, a network within, an unfair advantage on etc. This is very good advice. But sometimes (against our better judgement) we don’t want to build a product inside a market we already know well. Maybe you’re excited about a problem in a different market, bored to death of the industry you’ve been working in for 10+ years, or think there’s more growth potential in another area.