At Printables.com, we handle billions of requests every month using a fairly simple, Python-based API stack that scales reliably without unnecessary complexity. In this talk, I’ll share how embracing pragmatism over hype helped us avoid overengineering—proving that microservices and complex architectures aren’t always the answer for every challenge. We’ll explore key design choices, real-world bottlenecks, and practical lessons from our journey to build a maintainable, cost-effective system that delivers at scale. Whether you’re growing a startup or managing a mature platform, you’ll gain actionable insights for scaling Python APIs with confidence.