diff --git a/_examples/basic/1-your-first-app/docker-compose.yml b/_examples/basic/1-your-first-app/docker-compose.yml
index ec4fa607b..5366dcf17 100644
--- a/_examples/basic/1-your-first-app/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/_examples/basic/1-your-first-app/docker-compose.yml
@@ -2,31 +2,17 @@ services:
   server:
     image: golang:1.23
     restart: unless-stopped
-    depends_on:
-    - kafka
     volumes:
     - .:/app
     - $GOPATH/pkg/mod:/go/pkg/mod
     working_dir: /app
     command: go run main.go
 
-  zookeeper:
-    image: confluentinc/cp-zookeeper:7.3.1
-    logging:
-      driver: none
-    restart: unless-stopped
-    environment:
-      ZOOKEEPER_CLIENT_PORT: 2181
-
   kafka:
-    image: confluentinc/cp-kafka:7.3.1
-    logging:
-      driver: none
+    image: bitnami/kafka:3.5.0
     restart: unless-stopped
-    depends_on:
-    - zookeeper
     environment:
-      KAFKA_ZOOKEEPER_CONNECT: zookeeper:2181
+      ALLOW_PLAINTEXT_LISTENER: yes
       KAFKA_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS: PLAINTEXT://kafka:9092
       KAFKA_OFFSETS_TOPIC_REPLICATION_FACTOR: 1
       KAFKA_AUTO_CREATE_TOPICS_ENABLE: "true"
diff --git a/_examples/basic/1-your-first-app/main.go b/_examples/basic/1-your-first-app/main.go
index 3eb303322..4b17288f4 100644
--- a/_examples/basic/1-your-first-app/main.go
+++ b/_examples/basic/1-your-first-app/main.go
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
-	"log"
+	"fmt"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/ThreeDotsLabs/watermill"
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ func main() {
 				return nil, err
 			}
 
-			log.Printf("received event %+v", consumedPayload)
+			fmt.Printf("received event %+v\n", consumedPayload)
 
 			newPayload, err := json.Marshal(processedEvent{
 				ProcessedID: consumedPayload.ID,
diff --git a/dev/validate-examples/main.go b/dev/validate-examples/main.go
index 8e9454271..37c77ff83 100644
--- a/dev/validate-examples/main.go
+++ b/dev/validate-examples/main.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"bufio"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
-	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@ type Config struct {
 }
 
 func (c *Config) LoadFrom(path string) error {
-	file, err := ioutil.ReadFile(path)
+	file, err := os.ReadFile(path)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
@@ -109,35 +108,44 @@ func validate(path string) error {
 		}
 	}()
 
-	success := make(chan error)
+	success := make(chan bool)
+	lines := make(chan string)
 
-	go func() {
-		io.MultiReader()
-
-		output := bufio.NewReader(io.MultiReader(stdout, stderr))
-		for {
-			line, _, err := output.ReadLine()
-			if err != nil {
-				if err == io.EOF {
-					break
-				}
-			}
+	go readLines(stdout, lines)
+	go readLines(stderr, lines)
 
-			fmt.Printf("[%s] > %s\n", color.CyanString(dirName), string(line))
+	go func() {
+		for line := range lines {
+			fmt.Printf("[%s] > %s\n", color.CyanString(dirName), line)
 
-			ok, _ := regexp.Match(config.ExpectedOutput, line)
+			ok, _ := regexp.MatchString(config.ExpectedOutput, line)
 			if ok {
-				success <- nil
+				success <- true
 				return
 			}
 		}
-		success <- fmt.Errorf("could not find expected output: %s", config.ExpectedOutput)
 	}()
 
 	select {
-	case err := <-success:
-		return err
+	case <-success:
+		return nil
 	case <-time.After(time.Duration(config.Timeout) * time.Second):
 		return fmt.Errorf("validation command timed out")
 	}
 }
+
+func readLines(reader io.Reader, output chan<- string) {
+	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(reader)
+	for scanner.Scan() {
+		if scanner.Err() != nil {
+			if scanner.Err() == io.EOF {
+				return
+			}
+
+			continue
+		}
+
+		line := scanner.Text()
+		output <- line
+	}
+}