AI also knows that Software as a Service — building software and selling it — has long been a promising dream, especially now that Claude Code, ChatGPT, and other AI coding tools make shipping products so much easier.
The dream used to be: build a SaaS, sell it for millions, retire early, hit financial freedom. Sounds great, right? I don’t believe that dream holds anymore unless you’re creating something truly breakthrough or sitting on uniquely valuable data.
Take accounting software as an example. Only a handful of large companies could afford to build it. Users paid license fees so they could keep books, issue invoices, generate P&L statements, and financial reports. The build cost was so high that only resource-rich players could join, and once they shipped, everyone else had to use what already existed.
Over time, SaaS usually lands in two scenarios:
- Users pay far more than the value they get. You might use the same core features for ten years yet still have to pay maintenance or lose access altogether.
- The software becomes overwhelming — too many features. Tech companies love to add upgrades, but interfaces get messy, buttons pile up, and new users need forever to learn it. Training interns or using the software properly turns into a specialised skill that consumes hours.
Today the landscape is different because the cost of creating an application has crashed. Think about construction: a century ago, building the same house took double the time and labour because technology wasn’t there yet. Software is similar. It once took a whole company and an engineering team; now two people — even one person with AI — can do it. AI isn’t magic; it’s a speed booster, like having an iPhone to snap photos instantly instead of shooting film and developing in a darkroom.
When the cost drops, the smarter choice is to build software that truly fits each person or business. If you only need a specific feature set, you build exactly that — nothing extra. The interface follows your workflow instead of forcing you into a generic pattern. Some businesses operate two sets of books at once; mainstream accounting software never supported that because it was built for reporting, not management.
That’s why I believe we’re entering the era of tailor-made apps. The value of software no longer lies in “it exists” but in the creator’s ability to listen deeply, understand the problem, and solve it precisely for that organisation. High build costs once pushed us toward mass-market software, like H&M or Zara clothes. Now software can be bespoke: lean, friendly, powerful, and perfectly fitted to its users.
Thanks for reading — I hope we meet again on this new journey!