As I've mentioned before, we've begun asking new employees at Volition, as part of their onboarding, to legally replicate a commercial software application in two weeks. Here are two key learnings from it - one of which is counterintuitive.
First, it's surprisingly easy. That's the feedback of those who have done it. Everyone has done it faster than two weeks.
Secondly, here's the counterintuitive one. One of the barriers to entry in SaaS is community. If you have a robust online community of users who are sharing best practices, being a help desk, teaching other users how to optimize the application - that can be a distinct advantage over other SaaS companies. However, it can also create a huge disadvantage.
The reason it can be a disadvantage in an AI world is that communities are creating content about the product. They are showing screenshots, they are doing video demos, they are describing features and use cases all in the public square.
All of that content is getting indexed by the LLMs therefore effectively becoming a free outsourced spec for the world. The more content in the public record on the application, the closer you are to a few prompts to replicate it.
Therefore, while it’s true that robust online community can make a SaaS company harder to displace, it’s also true that it makes the product easier to replicate. Balancing those competing realities will be key for SaaS companies going forward.
First, it's surprisingly easy. That's the feedback of those who have done it. Everyone has done it faster than two weeks.
Secondly, here's the counterintuitive one. One of the barriers to entry in SaaS is community. If you have a robust online community of users who are sharing best practices, being a help desk, teaching other users how to optimize the application - that can be a distinct advantage over other SaaS companies. However, it can also create a huge disadvantage.
The reason it can be a disadvantage in an AI world is that communities are creating content about the product. They are showing screenshots, they are doing video demos, they are describing features and use cases all in the public square.
All of that content is getting indexed by the LLMs therefore effectively becoming a free outsourced spec for the world. The more content in the public record on the application, the closer you are to a few prompts to replicate it.
Therefore, while it’s true that robust online community can make a SaaS company harder to displace, it’s also true that it makes the product easier to replicate. Balancing those competing realities will be key for SaaS companies going forward.
