HACKER Q&A
📣 101008

Is there a place in the market for SaaS/startups that don't rely on AI?


Hello community! I have a question, and I would like to know your opinion. I have had a problem for years that affects me, and I have spoken with other people in the community I'm a part of, and they all agree that a solution would be useful. It's not a serious issue, just something related to our hobby, so people wouldn't be willing to pay too much for it. However, since it involves money, a small investment would be very helpful.

Now, the solution I designed (and it would work) is a "simple" SaaS. It doesn't have AI, cloud, or any of the buzzwords that are needed nowadays for marketing. It consists of some cron jobs, a dashboard, and a notification system.

My question is: Is there a place in the market for SaaS/startups that don't rely on any of these new technologies? I feel that all the ads on TechCrunch or Product Hunt are for products that leverage GPT, AI, etc., and not for products built with older technologies.

  👤 mindcrime Accepted Answer ✓
Yes. At the end of the day, people pay for solutions to problems (although sometimes they problem they are paying for a solution to isn't the stated problem, but that's a different issue). They don't pay for "AI" per-se. AI is just one potential means to an end. A solution that accomplishes the same goal without AI is, in principle, just as good. Maybe better.

Also consider that the world is bigger - a LOT bigger - than TechCrunch and ProductHunt. I'd challenge you to expand your thinking in terms of what option and mechanisms exist for marketing your product.

All of that said... to go back to my earlier statement about how the problem someone is paying for a solution to isn't always the stated problem: consider a hypothetical employee of Company A, who states they are looking for some software to optimize production of Marzelvanes. It may well be the case that there is a goal for the company to optimize Marzelvane production. But it's entirely possible that what this particular employee wants more is to be credited or acknowledged within the company for leading an important initiative, so they can (get promoted | get a bigger bonus | whatever). If you consider that possibility, and acknowledging that "sexiness" is a thing in tech, they may actually care as much, or more, about bringing in a "sexy, AI powered solution" than they do about simply "optimizing Marzelvane production at any cost." So yes, sometimes you do have to care about more than just solving the stated problem. Just something to keep in mind...

👤 nikolatesla9
AI is just meant to aid in streamlining the process of building/providing services to users. I predict that we'll continue to see a large influx of AI startups, which potentially could cause the market to become oversaturated. Your startup's lack of buzzwords could potentially make it stand out, since it proves the core idea is good.