Jain: Software has low entry barriers; almost none survive 30 years
“If you look at it, how many companies have survived in software business over 30 plus years? Microsoft is an exception, and maybe Oracle, it's a lower barrier to business.”
Wilkinson: Any software product that is just an API call is cooked
“It's like anything that could be an API call is just cooked. So to me, that's like an API call business. That's like the first thing to get run over.”
Fradin: Selling campaign by campaign makes you a media business, not SaaS
“If you then became core infrastructure for Lionsgate to use to launch every movie, you'd have a very nice software business. If you have to sell it title by title by title, really, you're just a different form of a media company.”
Shelton targets asset-heavy acquisitions over software for borrowing leverage
“I'm looking for an asset heavy business, a business that has assets that gives me something to leverage, as opposed to, for example, a software business that doesn't have.”
Alex Karp argues traditional software businesses extract value rather than creating it.
“You would never build a software downstream from value creation. It's all basically, how do I make the client feel like they're getting laid when they're getting fucked? That's the whole way you build a software business and our business.”
Karp: Traditional SaaS models trick clients into parasitic lock-in
“You would never build a software downstream from value creation. It's all basically, how do I make the client feel like they're getting laid when they're getting fucked? That's the whole way you build a software business and our business.”
Lieberman: I launched an AI agent but have never built software
“I've never built a software business. I have no idea how software is built. I know the highest level of AI agents, but I don't really know how they work.”
Zima: $25k ACV, 90% margin software startups can afford high-touch support
“I think at like a 25 K ACV, 90% margin software business. So like a classic sort of like high end SMB, low end, mid market sales. Everyone can afford this.”
Pujji: Media is the original software business
“Media has a crazy, I mean, it's the original software business, right? You do it once and you, that's it. And it's the same thing we're doing right now. We record this once and that doesn't matter if a thousand people listen to it or 50,000, it doesn't cost an…”
Norris: Non-developers shouldn't start software businesses
“I'm also not a developer. So I just think it's
It's just not a good idea to start a software business if you're not a developer.”
Friedberg: Low capital needs in software yield higher returns for capital over labor
“It's very little capital to build a highly valuable software business. It required a lot of capital to build oil infrastructure and railroad infrastructure and factories. And so to your point, you get extraordinarily different outsized returns today than you d…”
Britton: The agency model is political, not a meritocracy
“The agency model is not a meritocracy. It's not the best work wins. It's really the people who can play the best politics wins where I think a software business, your product could really stand apart.”
Grady: Data will be the primary source of software moats
“In general, data will fuel great digital experiences. It is likely to be the primary source of moats, and it should be absolutely top of mind for every founder going into a software business of any kind.”