AI will kill most startups-and that's a good thing

"Within months, near-identical products emerge, copied and shipped at machine speed. What began as a solo effort quickly becomes a crowded category, and any early differentiation disappears. Soon after, a large technology company notices the pattern. Without meaningful distribution or a loyal audience to defend it, the idea is absorbed into an existing platform as a feature. A few months later, the startup is effectively gone."

"This outcome is no longer unusual. It is becoming the norm. What this reveals is uncomfortable but important. AI does not kill startups. It exposes ideas that never earned credibility. If a product can be imagined, built, and shipped by almost anyone, it can also be copied by almost anyone. That is not a failure of innovation so much as a stress test - one that reveals how thin many ideas were to begin with."

"In the past, bringing that idea to life required capital, a team, and time. Today, it requires a laptop and a collection of AI tools. With AI filling the gaps, a working prototype can be vibe coded in weeks, if not hours. The product is tested, refined, and launched, and for a brief moment it appears successful."

AI tools have reduced the resources required to build and launch products to a laptop and software. Working prototypes can be coded and released in days or weeks. Near-identical products appear within months as creators replicate ideas at machine speed. Crowded categories eliminate early differentiation and leave solo builders vulnerable. Large technology companies can absorb undifferentiated products into existing platforms as features. Credibility, distribution, and a loyal audience remain the primary defenses against rapid copying and platform capture. Credible expertise and professional trust create barriers that simple technical implementations do not provide.

Read at Medium