The AI Gold Rush and the SaaS Graveyard:

A Familiar Pattern

Over the past decade, we have seen countless SaaS startups rise and fall, many failing for the same fundamental reason: they never solved a meaningful customer problem.

Too many teams were building a product rather than solving a problem. The result? Feature factories churning out functionality no one needed, and chasing funding instead of product-market fit.

And now, we are seeing history repeat itself, only this time with AI.

Don't get me wrong, the excitement around AI is 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟, and its potential is 𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗢𝗨𝗦.

However, the same fundamental trap remains. Too many companies focus on building an AI product rather than solving an actual problem.

I am seeing product teams struggle with this already:

• Adding AI to their product without a clear use case.

• Pitching investors on AI-first startups without understanding real customer pain.

• Hiring AI and ML engineers before validating if AI is even the right approach.

With few exceptions, AI is 𝗡𝗢𝗧 the product. AI is a means to an end.

The best product teams won't fall for the hype. They will start with the problem, deeply understand their customers, and only then determine if, and how, AI is the right tool for the job. Fundamentals never change.

The lesson from the SaaS wave still holds: great products are not built on hype. They get built by solving real problems.