There used to be two playbooks for commercial software:
a) be first to market
b) make the best product
Being first was rarely important, yet so many software companies operate this way. “We must ship by this time next month or we’ll lose.” A shallow way to build, in my opinion.
Now with AI tools having gone from “lol nice JavaScript try again” in Jan 2025 to “damn, nice C program, take the wheel” in Jan 2026, there’s only one playbook that remains: make the best product. Now anyone can “compete” with you if being first is your differentiator.
So don’t make a hundred products or a hundred features quickly just because you can. Instead leverage this “huge cheap skilled workforce” you now have to build something really good, even if it takes time.
You can’t blame timelines for janky scrolling or broken text editing anymore.
Build something that’s meaningfully different, something that you can be proud of a decade from now