Is it just harder to build a 'proper' Startup now?

1. So what’s the product goss?

Let’s talk about the battle of the AI search engines…

So Perplexity launched Comet & Google have AI mode that’s getting rolled out. I also read about the SEO game being an interesting one. Where the traditional content search engine resulting approach is going to become less of a focus. I mean, if I have a question I just be chatgpting because I want a set of structured answers. Google got too much engineered fluff.

So it means that we need to SEO for search engines. I guess Google need to adapt pretty fast to be able to compete. I hope the ai tools can give more fairer answers than someone trying to hack the system.

It also means companies that don’t have SEO first market leader advantage have an amazing opportunity to disrupt. So building a Startup to compete with SEO advantage might be easier…

Open AI tries to solve the problem of critical thinking for students…

So a big ethical concern is we’re going to be breeding robots. Like in the next generation. We can see the effect of our critical skills being impact but AI tools. Though I argue for neurodiverse students, it is an absolutely godsend.

Open AI announced studymode. Where it won’t already give the right answers but will force them to think so they can ensure their critical thinking skills are being used.

If I was a student I would just use another tool though so not sure about this (we just hack our way around right??). As Chatgpt is free for the UAE, this is probably a good inclusion but probably kills any critical thinking ed tech Startups…

Hived announced a $42 million funding round…

Naah I am so proud of Murvah Iqbal though. A logistics, eco conscious tech business and it’s amazing to see a south asian woman take the lead in a strong tech startup.

As I titled this newsletter, is it just harder to build a ‘proper’ startup now? Hived is a hybrid type business using tech infrastructure for an in person problem.

I often think there are soo many ai wrapper businesses and it’s easier to build with vibe coding. So you can build the product but turning that into a company is another ballgame.

The longevity of a tech product to thrive requires how tech infrastructures are built to support offline needs and problems too like services. I feel like that’s the true age of disruption if you can find a problem like that to solve.

Tell me your thoughts?

2. A product I procrastinated with this week…

Obvs we’re all vibe coding now right?

But the truth is I don’t find it much different from using no code tools all these years. As someone who can build fast anyway in things like Bubble, Webflow etc, the bar is high.

Does prompting just long it out or can I just go in and control it myself in the time I am prompting? Appreciate I am talking from a different place.

So I have been playing with a few products, Artifacts by Claude. If you haven’t played already you can pretty much create whatever the hell you want now. No need to pay for random tools. Save your monies.

But it’s killed all these Startup ideas. The game got stronger for investment. Can’t just be building some basic tool when anyone can build any productivity tool now. Up your game folks.

Google Opal has also been created but not available in the UK yet.

I have also been dabbling with Replit & Lovable but haven’t finished building the tool I was building which is to help me build content as an ai content strategist.

& I have used the ai tool within Webflow. This was LONG as I am building a website for a friend. I actually scrapped it and went in and built it myself which was much faster.

I don’t believe prompting is the true answer to vibe coding. I believe an ai agent to help you through with more control would be amazing and that is more through some sort of analysis of what I am doing. But yet to see anything that is built well enough.

I’m going to share a link of my ai content strategist next week in whichever tool allows me to build it the fastest. So check back for this.

3. Product gems that made me howl…

Leaving you with my fave gem for your thoughts…

The funniest thing about this was, I once created a 60 page PRD that not a single person read but I was forced to do it and I then wanted to kill myself.

If that happened now, I would be ai’ing that thing so hard or prob not do it and get kicked out but principles init…

& finally, am I even up to anything great for your nosy?

I’m currently full time contracting. So I have some ad hoc projects including taking a group of tech professionals to Bangladesh. You can catch more of that on my Linkedin.

I have some product work I am doing for different sectors.

& I am coaching Startups with early stage ideas & wanting to expand that into the right product approach. My niche is to help non tech founders build Tech. If that’s you or you need a pair of product eyes, hit me up.

I’m writing a newsletter woooop.

& I am coaching individuals which is a huge passion of mine. I have helped several people with their careers, mindset, confidence and various other goals. It’s an absolute joy to get them to their goals.

I have slots for paid coaching. I can either do power sessions or a block of 12 to work on something much bigger. Coaching can absolutely spear you into where you want to go. Sometimes we’re just sat there thinking and often just waste time. So whether it’s me, or anyone else, invest in yourself.

I have a personal little site you can check for all the things I do and offer: https://yasiworks.super.site/

A recent little testimonial left by my coachee. So so proud to see people thrive: