Customer Acquisition Trumps Perfect Code in the AI Era
Generative AI has dramatically reduced the cost of building software. Small teams can now ship credible products in weeks instead of months or years. I love great engineering, but I've become convinced that product quality is no longer the primary competitive moat.
When most teams can quickly reach "good enough," your real edge shifts elsewhere—specifically to customer acquisition. It's rarely that new feature, best-practice refactor, or elegant UI polish that makes the difference. Instead, distribution, relationships, and time-to-market increasingly determine who wins. This was always partially true, but generative AI has decisively tipped the scales.
I'll bet on a company with deep industry networks over one with the most robust codebase any day. (Yes, there are specific exceptions, particularly in highly regulated or technically complex domains.) Your product still needs to be solid, reliable, fast, and pleasant to use. But you don't win because it's the best; you win because the right people hear about it, try it, and buy it.
Building in Europe reinforces this perspective: Products are often global from day one, meaning you're competing with companies that have deeper pockets (the US deploys roughly 3× more VC per new firm than the EU). Waiting for a perfect release is increasingly costly. If you don't move quickly to market and acquire customers, you'll be outflanked on all sides. And let's be honest—most products aren't rocket science. With generative AI, even novice developers can build an MVP clone of most products in days.
I firmly believe that a good product is the ticket to play, but prioritizing customer acquisition is how you stay in the game. If you see it differently, I'm genuinely interested in your perspective.