"Check out my SaaS directory list" - nobody cares nobody cares "I Hit 10k MRR in 30 Days: Here's How" - stop lying stop lying "I created an AI-powered chatbot" - no, you wrapped OpenAI's API no, you wrapped OpenAI's API "Built my MVP in 48 hours with Cursor" - congrats, so did 50,000 other people this week congrats, so did 50,000 other people this week Most projects we see here are totally useless and won't exist for more than a few months. Actually, scratch that and most will be abandoned in 3 weeks when the founder realizes nobody wants to pay for their "revolutionary" todo app with AI. totally useless And the culprit is you Yes, you, who thought you'd get rich by: you Watching a 47-minute YouTube video titled "I Built a $10k/month SaaS with AI (You Can Too!)"
Spending 6 hours "coding" in Cursor (you mean prompting)
Slapping together NextJS + Supabase + PostgreSQL + Vercel
Adding "AI-Powered" to your landing page (it's literally just a ChatGPT wrapper)
Posting on 47 Reddit communities asking for "feedback" (begging for users)
Getting 3 signups (your mom, your best friend, and a bot)
Wondering why you're not a millionaire yet Watching a 47-minute YouTube video titled "I Built a $10k/month SaaS with AI (You Can Too!)" Spending 6 hours "coding" in Cursor (you mean prompting) Slapping together NextJS + Supabase + PostgreSQL + Vercel Adding "AI-Powered" to your landing page (it's literally just a ChatGPT wrapper) Posting on 47 Reddit communities asking for "feedback" (begging for users) Getting 3 signups (your mom, your best friend, and a bot) Wondering why you're not a millionaire yet Just because AI tools like Cursor, v0, and ChatGPT can help you code faster doesn't mean every AI-generated SaaS needs to exist. doesn't mean every AI-generated SaaS needs to exist. We've seen this movie before Remember when everyone was: Launching crypto tokens → "This will revolutionize payments!" (Rugpulled in 6 months)
Minting NFTs → "Digital art is the future!" (Floor price: $0)
Dropshipping fidget spinners → "Passive income!" (Banned by Shopify)
Creating courses → "Share your expertise!" (12 sales, all refunded)
Starting agencies → "I'll manage your social media!" (Client ghosted after 2 weeks) Launching crypto tokens → "This will revolutionize payments!" (Rugpulled in 6 months) Launching crypto tokens Minting NFTs → "Digital art is the future!" (Floor price: $0) Minting NFTs Dropshipping fidget spinners → "Passive income!" (Banned by Shopify) Dropshipping fidget spinners Creating courses → "Share your expertise!" (12 sales, all refunded) Creating courses Starting agencies → "I'll manage your social media!" (Client ghosted after 2 weeks) Starting agencies And now: Building AI SaaS → "Cursor will make me rich!" (0 MRR after 4 months) Building AI SaaS Different costumes, same empty promises. Different costumes, same empty promises. The harsh truth nobody tells you 1. Your SaaS isn't special There are 47,000+ SaaS products launched every year. Most die within 12 months. 47,000+ SaaS products Why? Because you didn't solve a problem but you created a solution looking for a problem. Nobody wakes up thinking: "Man, I really wish there was an AI-powered calendar that summarizes my meetings and sends me a haiku about my productivity." "Man, I really wish there was an AI-powered calendar that summarizes my meetings and sends me a haiku about my productivity." 2. "AI-Powered" means nothing anymore Every SaaS now has "AI" slapped on it: AI project management (it's Trello with GPT)
AI email assistant (Gmail + OpenAI API)
AI note-taking (Notion clone with embeddings)
AI analytics (charts + ChatGPT summaries) AI project management (it's Trello with GPT) AI email assistant (Gmail + OpenAI API) AI note-taking (Notion clone with embeddings) AI analytics (charts + ChatGPT summaries) Customers don't care about AI. They care about solving their problem faster, cheaper, or better. solving their problem faster, cheaper, or better. If your only differentiator is "we added AI," you have no differentiator. 3. Tech stack doesn't matter (yet you obsess over it) You spend 40 hours debating: "Should I use NextJS or Remix?"
"Supabase or Firebase?"
"TailwindCSS or Chakra UI?"
"Vercel or Netlify?" "Should I use NextJS or Remix?" "Supabase or Firebase?" "TailwindCSS or Chakra UI?" "Vercel or Netlify?" Nobody gives a shit. Nobody gives a shit. Your customers don't care if you built it in NextJS, PHP, or hand-coded assembly. They care if it solves their problem. Dropbox's MVP was a video. Airbnb's MVP was Craigslist + a camera. Stripe's first version couldn't even handle edge cases. video Craigslist + a camera couldn't even handle edge cases Stop optimizing your tech stack. Start talking to customers. 4. You're not a founder. You're a code monkey with delusions Real founders: Spend 80% of time talking to customers
Understand sales, marketing, distribution
Obsess over problem-solution fit
Build in public and iterate based on feedback
Know their numbers (CAC, LTV, churn, MRR) Spend 80% of time talking to customers Understand sales, marketing, distribution Obsess over problem-solution fit Build in public and iterate based on feedback Know their numbers (CAC, LTV, churn, MRR) Fake founders: Spend 80% of time "perfecting" the product
Think "if I build it, they will come"
Launch on Product Hunt and wonder why nobody cares
Have zero customers but "plan to monetize later"
Refuse to do sales because "I'm technical, not a salesperson" Spend 80% of time "perfecting" the product Think "if I build it, they will come" Launch on Product Hunt and wonder why nobody cares Have zero customers but "plan to monetize later" Refuse to do sales because "I'm technical, not a salesperson" If you can't sell, you can't build a business. Period. If you can't sell, you can't build a business. 5. The only people making money are selling you the dream That YouTuber with "How I Built a $50k/month SaaS"? Their SaaS makes $2k/month
Their course about building SaaS makes $48k/month Their SaaS makes $2k/month Their course about building SaaS makes $48k/month That "indie hacker" with a Twitter following? Their product makes $5k/month
Their paid community/newsletter makes $30k/month Their product makes $5k/month Their paid community/newsletter makes $30k/month That "AI automation agency" guy? His agency has 2 clients
His "agency blueprint" course has 847 students at $297 each His agency has 2 clients His "agency blueprint" course has 847 students at $297 each They're not experts. They're salespeople. And they're good at one thing: making you believe you're just one AI prompt, one tech stack, one "secret framework" away from financial freedom. They're not experts. They're salespeople. You're not. What we actually need to do (the uncomfortable truth): 1. Stop building. Start validating Before you write a single line of code: Talk to 50 potential customers
Ask: "What's your biggest pain point with [X]?"
Ask: "How do you currently solve this?"
Ask: "Would you pay $[price] to solve this?"
If 30+ say "yes," you might have something Talk to 50 potential customers Ask: "What's your biggest pain point with [X]?" Ask: "How do you currently solve this?" Ask: "Would you pay $[price] to solve this?" If 30+ say "yes," you might have something If you can't find 50 people to talk to, you don't understand your market. you don't understand your market. 2. Solve problems you've personally experienced The best SaaS founders build solutions to their own problems: Notion → Frustrated with clunky wikis
Superhuman → Email was too slow
Linear → Jira was a nightmare
Figma → Design tools were desktop-only Notion → Frustrated with clunky wikis Superhuman → Email was too slow Linear → Jira was a nightmare Figma → Design tools were desktop-only What problem are you so frustrated with that you'd build a solution even if nobody paid you? you If your answer is "I saw a gap in the market," you're already wrong. 3. Build expertise, not MVPs Stop launching half-baked products every month. Start building deep expertise in one domain. deep expertise Spend 6-12 months: Learning everything about a specific industry
Talking to practitioners daily
Understanding workflows, pain points, budgets
Building a reputation as someone who "gets it" Learning everything about a specific industry Talking to practitioners daily Understanding workflows, pain points, budgets Building a reputation as someone who "gets it" Then build a solution. Then 4. Learn sales first, code second Controversial take: You don't need to code to build a SaaS. You don't need to code to build a SaaS. You need to: Identify a painful problem
Sell the solution before it exists
Hire developers to build it
Sell more, iterate, scale Identify a painful problem Sell the solution before it exists Hire developers to build it Sell more, iterate, scale If you're "technical" but can't sell, you're not a founder then you're an engineer looking for a co-founder who'll do the hard part. Learn sales. Learn copywriting. Learn positioning. Then worry about your tech stack. Then 5. Build for purpose, not profit (initially) If your only goal is "make money," you'll quit the moment it gets hard. The best founders are obsessed with the problem: obsessed They'd work on it even without pay
They can talk about it for hours
They have strong opinions about the industry
They've been thinking about this for years They'd work on it even without pay They can talk about it for hours They have strong opinions about the industry They've been thinking about this for years If you're just chasing "passive income," go buy index funds. Take a breath and ask yourself: What am I genuinely world-class at? (Not "pretty good"—world-class)
What problems do I understand better than 99% of people?
What could I talk about for 3 hours without notes?
What industry do I have insider knowledge about?
What would I build even if I knew it would never make money? What am I genuinely world-class at? (Not "pretty good"—world-class) What am I genuinely world-class at? What problems do I understand better than 99% of people? What problems do I understand better than 99% of people? What could I talk about for 3 hours without notes? What could I talk about for 3 hours without notes? What industry do I have insider knowledge about? What industry do I have insider knowledge about? What would I build even if I knew it would never make money? What would I build even if I knew it would never make money? If you can't answer these, you're not ready to build a SaaS. You're ready to learn, research, and gain experience. you're not ready to build a SaaS. Let's stop the madness Stop building: Another AI chatbot
Another project management tool "with AI"
Another no-code directory
Another "Notion alternative"
Another Chrome extension that "boosts productivity" Another AI chatbot Another project management tool "with AI" Another no-code directory Another "Notion alternative" Another Chrome extension that "boosts productivity" Start building: Deep expertise in a specific domain
Relationships with potential customers
Sales and marketing skills
Financial literacy (understand unit economics)
Resilience (because 99% of startups fail) Deep expertise in a specific domain Relationships with potential customers Sales and marketing skills Financial literacy (understand unit economics) Resilience (because 99% of startups fail) A brutal reality check 🔴 95% of SaaS products fail 🔴 Only 1% reach $1M ARR 🔴 40% of startups fail due to no market need 🔴 Average time to profitability: 3-5 years(not 30 days) Average time to profitability: 3-5 years 🔴Most "successful" indie hackers have 5+ failed products behind them Most "successful" indie hackers have 5+ failed products behind them Still want to build a SaaS? Good. But do it for the right reasons: Because you're obsessed with solving a specific problem
Because you have unique insights others don't
Because you're willing to spend years learning and iterating
Because you understand that coding is 10% of the work Because you're obsessed with solving a specific problem Because you have unique insights others don't Because you're willing to spend years learning and iterating Because you understand that coding is 10% of the work Not because some YouTuber said you could get rich quick with Cursor and NextJS. Not Final thoughts: I'm not saying don't use AI tools. I'm not saying don't build products. I'm saying: Stop building thoughtless garbage that adds zero value to the world. Stop building thoughtless garbage that adds zero value to the world. If your elevator pitch is "It's like [successful product] but with AI," you don't have a business. You have a copycat with a ChatGPT API key. If you can't explain why your product needs to exist in one sentence without mentioning "AI," "ML," or "automation," you haven't found product-market fit. And if your go-to-market strategy is "post on Reddit and hope," you're not serious about building a business. Build less. Think more. Sell first. Code last. Build less. Think more. Sell first. Code last. That's the formula. Everything else is noise. TL;DR: TL;DR: Stop building AI-powered clones with Cursor
Tech stack doesn't matter if you have no customers
The only people making money are selling courses
Learn sales before you learn to code
Solve problems you deeply understand
Build expertise, not MVPs
95% of SaaS products fail so don't be a statistic Stop building AI-powered clones with Cursor Tech stack doesn't matter if you have no customers The only people making money are selling courses Learn sales before you learn to code Solve problems you deeply understand Build expertise, not MVPs 95% of SaaS products fail so don't be a statistic Now go delete your "revolutionary AI SaaS" and start talking to real humans about real problems. Or don't. Your choice. Just don't complain when your "10k MRR in 30 days" turns into "$0 MRR after 6 months."

This story contains AI-generated text. The author has used AI either for research, to generate outlines, or write the text itself. 

The is an opinion piece based on the author’s POV and does not necessarily reflect the views of HackerNoon.

Stop Building "AI-Powered" Sh*t. The SaaS Gold Rush is a Trap

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