Here's a Million-dollar Software Idea

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the concept of "ambient software", a new model of software design that aims to disrupt the existing software-as-a-service (SaaS) industry. The key ideas are:

🙋 Q&A

[01] The Pitch for Ambient Software

1. What are the three simple things that form the foundation of the software business?

• The user inputs new data or takes some action with the data on the front end
• The data is sent to the back end
• This creates a virtuous cycle

2. How does the author categorize the evolution of enterprise software?

• The "BS era" (Before Salesforce) from the 1960s to 2000, where software was installed on-premises
• The "ASS period" (After Salesforce's Success) starting in 2000, where software was delivered over the internet with subscription-based business models

3. What are the key characteristics of the "ASS period" of software?

• Software companies focused more on unique distribution strategies rather than technical innovation
• Software became specialized for different verticals and functions (e.g. Salesforce for sales, Qualtrics for surveys)
• Companies could grow by expanding horizontally or vertically

[02] The Concept of Ambient Software

1. What are the key capabilities of large language models (LLMs) that enable ambient software?

• Ability to take in large amounts of context and use that to generate probabilistic outputs
• Potential to automate everything but the database away

2. How does an ambient CRM differ from a traditional CRM like Salesforce?

• An ambient CRM would centralize all sales data in a data lake and use an LLM to provide the most crucial information to salespeople, without requiring them to interact with a traditional CRM interface
• This could undercut existing CRM providers on price while improving utility for users

3. What are the potential benefits of ambient software?

• Dramatically lower costs and investment compared to traditional SaaS products
• Improved user experience by automating data entry, analysis and manipulation
• Ability to expand revenue by offering more complex or customized "mini-applications" on top of the core platform

4. What are some of the challenges in implementing ambient software?

• Convincing employees to allow extensive data collection and recording
• Ensuring the language models are advanced enough to handle the required tasks at scale
• Competing with incumbents who are trying to lock up data and prevent disruption