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The minimum viable unit of saleable software
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Overview
Building a software business in the age of AI presents challenges, as products can be quickly replaced by internal packages created by large language models (LLMs). The concept of a "minimum viable unit" of saleable software is proposed as a strategy to navigate this landscape.
Summary from brandur.org.
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Community reactions
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Hacker News · brandur.org
Hacker News discussion ↗
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Based on 5 sampled comments from this thread. Analyzed 2026-06-22.
- Praise: The cost to build software has significantly decreased, enabling more individuals to pursue side projects that were previously unfeasible, which could lead to greater innovation.
- Praise: AI tools have made it easier for developers to push through obstacles, allowing for quicker iterations and the ability to create throwaway versions of projects.
- Praise: Creating working code is becoming cheaper with AI, which can lower barriers for entry into software development and spur creativity and experimentation.
- Concern: Despite the lower costs, the effort and motivation required to maintain software projects still pose significant challenges, often leading to stalled progress.
- Concern: The risk of isolated solutions in the community could lead to incoherent software that lacks vision, which is a concern for investors and developers alike.
- Concern: Creating effective specifications for software remains a complex task, as AI struggles to identify and rectify usability issues without user feedback.