Shipping is easy. All that comes and after is getting harder
The tools are cheap. The judgment is priceless.
It used to be hard to build something online.
You needed engineers. You needed designers. You needed money, months, and maybe a bit of luck.
I launched FWD app (bite-sized learning app for busy professionals) in pre-GenAI world (which went on to be really loved by our users, won Google’s best app of the year)..and internally, we knew that our entire infrastructure was hanging by a thread. The engineering team struggled to get basic stuff going, the design team took forever to come up with mockups.
But, if I have to do that that in 2025 - it won’t be hard. Really. All the infra is out there, I can get a world class prototype done in lovable/v0 etc without even having a designer.
Today, one person can do what a small team once needed to do. AI, APIs, templates, no-code tools. Everything moves faster now. You can launch in a weekend.
But something else has quietly become harder.
1. Deciding what to build.
2. And figuring out how to get people to care.
Shipping is easy. Choosing is hard.
You can now build anything. That part is easy.
The hard part is figuring out what deserves to be built.
The most crucial task for founders/leaders is prioritizing and focusing on the most impactful work, instead of just doing more.
That’s the skill. That’s the difference.
The world doesn’t need another random SaaS tool (+ AI-SAAS tool). It doesn’t need another feature list. It needs someone to solve a real problem that real people actually care about.
And people won’t always tell you what they want. You have to learn how to notice.
How to sense where the pain is. Where the tension lives.
The jobs of a customer - especially the untold ones.
That’s where good products come from.
Not from code.
From curiosity. From taste.
The new bottleneck is not technology. It is clarity.
Most people don’t fail because they can’t build.
They fail because they build something no one needs. Or no one understands. Or no one even sees (heck, I have been there!)
You need to know how to observe before you build.
You need to know how to articulate why it matters.
You need to know how to position it so people get it in 5 seconds or less.
If it takes more than a sentence to explain what you’re doing, you’re not ready to market it yet.
If you don’t know who it is for, the product isn’t finished.
Marketing is not an afterthought. It is the second hard part.
You don’t win because you built it.
You win because people find it, understand it, and want it.
And today, that’s the hardest part.
Marketing isn’t just social media posts or ads.
It’s the act of being crystal clear.
It’s using the right words in the right moment.
It’s helping people feel the shift your product brings.
And it’s getting harder. Everyone’s busy. Everyone’s distracted.
The feed scrolls fast. Trust is scarce.
So your story has to hit. It has to land quickly. It has to earn attention.
Not demand it.
The modern product builder has three responsibilities
Old school thinking said: Build a thing. Then market it.
That doesn’t work anymore.
Today, the builder needs three strengths:
Taste for problems
You need to see what matters. You have to spot patterns in chaos. Listen not just to what users say, but what they struggle to describe.Speed and simplicity in building
Yes, you still need to build. But build less. Build smaller. Test earlier. Be ruthless about what’s essential.Creativity in distribution
Learn how to tell your story. Don’t wait for virality. Show up consistently. Try things. Think like a writer, not just a builder.
tl;dr
Everyone can build now. That part is no longer scarce.
But the ability to choose the right thing?
To tell a (worthy) story that spreads?
To build something people actually want?
That is still rare. And is getting tougher.
The tools are cheap. The judgment is priceless.
What’s your take?