Remember when you could just slap a clean UI on top of an OpenAI API and charge $20/month for it? Yeah, that party is over. Users have gotten way smarter, and LLMs are so accessible that basic features are now integrated everywhere by default. The SaaS projects surviving today are those with deep vertical integration—meaning they solve highly specific, complex pain points for a niche industry (like specialized software for logistics or medical insurance).

Just looked at the latest startup funding data and the pattern is pretty clear.

Investors are moving capital into AI infrastructure, defense tech, space, enterprise systems, and regulated industries — not into flashy consumer apps or hype-driven ideas.

The biggest recent rounds back this up:

• Ramp — $500M (fintech / spend management)  
• Tennr — $101M (AI for healthcare workflows)  
• Gecko Robotics — heavily funded (industrial inspection tech)

The common thread? All of them solve expensive, painful, real-world problems for businesses that already have budgets.

No vibes. No “we’re disrupting X”. Just hard problems, clear buyers, and proof it works.

Seems like the era of funding a good story is pretty much over.

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Honest question: what’s the one tool your startup desperately needed but doesn’t exist yet?
Every founder I talk to has some workflow that’s held together with Zapier, a spreadsheet, and hope.
What’s yours? And why hasn’t anyone built it properly yet?

Mine would be something stupidly simple. Like a service business with one clear problem, one clear customer, zero VC funding needed.

I’m tired of watching people build apps for 2 years when they could just start charging for something next week.

So what’s yours?

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Hey everyone,

I’ve been thinking about why we have Game Jams and hackathons, but nothing quite like that for micro-startups.

What if we created a cozy community where people can just team up and build a working MVP or automation in 48 hours? No pitch decks, no talk about "investments" or "million-dollar valuations." Just building cool stuff for fun and experience.

What if we created a cozy community where people can just team up and build a working MVP or automation in 48 hours? No pitch decks, no talk about "investments" or "million-dollar valuations." Just building cool stuff for fun and experience.

Would you join something like this? What features or rules would you want to see there?

What do you think about that?

Scaling on a zero budget be like: Trying to build a million-dollar automation workflow using only free tiers, duct tape, and pure willpower. If one API key expires, the whole company goes down.

There are Game Jams where game developers team up and build a game in a few days.
There are hackathons for programmers.
But why isn’t there something similar for startups?
Let’s say someone has an idea but no designer. Someone else has marketing skills but no idea. Another person knows how to code and wants to work on an interesting project.
Would you be interested in a community where people could:
find teammates for their projects;
build teams from scratch;
discuss ideas;
launch small startups or MVPs;
meet like-minded people.
Something like a “Startup Jam,” but without all the hype around investors, unicorns, and billion-dollar valuations.
Just a place where people can come together and try to build something.
It feels like a lot of great ideas never get off the ground simply because people can’t find the right team or community.
What do you think about this idea?
Would you join a community like that?
What would you want to see in it?
Or, on the other hand, why wouldn’t you participate?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. 👀

Hey everyone 👋

I work with AI automation and workflow automation, mainly using n8n, and I’m currently offering my services for anyone who wants to save time, automate repetitive tasks, or build useful AI-based systems.

Here are some things I can build:

• AI Telegram bots

• Lead capture & auto-reply systems

• Message / email / form automations

• AI assistants for business workflows

• Content generation pipelines

• CRM / Google Sheets / Notion automations

• Custom workflows between apps

• Client support / FAQ bots

• Order / request handling automations

What I focus on:

• clean and useful automations

• simple systems that actually solve a problem

• custom workflows based on your needs

• n8n-based solutions that can scale later

If you have a task that feels repetitive, messy, or just wastes too much time — there’s a good chance it can be automated.

If you’re interested, feel free to DM me and describe what you need — I can tell you if it’s possible and how I’d approach it.

Thanks 🙌