The Zombie App Apocalypse
12 hours ago
- #AI-generated apps
- #SaaS trends
- #product-market fit
- The cost of building a prototype in 2023 acted as a filter for bad ideas, but by 2026, this filter is gone due to cheap code generation.
- The rise of AI tools allows non-technical founders to create functional apps quickly, leading to a surge in 'Zombie Apps'—apps with no users.
- Historically, similar trends occurred with tools like Microsoft Access and VB6, resulting in fragile, unused software.
- Maintaining a web app with minimal users is now very cheap, leading to a graveyard of unused but functional software.
- The real challenge in 2026 is not building an app but finding users and achieving product/market fit.
- Most AI-generated SaaS apps will go unused, similar to how most YouTube videos get very few views.
- The key to success in SaaS is solving a real problem and growing an active community of users, not just shipping code.