Technology1 min read

Software has no value

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Historically viewed as precious due to high creation expenses, software functions strictly as an enabler rather than an asset with inherent worth. Rapidly declining production costs now allow modern teams to ship features in a single month that previously demanded an entire startup's workforce. Some workers are already constructing internal tools, such as custom GitHub clones, or functioning entirely through MCP to avoid traditional user interfaces. Consequently, organizations can adopt an approach of buying software initially to move fast, later replacing it with tailored internal builds.

Key points

  • Raw code possesses no intrinsic worth because customers ultimately pay for time, services…: Raw code possesses no intrinsic worth because customers ultimately pay for time, services, and peace of mind.
  • Businesses increasingly face the decision to build only the select features they use rath…: Businesses increasingly face the decision to build only the select features they use rather than paying vendors for full platforms.
  • A viable strategy involves purchasing commercial software to iterate immediately, then de…: A viable strategy involves purchasing commercial software to iterate immediately, then developing bespoke internal tools as customization demands grow.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Software is never the goal, what software can help you do is the goal.

When was the last time you got out of bed in the morning and thought "What a fine day to buy some software". Then you went to the software store and bought yourself a bag of the finest software, brought it home, and just admired the thing. What beautiful software, just sitting there looking all shiny and cute.

Weird, right?

Software is a tool, it has no intrinsic value. You buy software because of what it can help you do. The value is in doing the thing.

But historically software has been expensive to produce. This has bamboozled many of us into thinking it is valuable.

Yes there is moat in having built software to solve a problem. You can sell your software to people with a similar problem so they can:

- move faster by buying your code

- buy yours cheaper than it takes to build their own

- trust you to keep innovating

- save on training with standardized tools

- trust you…

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