Your Biggest Competitor Isn’t Another Software Company Anymore
I was on a strategy call recently with the founder of a software services company.
He spent most of the conversation talking about competitors.
Who was undercutting prices.
Who was hiring aggressively.
Who was targeting the same accounts.
And after listening for a while, I told him something that caught him off guard.
I don’t think your biggest competitor is another software company.
Hi, I’m Tabish Bibikar, and I coach and mentor founders of software companies to build scale in their business fast.
And over the last couple of years, I’ve noticed a major shift in how software buyers are making decisions.
When a prospect has a technology problem today, they’re not automatically looking for a software vendor.
They’re evaluating several options.
Can we build this ourselves?
Can AI do part of this?
Can our existing team handle it?
Can we hire one or two specialists instead of engaging an entire software company?
And only after exploring those options do they decide whether they need an external partner.
That’s a very different market from even five years ago.
I see this especially in SaaS, fintech, healthtech and enterprise software environments.
AI has dramatically reduced the effort required for many activities.
Internal teams are becoming more capable.
Product managers have better tools.
Developers are becoming more productive.
The question buyers are asking is no longer:
“Who can build this?”
The question is:
“Why should we outsource this at all?”
And that’s where many software companies are struggling.
Because they’re still selling developers.
Still selling technology.
Still selling effort.
When what clients really want is business outcomes.
This reminds me of something Clayton Christensen talked about in The Innovator’s Dilemma.
Customers don’t buy products or services.
They hire them to solve a problem.
And if AI or an internal team can solve that problem faster, cheaper or more conveniently, that’s the competition you’re actually facing.
The software companies winning today are changing the conversation.
They’re not positioning themselves as extra hands.
They’re positioning themselves as specialists who reduce risk, accelerate outcomes and bring expertise that clients cannot easily build themselves.
That’s a very different value proposition.
So the next time you lose a deal, don’t just ask which software company won.
Ask whether the prospect decided they didn’t need a software company at all.
Because that’s increasingly where the real competition is coming from.
I’d love to hear your experience.
Have you lost deals recently to internal teams, AI initiatives or a build-it-yourself approach?
Send me a DM and tell me your story. I personally read and respond to every single one of them. And if we’re not connected yet, send me a connection request on LinkedIn. I’d love to hear what’s happening in your business.
