The moat is Windsurf’s custom LLM and the ops around it (training pipelines, fine-tuning, infra).
Codeium (Windsurf’s parent) started as a GPU optimization company, so they have deep expertise there. Unlike most agents that might just wrap OpenAI/Claude/etc Windsurf’s own model powers its code edits, not external API calls.
That’s where the defensibility is. better in-house models + efficient infra = stronger long-term moat
I suspect it’s also around handling large code bases, building out a prompt that is maximally useful via more conventional processing before passing to the LLM
IMO you don’t need to build a full app or company. You could just build a series of niche sites or properties. If your code solves a specific pain point really well, wrap it in a simple front end or paid API and let people use it.
Some possible ideas:
Micro SaaS: Turn it into a one-page tool (log parser, file cleaner, PDF transformer) with Stripe and add rate limits. People pay for simplicity.
Paid API: Use RapidAPI or Plain.com to expose it. Charge per hit or via metered billing. Maybe even a slackbot for some of these would make sense.
Productized utility: Sell it as a $49/month “done-for-you” service to whatever niche audience would benefit (dev teams, SEO people, lawyers, etc).
Digital bundle: If it’s CLI or script-based, package it up with a guide or demo on YouTube and sell on Gumroad.
You’re not necessarily building a startup, and that’s fine! just something useful enough for strangers to pay for which is more than enough
As someone with terrible handwriting but decent cursive, i think cursive provides a better structure for achieving cleaner penmanship compared to non-cursive writing. My theory is that cursive’s consistency of soft, flowing loops rather than a mix of abrupt angles and disconnected lines helps create a more uniform result.
I also remember teachers telling you when writing cursive to seldom lift your hand from the page. I think that act of keeping your pen on the page for most of the writing process encourages a smoother and more natural flow, reducing the chance of jerky, uneven strokes
Most of the responses in this thread remind me of why I don't typically go into the comment section of these announcements. It's way too easy to fall into the trap set by the doomsday-predicting armchair experts, who make it sound like we're on the brink of some apocalypse. But anyone attempting to predict the future right now is wasting time at best, or intentionally fear mongering at worst.
Sure, for all we know, OpenAI might just drop the AGI bomb on us one day. But wasting time worrying about all the "what ifs" doesn't help anyone.
Like you said, there is so much work out there to be done, _even if_ AGI has been achieved. Not to get sidetracked from your original comment, but I've seen AGI repeatedly mentioned in this thread. It's really all just noise until proven otherwise.
Build, adapt, and learn. So much opportunity is out there.
> But wasting time worrying about all the "what ifs" doesn't help anyone.
Worry about the what if is all we have as a species. If we don't worry about how stop global warming, or how we can prevent a nuclear holocaust these things become more far more likely.
If OpenAI drops an AGI bomb on us then there a good chance that's it for us. From there it will just be a matter of time before a rouge AGI or a human working with an AGI causes mass destruction. This is every bit as dangerous as nuclear weapons - if not more dangerous – yet people seem unable to take the matter as seriously as it needs to be taken.
I fear millions of people will need to die or tens of millions will need to be made unemployable before we even begin to start asking the right questions.
Isn't the alternative worse though? We could try to shut Pandora's box and continue to worsen the situation gradually and never start asking the right questions. Isn't that a recipe for even more hardship overall, just spread out a bit more evenly?
It seems like maybe it's time for the devil we don't know.
We live in a golden age. Worldwide poverty is at historic lows. Billions of people don't have to worry about where their next meal is coming from or whether they'll have a roof over their head. Billions of people have access to more knowledge and entertainment options than anyone had 100 years ago.
Staying the course is risking it all. We've built a system of incentives which is asleep at the wheel and heading towards as cliff. If we don't find a different way to coordinate our aggregate behavior--one that acknowledges and avoids existential threats--then this golden age will be a short one.
Maybe. But I'm wary of the argument "we need to lean into the existential threat of AI because of those other existential threats over there that haven't arrived yet but definitely will".
It all depends on what exactly you mean by those other threats, of course. I'm a natural pessimist and I see threats everywhere, but I've also learned I can overestimate them. I've been worried about nuclear proliferation for the last 40 years, and I'm more worried about it than ever, but we haven't had another nuclear war yet.
I am not a doctor, but Modafinil is great. Similar effects to that of Adderall/Ritalin (increased focus, elevated mood, etc) but no major comedown or withdrawal type symptoms.
Can get with a prescription or found easily online. Would highly recommend it.
Definitely App Academy Open. App Academy is one of the original bootcamps and they have solid curriculum. They have their entire course for free online
In this context, do you mean SaaS for small and medium businesses? Or do you mean small and medium (sized) SaaS companies? Or is SMB in this context some other acronym I’m not thinking of?
