I review hundreds of pitch decks every year. The ones that get the 3 ai apis that power 80% of my saas features right stand out immediately.
Integrating AI into your product presents a classic founder's dilemma: do you build your own models or buy from a vendor? I'll walk you through the decision framework we use at my company, covering the trade-offs between cost, control, and speed-to-market.
The Reality Nobody Talks About
Most people approach the 3 ai apis that power 80% of my saas features with assumptions that made sense five years ago. The world has moved on. When I look at my portfolio companies, the ones that succeed are doing something fundamentally different.
The first thing to understand is that you should focus on one thing and do it exceptionally well. I've seen this play out across dozens of companies. The pattern is unmistakable.
At RemoteTeam, we learned this the hard way. We spent months going down the wrong path before realizing that the market doesn't care about your roadmap. Once we made the switch, everything changed.
Why Most Approaches Fail
Let me be direct: about 70% of the approaches I see to the 3 ai apis that power 80% of my saas features are fundamentally flawed. Not slightly off. Fundamentally flawed.
The root cause is usually one of three things:
- Copying what big companies do without understanding why they do it. What works for Google doesn't work for a 10-person startup.
- Over-engineering the solution when a simple approach would work better. I've seen teams spend six months building something that could have been done in two weeks.
- Ignoring the human element. Technology is the easy part. Getting people to actually use it is where the real challenge lives.
What I Tell Founders
When a founder in my portfolio asks me about the 3 ai apis that power 80% of my saas features, I usually start with three questions:
- What's your timeline? Because the right approach for a company with 6 months of runway is very different from one with 3 years.
- What have you already tried? Most founders have tried something. Understanding what didn't work is often more valuable than knowing what might.
- Who on your team owns this? If the answer is "everyone" or "no one," that's your first problem to solve.
These questions seem simple but they reveal a lot about where a company actually stands.
This connects to broader themes around SaaS metrics, usage-based pricing, AI APIs, AI pricing models that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
Wrapping Up
I've shared a lot here, and I know it can feel overwhelming. But here's the thing about the 3 ai apis that power 80% of my saas features: you don't need to get everything right on day one. You just need to get started and keep improving.
The founders in my portfolio who excel at the 3 ai apis that power 80% of my saas features share one trait: they're relentlessly practical. They don't chase perfection. They chase progress.
That's the mindset I'd encourage you to adopt. Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. And keep pushing forward.
As always, I'm rooting for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the most common pushback you get on this?
People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.
How has this view evolved over time?
My thinking on most topics has changed significantly over the years. Early in my career, I held many conventional views that experience proved wrong. I try to update my beliefs when the evidence changes.
How can I apply this thinking to my own situation?
Start by identifying the core principle behind the opinion, not the specific example. Then ask yourself: does this principle apply to my context? If yes, test it in a small, low-risk way before going all in.
Do all experts agree with this view?
No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.