Software is becoming marketing | Tereza Tizkova | Tereza Tizkova
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Tereza Tizkova<br>San FranciscoSometimes Prague
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Block fired almost half the company (4,000 people) because of AI. Atlassian laid off 1,600. Salesforce replaced 4,000 support roles with AI. Snapchat cut 1,000...<br>And even in the Czech Republic, a small country in Europe where I'm from, a local insurance group called Direct announced it is firing a third of its 1,200 employees. Their CEO commented: "The time of playing around with AI is over."<br>Software being mostly written by AI changes the job market, but also the software products landscape. This is how:<br>Lower entry barrier makes software lower-respect field<br>Optionality changes the commitment to software products<br>The middle class of software products will disappear<br>Software companies will sell services, not products<br>Implication 1: Lower entry barrier makes software lower-respect field<br>First, a little personal story.<br>I hold a university degree in two totally unrelated fields: "Mathematical Structures" and "Marketing Communications & PR." I consider myself a very poor mathematician, but a very decent marketer. However, usually when first encountering me, people show insanely more respect for the former much than the latter.<br>No-one will argue with you about how you are proving Yoneda lemma, but everyone will have opinion on what colors you put on your landing page.<br>Click to expand
Share<br>A non-mathematician can't even speak the language of mathematics. But in a lot of fields, people can evaluate your work with their own senses. They don't need any other apparatus.<br>I see how software is turning more from what I experience with math to what I experience with marketing. It is now possible to vibecode your own SaaS instead of paying someone $50/month for theirs. And once anyone can build software, software becomes something everyone feels qualified to judge.<br>This is where two variables interact: how hard it is to enter a field, and how easily outsiders can evaluate the work. When both shift — barrier drops, visibility rises — respect collapses.<br>I see it like this. There are two variables:<br>How high/low is barrier to entry in your field<br>How much people can externally judge your work<br>Click to expand
Share<br>Lower respect means lower pay. As software moves into "everyone's a critic" territory, pay will compress toward what other creative fields already look like. Writers, designers, and marketers all have wider pay distributions because the barrier to entry is low and the work is visible: anyone can try, everyone has an opinion, and only the proven best command a premium.<br>To stand out, you need something beyond "software engineer" on your resume: a specialization, a track record, a reputation. The bullshitters will multiply, but so will the premium on genuinely excellent work.<br>Click to expand
Share<br>Good enough marketers in San Francisco really get paid A LOT. When you look at any job portal or public data, marketing always shows less paid. But me and my friends from growth/marketing fields in top companies have different experience.<br>I am not saying I am that good, I still have tons of things to learn. What I'm just saying is that my offers have grown like crazy in months. I would never guess what numbers I can get to.<br>Implication 2: Optionality changes the commitment to software products<br>Optionality does specific things to markets, and that is, it makes people stop settling. And there is one example we all hear way too much about: dating market.<br>When dating apps appeared, people swiping around quickly realized how many options they had. I hear people saying they swiped through thousands of people on the apps but haven't found anyone they would like. Or anyone who would like them. Why would you settle for something good enough if you know there are thousands of other options, and one might be the perfect match?<br>The same psychology applies to software. When there were three project management tools, you picked one and committed. When there are three hundred, and you can vibecode your own in an afternoon, commitment evaporates.<br>Treat software like water: essential, abundant, and not a differentiator.
Barry Schwartz called this the paradox of choice. It's human nature that more options lead to less satisfaction. I believe there is an ideal range of number of software alternatives that makes you commit the most. If there's only one solution, you might find it suspicious or it can be because the market is too early and the solution might not be good yet. A few alternatives are ideal, but if there are too many, you may start looking for something that is "just for you" and have more difficulty finding it.<br>Click to expand
Share<br>Implication 3: The middle class of software products will disappear<br>The previous leads to something interesting. SaaS is about to get the App Store treatment and it will start to resemble a power law system.<br>Click to expand
Share<br>3.1) The death of the "good enough"...