Custom software used to be a half-million-dollar bet. Two things changed.

For most small businesses, custom software was never really a "no." It was a bet too big to make. Half a million dollars, eighteen months, and no guarantee it would work. Of course you didn't do it. You bought the off-the-shelf tool that almost fit and worked around the gaps.

Two things changed at once. AI killed the price barrier, so the same caliber of work now costs a fraction. And proving it first killed the risk barrier, so you find out it'll pay before you commit the build money.

That combination is the unlock. A small business owner can now have the single highest-return move in their business identified, proven to make money, and built for a tenth of what it used to cost, without betting the company to find out. [insert a real example: a small business that couldn't have touched custom software two years ago, and what they built.]

The work the Fortune-class brands used to have to themselves is now reachable for the business down the street. That's the part I find genuinely exciting.