The End of Software, Again

I think of enterprise software in two general periods: BS and ASS (Before Salesforce and After Salesforce’s Success).

Just as the internet and web browser unlocked the previous shift, the new ease of embedding payments, lending, and other financial products will allow industry-specific software platforms (Vertical SaaS) to destroy multi-market/horizontal solutions like Salesforce. Ever smaller niches will be able to sustain venture-scale software companies because... See more

During the BS period, software was installed on-prem by professional services teams and was sold via license. Since 2000, we have been in the ASS period.

Embedded financial products open up entirely new revenue streams to productivity software companies that were previously only accessible by financial institutions. Fintech APIs (like payments from Stripe) allow companies to monetize not with expensive subscriptions but through financial instruments that were previously the purview of banks.

There will always be a role for generalist, flexible software. But for established industries where patterns of behavior are more established/well understood (aka companies that are not active residents of startupville) there will be custom software built just for them.