V-SaaS CEO: AI Lets Consultants Disrupt Us

Todd Saunders' journey with Broadlume exemplifies the pivot from a broad tech solution to a vertical-specific powerhouse. His company started as Adhawk, a generalized ad-tech firm born from his experience at Google. The team noticed significantly higher retention—95% versus 80%—with their clients in the flooring industry, a $90 billion market largely untouched by modern software. This insight led to a dramatic pivot. In 2019, Saunders and his team acquired their largest flooring customer, FloorForce, and rebranded as Broadlume to focus exclusively on the flooring niche. This strategic shift involved firing their non-flooring customers, causing revenue to initially drop from $6 million to $3 million before rebounding. Broadlume's growth strategy was aggressive, acquiring five other flooring software companies to build an all-in-one platform for marketing and management. They also cultivated a deep industry moat by launching FloorCon, a major industry conference, and building a 4,000-member Facebook group for retailers, which now drives 20% of their inbound leads. This culminated in Broadlume's acquisition by Cyncly in late 2024, a major provider of software for the "spaces for living" industry. The threat Saunders highlights is now being amplified by no-code and AI-powered platforms like Bubble and Glide, which allow non-coders to build and launch sophisticated SaaS products. Success stories include Better Legal, which saw its revenue skyrocket after rebuilding its platform on Bubble, and SparkSocial, a social media lead generation tool built by a product manager and an architect with no coding skills. These tools empower consultants to productize their industry knowledge without traditional development costs. For engineers in NYC looking to make a similar leap, the AI scene is booming. Startups like Hebbia, EliseAI, and Dataminr are actively hiring for roles in machine learning and AI product development. Venture firms such as Lux Capital, Two Sigma Ventures, and Radical Ventures are heavily investing in enterprise and applied AI, with average seed rounds for AI companies in the city hitting $3.2 million. For those looking to build on the side, the key is consistency and focus. Indie hackers recommend waking up early to work on your project before your day job and setting strict time boundaries. It's also crucial to define a minimal viable product (MVP) to get early feedback instead of building in the dark. Engineers interested in the technical foundations of AI applications can start with frameworks like LangChain and CrewAI. There are numerous tutorials available for building simple LLM applications, such as a text translation tool or a basic chatbot, which can serve as a starting point for more complex projects. These frameworks provide the tools to connect LLMs with other data sources and create sophisticated, automated workflows.