The new rules for consumer growth: What founders need to do differently in the AI age

Why the most successful consumer apps no longer start with products

“Building a product is no longer the problem.”

When Georgi, founder of the food community app Tasteit, utters this sentence in conversation, it initially sounds almost casual. In fact, however, it describes one of the most profound changes the consumer market has experienced since the rise of social networks.

For many years, product development was considered the real hurdle to entrepreneurship. Those who could develop software, who had access to development teams, and who possessed the financial resources to bring a digital product to market automatically had a significant competitive advantage. Today, that's no longer the case.

Artificial intelligence has dramatically lowered the barriers to entry for digital products. What used to take months can now be developed in a matter of weeks. Small teams build applications that previously required entire departments. The technology itself is becoming increasingly available, interchangeable, and democratized.

That's precisely why the real competition is shifting. The scarcest resource is no longer the product, but attention. Success or failure is no longer determined by technology, but by whether people trust a brand, identify with its mission, and are willing to become long-term members of its community.

What's interesting is that this trend is particularly evident in three consumer startups that, at first glance, seem to have little in common. Famories helps families preserve memories and stories across generations. Fredi supports people in building social relationships and overcoming loneliness. Tasteit, in turn, uses food as a starting point to connect people. Three completely different products, three different target groups, and three different markets.

Anyone who listens carefully to the founders quickly realizes that they are all telling the same story. It is the story of a new logic of growth.

The most successful consumer apps don't start with a product idea.

What's striking is that none of these startups began with technology. None of the founders started by talking about features, algorithms, or technical innovations. Instead, societal observations are at the heart of their stories. In the case of Famories, it was the experience of two founders who, after the death of their grandfathers, realized how many memories, stories, and personal experiences had been lost forever. This realization didn't initially lead to a business model, but rather to a question: How can these stories be preserved before they disappear?

The situation is similar with Fredi. Founder Lili doesn't talk about software when she describes the development of her app. She talks about loneliness. About people who are surrounded by others but have no one they truly trust. About young adults who, after a move or a breakup, suddenly realize that friendships don't just happen automatically. The technology comes later. First and foremost, it's about observing a social problem.

Tasteit also doesn't begin with a technical idea, but with a cultural observation. Georgi describes a world in which people are constantly connected, yet simultaneously feel increasingly isolated. He's preoccupied with the question of why there are social networks for work, photos, or dating, but none for one of the most universal human activities of all: sharing a meal. The platform was created as a response to this observation, not as the result of a technological innovation.

This is precisely where the first new rule for consumer growth in the AI age may emerge. Successful consumer companies no longer arise primarily from technological possibilities. They arise from a deep understanding of societal tensions. While technologies can be copied ever more quickly, cultural changes are far more enduring. Those who recognize early on how human behavior is changing have a greater competitive advantage today than those who merely develop the better technical solution.

AI makes products simpler and growth more difficult

Paradoxically, artificial intelligence further amplifies this trend. The easier it is to build products, the harder it becomes to differentiate oneself through the product itself. This is precisely why Georgi's statement initially seems so provocative and yet so apt: "Building a product is no longer the problem." The real problem only begins after that.

Just a few years ago, the challenge for many startups was simply bringing a functioning product to market. Today, this step is achieved much faster. However, the result is not less competition, but more competition. Consumers are confronted with an unprecedented number of new applications, platforms, and services. Attention, therefore, becomes the real scarce resource.

Interestingly, this development is causing classic startup dogmas to lose their relevance. For a long time, the tech industry believed that the best product would automatically win. However, the interviews with the founders paint a different picture. None of them talk at length about technological superiority. Instead, they talk about community, trust, identification, and belonging. They talk about things that can't simply be replicated.

This also explains why branding is suddenly regaining strategic relevance. While products are becoming increasingly interchangeable, systems of meaning are gaining in value.

People don't just follow an application. They follow an idea. They follow a mission. They follow a sense of belonging.

Anyone who wants to understand consumer growth today needs to talk less about technology and much more about human behavior. That's precisely where it's decided which products are deleted after the first download and which become a long-term part of their users' everyday lives.