2026-01-02 10:59:52

Most established SaaS players are in denial. They're clinging to 80% margins like a security blanket, refusing to face what's coming in the AI era—where 30-ish margins might be the new normal.

On paper, they should dominate. Steady recurring revenue streams. Massive proprietary datasets. Locked-in customer relationships. All the ingredients for defending market share. But here's the brutal part: if they won't embrace the low-margin AI game, those very advantages become anchors.

AI agents are reshaping the playing field entirely. Speed and cost efficiency now trump everything else. Companies that can iterate fast on razor-thin margins? They win. Incumbents paralyzed by legacy economics? Their moats evaporate overnight. The network effects that once seemed unbreakable suddenly flip—working against them instead of for them.

The question isn't whether margins compress. It's whether legacy players adapt quickly enough before the new economics render their advantages obsolete.

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rugpull_ptsd

· 5h ago

NGL, this is the typical "I have a moat, so I won" delusion... But as soon as AI arrived, it directly filled in the moat, haha.

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MEVSandwichMaker

· 14h ago

Nah, this is the tragedy of traditional SaaS. Holding onto an 80% margin is like clutching a gold brick, but in the end, AI newcomers have cut it from the side. The era of 30% margins has arrived, and they are still dreaming.

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LongTermDreamer

· 14h ago

Haha, this is the cycle. Within three years, there will definitely be a reshuffle. Established SaaS companies will either go bankrupt or be sold off at a bargain price, with no middle ground.

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DeFiVeteran

· 14h ago

To be honest, the big companies really can't handle this wave. Holding on to an 80% profit margin and refusing to let go, they were completely overwhelmed by AI... In the face of the new normal of 30%, those so-called moats overnight became burdens.

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RugDocDetective

· 14h ago

The good days of 80% margins are really coming to an end, and the big companies are still in a daze. AI has directly changed the game rules upon arrival, and those who react slowly will be the next to be crushed.

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DecentralizedElder

· 14h ago

To be honest, these veteran SaaS companies really need to wake up. An 80% gross profit is like opium—once addicted, there's no turning back. In the AI era, a 30% margin is the new normal; they're still dreaming.

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