This video captures insights from Alex Becker, a SaaS founder generating 1 billion won in monthly revenue, who warns that 'SaaS is dead.' He predicts SaaS market changes as AI lowers coding barriers, identifies the crisis of existing SaaS models, and proposes future-oriented business structures. He provides clear answers about which SaaS companies will survive and why businesses will prefer custom-built features over giant all-in-one platforms.

1. In the AI Era, What Was SaaS's Real Barrier?

Many think SaaS is finished because AI made coding easy, but the video emphasizes that "the real barrier of SaaS was never coding." The truly difficult part was getting customers to 'keep using the software properly.' Alex Becker spent six months closely working with early customers to refine what was complex and how to make results visible. Ultimately, SaaS was never a game of building well—it was a game of making customers dependent.

2. Why Existing SaaS Models Are in Crisis

If coding wasn't the barrier and usability was key, why the crisis talk now? Becker explains it's because "the structure of platforms-for-everyone has become too heavy." Existing SaaS had to work flawlessly for thousands of companies simultaneously, with different industries, usage patterns, and requirements—causing endless feature additions and growing complexity.

"Most enterprises use only 10-20% of total features. Yet they're saddled with a 100% system."

Rising maintenance costs, growing complexity, increasing learning curves—in the past, buying a big platform was the only option. Now, thanks to AI, companies are starting to think: "Why don't we just build the features we actually need?"

3. The Future of the SaaS Market: Shift to Modular Architecture

Becker says SaaS won't completely disappear but its form will change. The key shift: from giant all-in-one platforms to assembling features modularly. Instead of adapting to a massive platform, companies now ask "which of these features do we actually use?"—and with open-source templates plus AI, they can build precisely what they need.

4. Where the Real Money Will Be: API-Based Infrastructure Companies

If front-end software becomes lighter and modular, where will the real money be made? Becker says "the front end can get lighter, but the underlying infrastructure is anything but light." Payment systems, messaging, email delivery, server operations, data storage—these require stability, security, large-scale traffic handling, and regulatory compliance.

The companies that survive will be: those where complex data and accuracy are core, and those providing connectivity infrastructure via APIs. These API-based infrastructure companies will likely grow even stronger.

5. What SaaS Model Should You Build If Starting Now?

Becker advises: "Don't try to build a giant all-in-one SaaS—create a framework and assemble it custom for each business." Take existing tools (CRM, booking, email, payment systems), bundle them into a structure, ask the business owner what's most painful, and assemble solutions around those problems with AI customization.

The revenue model is simple: charge an initial build fee, then ongoing monthly maintenance fees. Companies choose this model not to cut costs, but because they want features precisely tailored to their business. The future of SaaS is moving from selling products to designing structures.

Wrap-Up

Alex Becker's sharp insight clearly identifies that the real issue isn't lower coding barriers but the inefficiency of giant all-in-one platforms. Moving beyond simple feature provision to designing structures optimized for each company's unique needs and maintaining them—that will be the key to success in the future SaaS market. The two keywords to remember: custom structure design and API-based infrastructure.