What happens when AI changes the rules of building a software company? According to Jason Cohen, the answer isn't to predict the future. It's to build around things that remain valuable no matter how technology changes.

In this episode of Rogue Startups, Craig Hewitt talks with Jason Cohen, founder of WP Engine and SmartBear and author of Hidden Multipliers, about growth, strategy, positioning, and building durable businesses in an age of AI. Jason explains why founders should focus on the transformation customers actually want instead of simply adding AI to their products, why repositioning a product can dramatically increase its value, and how to identify the special combination of strengths, customers, and opportunities where your business can win.

Craig and Jason also dig into what kinds of jobs AI is likely to replace, why human creativity and personality remain incredibly valuable, how Jason develops the ideas behind his writing, and why copying someone else's successful framework rarely works without adapting it to your own company culture.

Whether you're building a bootstrapped SaaS company, leading a growing startup, or trying to figure out where your business fits in an AI-driven world, this conversation is full of practical ways to think more clearly about strategy, growth, and competitive advantage.

Highlights from Craig and Jason’s conversation:

  • How to make strategic decisions in an uncertain market
  • What customers will still value in the age of AI
  • Why AI should solve customer problems rather than simply be added to products
  • How positioning can dramatically increase a product's value
  • Why senior developers benefit more from AI than junior developers
  • What chess teaches us about AI and human creativity
  • Why human personalities still matter in content and marketing
  • How Jason Cohen developed the ideas behind Hidden Multipliers
  • Why copying successful business frameworks often fails
  • How founders can find their own strategic advantage
  • The right and wrong ways to use metrics
  • What AI means for the future of SaaS

Resources and Links from This Episode:

Chapters

  • (00:00:00) - Will Jobs Get Automated?
  • (00:00:37) - Interviewing Jason Cohen on Growth
  • (00:01:41) - The Making of the Smart Beer Live Podcast
  • (00:06:48) - How to Figure Out the Most Important Things in the Business
  • (00:10:15) - Re-positioning Your Business Software
  • (00:11:45) - Costs of AdWords and AI
  • (00:17:23) - "I Never Want to Watch a Computer"
  • (00:20:16) - Behind the Hidden multipliers: How to Grow a Business
  • (00:24:00) - Your Thoughts on Writing
  • (00:29:51) - Reasons for a Startup Framework Fit
  • (00:34:09) - The Common Truth of Metrics
  • (00:37:18) - Do You Need Metrics in Your Company?
  • (00:40:35) - Top 5 Things AI Will Affect in 2030
  • (00:45:22) - Do Jobs Get Replaced by AI?
  • (00:47:25) - No Unique Advantage?
  • (00:49:51) - Book Review

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