The Last Cycle: Why Founder-Engineer Partnerships Are Nearing Their End

The Final Cycle of Founder-Engineer Collaboration

I believe we’re approaching the end of an era—potentially the last cycle where I, as an engineer, partner with founders to build their products while they fund the development. My intuition suggests this shift could happen within the next six months to three years, though exceptions will always exist. We’ve entered a phase where relying on large teams and big budgets is becoming unwise. Instead, the future favors small, agile teams—sometimes as small as one founder and one engineer, both leveraging AI tools to maximize efficiency.

This cycle is defined by a transition to minimal teams. A single, capable engineer with a strong software development background can now use emerging AI tools to achieve what once required entire teams. The current iteration of this cycle likely began in the past three to six months, marked by the maturation of tools like Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and Grok 3—IDEs and LLMs natively built for coding tasks such as code prediction and automation.

Timeline of the Current Cycle

Previous Cycle: Likely spanned from the release of ChatGPT to the emergence of AI-native IDEs like Cursor.
Current Cycle: Began within the last three to six months, driven by advanced AI tools.
Duration: Unlike past cycles that lasted years, this one may only last months—potentially ending within a year.

By the end of this year, or at most within one to three years, we’ll likely enter a new era where most companies no longer hire engineers. Founders who continue to rely on hiring engineers risk financial strain, as they’ll spend heavily while competitors leverage AI to build faster and cheaper.

Strategic Plan for the Next 6–12 Months

To make the most of this final cycle, I’m focusing on partnering with the right founders—those at the right stage, with the right mentality, and aligned with my vision. I aim to secure three to five high-quality clients to maximize the next six to twelve months. These partnerships will be intense, collaborative efforts to build products using AI tools to accelerate development.

Current Workflow

Build and Document: I develop the product, write comprehensive documentation, and train my replacement.
Hand-Off: I transition the project to a team of developers—often more cost-effective—for long-term maintenance while I remain available for consultations.
Continuous Lead Generation: Historically, I’ve always sought new leads to start fresh projects, keeping my rates high by handing off completed projects and moving to the next challenge.

However, this cycle demands a shift. Rather than seeking new leads to replace these clients after hand-off, I plan to redirect that time and energy into my own ideas—building my own companies, products, and tools. This is critical because engineers who don’t pivot to founding their own ventures risk obsolescence as AI tools mature and reduce the need for hired technical talent.

The Future of Engineering and Founding

Within a year, founders who rely on engineers to build their products will struggle to compete. They’ll hemorrhage money on salaries while competitors use AI to move faster. Similarly, engineers who don’t found their own companies or build their own products will face diminishing opportunities. AI tools are rapidly approaching a point where they can handle most development tasks, making traditional engineering roles less essential.

Risks for Stakeholders

Founders: Spending heavily on engineers will slow them down, as competitors leverage AI for cost-effective, rapid development.
Engineers: Those who don’t pivot to founding or building their own products risk unemployment as AI tools replace their roles.

This isn’t imminent enough to halt all action, but it’s close enough to demand preparation. A year is both a lifetime and a blink in tech. The solution is to act now—build, adapt, and embrace the tools. Waiting for AI to fully mature will leave you lagging behind those who’ve been iterating all along.

The Ideal Engineer for This Cycle

For founders, the key is to partner with a specific type of engineer—one who can navigate this transitional period effectively. This engineer should combine deep expertise with broad familiarity, embracing AI tools to stay competitive.

Qualities of the Ideal Engineer

Diverse Experience: Familiarity with cloud, backend, frontend, and various software development methodologies.
Deep Expertise: Extensive experience in at least one area, understanding scalability, security, and maintainable code.
Startup Background: Experience working with startups, juggling multiple roles, and adapting to fast-paced environments.
AI Adoption: Open-mindedness and proficiency in using AI tools like LLMs, code prediction, and automation.
Collaborative Mindset: Willingness to provide feedback, refine AI-generated code, and work closely with founders to prototype and iterate.

Founders should go all-in on this person, learning as much as possible about their processes. If the engineer has blind spots—say, in design—founders can use AI-driven design tools to prototype and hand off assets. The engineer, in turn, must be open to feedback, refining AI-generated outputs (e.g., React code from LLMs) and helping founders improve their prompts. This collaboration maximizes efficiency and prepares founders for a future where they may rely less on human engineers.

Advice for Engineers: Build Your Own Future

To my fellow developers: the time to act is now. Every idea you’ve dismissed as too risky, too niche, or likely to fail—build it. The experience of creating, shipping, and iterating is invaluable, even if the product doesn’t succeed. Build tools you’d use yourself, things you believe should exist. Use them, improve them, and make them valuable to others.

Why Build Now?

Experience: Shipping a product, adding analytics, engaging users, and gathering feedback is inherently worthwhile.
Market Relevance: Tools you find useful are likely valuable to others, creating opportunities for impact.
Future-Proofing: Building your own products positions you as a founder, not just a hired engineer, in a world where AI reduces traditional roles.

Don’t let fear of failure or competition stop you. Most ideas will fail, but the process of building hones your skills and prepares you for the one that succeeds. The alternative—waiting for the market to stabilize—means falling behind.

The Role of Novelty in the AI Era

As AI tools commoditize technical skills, novelty and creativity will become the primary assets for both founders and engineers. Large companies like xAI, Google, and Microsoft will dominate with their vast data and computational resources, but individual creativity can still carve out a niche.

Harnessing Creativity

Amplify Uniqueness: Focus on what makes your ideas different—your unique perspective is your competitive edge.
Generate Novelty: Create products, tools, or solutions that stand out in a crowded market.
Internal Potential: Each of us has the capacity to generate endless novelty, akin to a “universe” of ideas waiting to be explored.

This aligns with the concept of an AI singularity—a point where technology reshapes everything. I liken it to reaching escape velocity through a black hole, emerging into a new universe of possibilities. Every individual has the potential to create their own “Big Bang” of innovation, driving a new wave of value creation.

Metaphorical Vision: The Rocket to Escape Velocity

We’re on a speeding bullet train to a launch pad, where a rocket is fueling up for takeoff. This rocket represents the rapid advancement of AI, propelling us toward a future where dependency on human engineers diminishes. We’re approaching escape velocity—a point where most software development tasks can be handled by AI, enabling founders to ship and maintain products without traditional engineering support.

This isn’t a reason to wait—it’s a call to action. Partner with the right people, embrace the tools, and build relentlessly. Those who wait for AI to “arrive” will be outpaced by those who’ve been leveraging it all along. For engineers, this means founding your own ventures and creating novel solutions. For founders, it means learning from your technical partners and preparing to navigate a future where AI is your primary tool.