[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$f2ovgibn50iz60":3},{"_id":4,"slug":5,"title":6,"subtitle":7,"kind":8,"cards":9,"tags":33,"categories":35,"source":37,"lang":40,"author":41,"audioState":44,"stats":45,"publishedAt":48,"renderer":49},"6abbd78eca21c797c7e9e0cc","cheap-to-build-hard-to-kill-ad5e9cfd","Cheap to Build, Hard to Kill","I built a tool that automates a piece of the financial close.","news",[10,13,18,23,28],{"headline":6,"body":11,"imageUrl":12,"sourceImageUrl":12},"I built a tool that automates a piece of the financial close. The engine and the interface came together in a couple of days.","https:\u002F\u002Fmedia2.dev.to\u002Fdynamic\u002Fimage\u002Fwidth=1200,height=627,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto\u002Fhttps%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fqocqvgteoeuu9irtz48u.png",{"headline":14,"body":15,"imageUrl":16,"images":17},"The other three-quarters of the time went to","The other three-quarters of the time went to what nobody demos. Who can approve what. How every entry traces back to the model and the person behind it. How you prove a number came from the live system and not a stale test value someone forgot to rip out. AI made the first part cheap. It did not make the second part cheap.","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Fposts\u002Fcheap-to-build-hard-to-kill-ad5e9cfd\u002F1.webp",{"local":16},{"headline":19,"body":20,"imageUrl":21,"images":22},"That matters if you are building a company","That matters if you are building a company rather than a weekend project. A solo builder with an AI coding stack can ship a believable version of most software in days. So the question is what still protects you once anyone can copy the features. Most answers say data. Here is the 30-second test I use:","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Fposts\u002Fcheap-to-build-hard-to-kill-ad5e9cfd\u002F2.webp",{"local":21},{"headline":24,"body":25,"imageUrl":26,"images":27},"If every customer walked tomorrow and took their","If every customer walked tomorrow and took their data with them, would what's left still be worth anything to the next customer?","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Fposts\u002Fcheap-to-build-hard-to-kill-ad5e9cfd\u002F3.webp",{"local":26},{"headline":29,"body":30,"imageUrl":31,"images":32},"If the answer is no, you are a","If the answer is no, you are a landlord holding data your customers can carry out the door. Data protects you only when it is hard to copy, stays fresh, and compounds into something a newcomer can't shortcut. For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and\u002For reporting abuse","\u002Fapi\u002Fmedia\u002Fposts\u002Fcheap-to-build-hard-to-kill-ad5e9cfd\u002F4.webp",{"local":31},[34],"dev",[36],"Technology",{"name":38,"url":39},"Dev.to","https:\u002F\u002Fdev.to\u002Fbryant_hood_5d0e171a08fec\u002Fcheap-to-build-hard-to-kill-1lhp","en",{"handle":42,"displayName":43},"spots","Spots","queued",{"views":46,"likes":47,"saves":47,"shares":47,"completions":47,"opens":47,"skips":47,"depthSum":47},3,0,"2026-09-29T15:21:50.450Z","local"]