Entrepreneurs: having a good idea is not enough to succeed.

There is a myth surrounding entrepreneurs that having a good idea is enough to succeed. This seems increasingly true today with the emergence of accessible AI services, especially with Sam Altman's latest announcements (The GPTs). Going from idea to execution appears simpler than ever, but isn't this an illusion?

As I write this, there are likely thousands of people in France who are not from the tech world but have a bright idea to generate cash using a customized chatbot product. However, even brilliant ideas do not magically create applications ready to conquer the CAC 40.

I readily admit that with new generative AI tools, you can prototype faster and do some pretty convincing things very quickly. However, to have a functional, scalable solution is another story.

Without being a multinational, you need some resources and especially a small full-time developer team! Because accompanying this first myth is usually another: believing you can outsource the development of the solution in one go, and that this solution will remain unchanged until the end of time.

An AI-based application, like all applications, requires testing, debugging, and frequent updates. There is both the interface design (the frontend) and the app engine (the backend) to manage. The application will inevitably crash in production at some point, and people will be needed to handle these incidents. And that's without even talking about all the inherent data and ML model challenges. In short, none of this is static.

Yes, AI opens up exciting new perspectives, and I am the first to encourage everyone to take an interest. However, without wanting to dampen anyone's enthusiasm, I invite any determined entrepreneurs to prepare for the challenges associated with software and AI product development.