AI programming rewrites funding rules: startups must deliver a prototype before fundraising

Helius CEO Mert recently made a statement on social media that touches on a fundamental change in startup financing today. In just one week, he used AI programming to create a seed-stage project checkprice, and from this predicts that as development costs sharply decrease, the logic of startup funding is undergoing a permanent transformation. This is not just a story of technological progress, but a signal of reshaping the competitive landscape of entrepreneurship.

AI Programming is Changing the Starting Point of Financing

Cost and Time Compression

The traditional startup path is: idea → funding → product development → launch. But AI programming is breaking this process. According to Mert’s observation, a demoable prototype can be created in just one week. What does this mean?

• Significantly shortened development cycle: from months to weeks
• Lower pre-funding preparation costs: early product validation can be done with $100,000
• Greatly reduced failure costs: founders can iterate quickly without waiting for funding

Delivering prototypes before funding becomes the new norm

Mert’s core point is straightforward: before seeking millions of dollars in funding, startups “have no excuse” not to demonstrate growth momentum or deliver a product prototype. This signifies a fundamental reversal in the logic of fundraising.

Comparison of traditional funding models versus new funding models:

This shift means investors’ evaluation criteria are moving from “Is this idea good?” to “Does this product have market fit?”

The True Change in the Competitive Landscape

Copying becomes easier, distribution becomes key

AI programming not only lowers the barrier to development but also reduces the difficulty of copying competitors’ products. When product development is no longer the main barrier, what becomes the real competitive advantage?

Mert points out that founders with distribution and storytelling capabilities will dominate. This is interesting because it implies:

• The product itself is no longer the only competitive edge: similar products will proliferate
• Ability to acquire users becomes a scarce resource: whether you can effectively attract and retain users is the new differentiator
• Storytelling ability becomes critical: standing out among many similar products requires strong narrative skills

In other words, startup competition is shifting from “Can we build it?” to “Who can build it better” and further to “Who can tell the story better.”

This Change Has Already Begun

Mert predicts this trend will start around 2026 and will be fully evident within five years. Looking at the timeline, we are at the beginning of this turning point.

Interestingly, related information shows that Helius itself is strengthening its infrastructure position within the Solana ecosystem. Pyth provides the data layer, Helius connects infrastructure, and Solana Seeker offers the application layer. This combination illustrates a phenomenon: as development becomes easier, the importance of ecosystem infrastructure rises because founders need better tools to quickly validate ideas.

Summary

AI programming is changing the rules of startup financing, with three core shifts: First, delivering prototypes before funding is no longer a bonus but a requirement, raising the entry barrier for all entrepreneurs; second, when product development is no longer a scarce capability, distribution and storytelling become the new focus of competition, which means different types of founders will face different challenges; finally, this trend has already started and will completely change the competitive landscape of entrepreneurship within the next five years. For aspiring entrepreneurs, it’s not just about ideas and teams, but also about how to stand out among many rapidly iterating competitors.