Replit just raised $400 million at a $9 billion valuation, tripling in six months. But the real story is what it represents: the end of the buy the giant platform era in enterprise software.

In this episode, Stephen Forte goes deep on why companies are shifting from monolithic SaaS platforms to constellations of bespoke micro-apps built by the people closest to the problem.

Replit by the numbers: From $2.8M to $150M ARR in under two years. Targeting $1B ARR by end of 2026. Users inside 85% of the Fortune 500.
Rokt: 700 employees built 135 production applications in 24 hours. Now running financial close, legal tracking, and 30,000+ annual operational tasks.
UKG: 400% increase in customer-driven feedback before engineering investment.
DoorDash: 40+ custom operational tools, estimated $6M in savings vs. off-the-shelf.
ClickUp: Six AI-powered tools connected to Salesforce, Zendesk, and Snowflake. $200K/year saved.

The thesis: systems of record like Salesforce and SAP persist as the data layer. But the interface and automation layer is being rebuilt with bespoke tools in an afternoon.

Hosted by Stephen Forte

The End of Buying Software