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This is the true value of any software-based business, not the code.

A pithy statement that is like candy to VC ears, but falls down if you think about it even a little.

Nobody is going to buy Adobe for its client list.



Maybe not for the client list, but possibly for the team.

How much would the code of say Photoshop be worth if the entire Photoshop team were to leave and set up a competing business?


More than the team with no product. There's a huge difference between large entrenched businesses and early-stage startups. Turnover in large corporations is huge, the team has turned over multiple times already, they can do so again.

An early stage company that barely has any code? Yes, in that case, it's the team that matters because they haven't fulfilled the vision yet.




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