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Graph of Plan

Non-Developers Want AI Tools

Non-technical users (SMB founders, operators) will want and use AI-powered tools that currently require developer skills.

The Assumption

We’re betting that the market for AI tools extends beyond developers. SMB founders, operators, and knowledge workers will want to:

  • Run code without understanding code
  • Automate workflows through natural language
  • Use AI agents for tasks that previously required hiring developers
  • Pay for tools that expand their capabilities

SmartBoxes targets this expanded market—not just developers who want sandboxes, but non-devs who want to run AI agents safely. If the market remains developer-only, our TAM shrinks 10x.

Evidence

Market signals:

  • No-code explosion: Zapier, Make, Airtable, Notion serving non-devs
  • ChatGPT crossing into mainstream (100M+ users, mostly non-devs)
  • Canva democratised design; we expect similar for code execution
  • SMB founders increasingly comfortable with AI tools

Behavioural signals:

  • Non-devs already asking “can AI do this?” for technical tasks
  • Prompt engineering emerging as non-dev skill
  • Notion AI, Jasper, Copy.ai serving non-technical writers
  • Excel users learning formulas—similar learning curve to simple agents

Counter-signals:

  • Code execution still feels dangerous/scary to non-devs
  • Trust gap: non-devs don’t know if agent is doing right thing
  • Support burden from confused users could be high
  • Developer tools that try to serve non-devs often fail at both

Counter-Evidence

What would prove this wrong:

  • Non-devs consistently fail onboarding
  • Usage concentrated in developer segment (>90%)
  • Support burden from non-devs unsustainably high
  • Non-devs don’t trust code execution, even sandboxed

Warning signs:

  • Non-dev users churning immediately after signup
  • Support tickets dominated by “I don’t understand” questions
  • Feature requests only from developers
  • Non-dev users don’t refer others

Impact If Wrong

Products affected: SmartBoxes (partially), P4gent (entirely)

TAM impact:

  • Developer-only market: ~1M potential customers
  • Including non-devs: ~10M+ potential customers
  • If wrong, 10x smaller addressable market

Product impact:

  • Would need to focus exclusively on developer experience
  • Would remove “no-code” positioning
  • Would simplify product (no need for training wheels)
  • P4gent becomes unviable as currently conceived

GTM impact:

  • Content marketing shifts to pure developer focus
  • Pricing can be higher (developers expense more easily)
  • Competition more directly against E2B, Modal

Testing Plan

User research:

  1. 10 interviews with non-technical SMB founders
  2. Beta cohort: Track dev vs. non-dev activation rates
  3. Support ticket analysis: What questions do non-devs ask?

Product experiments:

  • Test onboarding with zero-code users
  • Measure time-to-first-success for non-devs
  • A/B test “developer tool” vs. “AI automation” positioning

Metrics:

  • Non-dev activation rate: Target >30% complete first task
  • Non-dev retention: Target >20% weekly active after 30 days
  • Non-dev NPS: Target >40

Timeline: 6 months into beta to get meaningful signal

Kill criteria: If under 10% of active users are non-developers after 6 months of beta, pivot to developer-only focus.

Depends on:

Supports products:

Customer segments:

Assumption

Non-technical users (SMB founders, operators) will want and use AI-powered tools that currently require developer skills.

Depends On

This assumption only matters if these are true:

Enables

If this assumption is true, these become relevant:

How To Test

User research with non-technical founders; beta testing with SMB operators; analysis of no-code AI tool adoption.

Validation Criteria

This assumption is validated if:

  • Non-devs complete onboarding without support
  • Weekly active use by non-technical users
  • Word-of-mouth referrals from non-dev users

Invalidation Criteria

This assumption is invalidated if:

  • Non-devs consistently fail onboarding
  • Usage concentrated in developer segment
  • Support burden from non-devs unsustainable

Dependent Products

If this assumption is wrong, these products are affected:

Decisions Depending On This