3 global shifts in how founders build these days
Welcome back to The Current.
This is where we gather real founder conversations across social media to track what’s on their radar right now.
This month, founders are funding their startups with consulting gigs on the side instead of fundraising; ditching bot-driven sales to make sales calls themselves; and cleaning up bloated tech stacks.
3 Things Founders Talk About In Feb’ 26
Paying for the build with service work
Founders are funding their own startups by offering consulting work on the side. Instead of just chasing the next VC round, they’re using side hustle cash as a “dilution-free” bank account.It keeps them in the driver’s seat longer as they further sharpen their product positioning.
Getting back on the phone personally
There’s a visible move of founders jumping back into the sales loop themselves because everyone is tired of being spammed by generic bots.They’re noticing that in a world of AI noise, a real human voice is a massive competitive advantage. If the founder isn’t the one closing the first core deals, the message usually just doesn’t land.
Binning the expensive software
The trend now is aggressive consolidation i.e. cutting tech subscriptions and ditching bloated CRMs. 50 different apps just create more noise, so the move is back to simpler setups that don’t get in the way of talking to customers.
The Reality Check
Bobby Kwong
CEO & Co-Founder
Bootstrapping is actually an advantage. Every dollar is my own, so I can’t afford to waste time building stuff people won’t pay for. That pressure keeps the product honest.
I still do the sales calls because our ManPack voice bots handle the cold-calling. They run the first layer of outbound and qualify interest in real conversations, so when I step in, I’m talking to someone who’s already engaged. It keeps me involved where I actually need to be.
As for our tech stack, we dropped full-suite CRM that tries to reach customers in 20 different ways. Now we just pick up the phone and call them. You’d be surprised how many founders are unwilling or afraid to do that.
The Bottom Line
“Focus relentlessly on delivering value to your customers. Everything else is just noise.”
Less noise. More build. Join the SG Spring Cohort 2026
