The Tech ecosystem has changed its cycle. The end of free money, the pressure on the margins and the emergence of artificial intelligence as a structural factor redefined the rules of the game. In 2025, creating a startup is no longer involved in intuition or fashion effect. It is an act of method. What would the approach of a rational founder look like in this new context? Response elements.
Optimizing independence, not valuation
Capital is no longer an automation. The towers are scarce, the conditions harden, the dilution accelerates. The rational founder favors financial autonomy to dependence on unstable investors. It structures a sober start, under 250,000 euros, combining Business Angels, subsidies and early income.
Objective: to reach a first product of Product/Market made without excessively dilute capital or prematurely freeze the strategy. Lifting only becomes an option if a proven lever justifies a change of scale.
Starting from a structural problem, not a technology
The generative AI trivialized the notion of “differentiating tech”. The rational founder does not sell technology. It solves deep, expensive, recurring dysfunction. It favors gray areas: neglected support functions (legal, back office, compliance), not very visible industries (logistics, documentary processing, special education), or regulated B2B markets.
The central criterion is not the size of the market, but the clarity of the need and the ability to deliver a quickly monetizable solution.
Integrate AI as an operational lever, not as a commercial argument
Artificial intelligence is no longer an announcement effect, but an execution tool. The rational founder structures its operations by combining API, NO-CODE automation and internal IA agents. This allows him to operate with a reduced team, while maintaining a high product velocity.
He does not communicate on the AI itself, but on the value delivered. Automation becomes an efficiency factor, not an element of storytelling.
Design a monetitable product immediately
The “Test and Learn” no longer provides a viable economic model. The rational founder builds a product that can be sold in its first version. It favors simple models: monthly subscription, pricing to use, transactional income. It is looking for a raw margin greater than 60 % and an ability to achieve a balance in a few months.
The search for impact or scalability no longer justifies a structural deficit.
Reduce the team to the strict necessary
The time for early recovery is over. The rational founder forms a founding pair with complementary skills: technique and distribution. To three, it can reach the market. No recruitment intervenes without direct operational justification. The design is functional. Marketing is organic. The support is automated.
Each position is a lever, not a growth signal.
Publicly launch, iterer quickly
The launch in “closed” version is no longer an advantage. The rational founder published early, tests in real situations, collects user feedback from the first week. He document his process. He built an active community around the product even before the first income curve.
Open iteration is a design method, not a marketing artifice.
Aim for a solvent market from day 1
The rational founder does not seek to “educate the market”. It aims at existing buyers, with a clear budget, an identified need, and a short decision cycle. It targets solvency, not complexity.
He prefers to sell a holiday management solution to French -speaking SMEs rather than promising “work reinvention” over 10 years.
The end word
Creating a startup in 2025 means designing a useful product, in a forced environment, with a minimum of resources and maximum rigor. The rational founder is neither chilly nor cynical. He built a viable business. He knows that ambition is now going through precision.
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