Build your own tech or use existing software and APIs?

A founder asked me this very question. She'd been told that creating their own software would make them more appealing to future investors. It would have been expensive with unclear value add.

If owning your own tech will give you a significant competitive advantage then go for it. If putting existing tech together gives you almost as good a product just go with that.

Your business is about how you solve problems for clients not what tech you use. That's just how you solve them. Yes, it would be nice if you had tech nobody else did - that's a real moat - but it isn't if it doesn't give you a significantly better product. Existing software and APIs will improve and you will constantly be playing catch up.

Everything is built on the shoulders of others. That's how tech progress works. You wouldn't build your own Stripe to operate an e-commerce store. That's not your value add.

Don't build your own tech unless it gives you a competitive advantage. Understand the problem you solve for your clients and focus hard on that.