# Why Foldspace — Build vs. Buy

It's not a question of build vs. buy. Build your core. Partner to make the most of it.

76% of enterprises partner with specialized AI platforms instead of building internally (Menlo Ventures, 2025 — up from 53% in 2024).

## Deciding what to build vs partner

Build the brain. Partner for the hands and eyes.

- BUILD (specialized core capabilities): proprietary data insights, domain-specific algorithms, what customers pay you for.
- PARTNER (onboarding & adoption): improve onboarding, drive adoption, unlock PLG.

If it's your core business, build. If it's impactful but not your expertise, partner.

## Why teams partner with Foldspace

1. **You can count on going live** — external partnerships see twice the success rate of internal builds (MIT, The GenAI Divide, 2025: 66% vs 33%).
2. **Accelerated onboarding and adoption** — ready-made AI solutions demonstrate immediate value (Menlo Ventures); internally developed tools are difficult to maintain (a16z, Enterprise AI 2025).
3. **Time to market: days** — build internally: 9-12 months; with Foldspace: under 1 month.
4. **A fraction of the build cost** — custom AI development runs $100k-$500k+ (Appinventiv) plus 15-30% of build cost in yearly maintenance (QASource). An interactive build-vs-buy savings calculator is on the page.

## Also worth knowing

- No maintenance cost on your side.
- Faster onboarding, immediately — PLG or SLG.
- Boosts PLG even for enterprise B2B.
- Deploys successfully: already in production at VidMob, Base AI, AskCody, and more.

## Ask yourself before building

1. Do customers expect what you're about to build, but don't choose you for it?
2. Are specialist vendors already solving this problem?
3. Is time to market high priority?
4. What would your engineering team need to deprioritize?

Book a demo: https://cal.com/team/foldspace/demo