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Between 2024-2025, Cursor broke through $100M ARR in just one year, recording the fastest growth rate among all SaaS companies in history. This success has become a symbol of product strategy that deeply embeds AI into specific professional workflows to create a “productivity revolution” beyond simply being an “AI coding tool.”

Now investors, entrepreneurs, and developers are pondering “Cursor for X” - “Where will the next Cursor come from?” This is a meme similar to the past “Uber for X” (Uber for food, Uber for laundry, etc.), representing a new innovation formula for AI+SaaS.

“Cursor for X” =
Deeply embedding AI into repetitive/complex workflows of specific professional groups to provide overwhelming productivity/experience innovation compared to existing tools

Cursor’s Success Formula: Why “for X” Matters

1) “Individual-Centered” SaaS with Immediate ROI

  • Cursor focuses on “developers” as a professional group, designed so even a single user can immediately experience value (code productivity, error reduction, etc.).
  • Low barriers to entry and immediate rewards through freemium, quick onboarding, and leveraging the existing VSCode ecosystem are key.

2) Deep Integration of “AI+Context”

  • Not just a GPT wrapper, but AI understanding the entire codebase context in real-time within the IDE
  • Automating repetitive search/exploration/modification tasks, providing immersive experiences that don’t break “flow state.”

3) “Product Led Growth (PLG)”

  • Explosive spread through word-of-mouth alone in developer communities without marketing.
  • The core is the experience of “I tried it and it’s really different.”

4) “Timing” and “Clear Alternative”

  • Preceding products like Copilot opened the market, and Cursor differentiated with “deeper context + experience.”
  • Entered when psychological resistance to AI adoption was low.

Fields Where “Cursor for X” Could Apply

1) Office (Documents/Spreadsheets/Presentations)

  • Market of 200M+ users including LibreOffice, Google Docs, etc.
  • AI understanding context and replacing repetitive tasks like repetitive document writing, data organization, report automation.

2) Design (GIMP, Inkscape, Blender, etc.)

  • Hundreds of millions to 200 million users.
  • AI learning designer intent and style for automation like layer organization, repetitive resizing, style conversion.

3) Audio/Video Editing (Audacity, Kdenlive, etc.)

  • Hundreds of millions to billions of users.
  • AI understanding entire project context for repetitive task automation like noise removal, cut editing, subtitle generation.

4) Education (Moodle, etc.)

  • 400M+ users, 50M+ courses.
  • AI replacing teachers’ repetitive administrative/evaluation tasks like assignment grading, feedback, curriculum automation.

5) Healthcare, Home Services, CAD, GIS, etc.

  • When AI+Context combines with “repetitive, rule-based, complex” workflows of professional groups in each field, opportunities for Cursor for X are significant.

Success Conditions for “Cursor for X”

  • Deep understanding of actual professional workflows (context-based innovation, not simple automation)
  • Natural integration with existing tools (minimizing barriers to entry like VSCode fork)
  • Immediate and clear ROI (making even single users immediately feel “this is different”)
  • Clear awareness of AI limitations and reliability issues (assisting professional decisions, not replacing them)
  • Community-based expansion strategy (PLG, word-of-mouth, actual usage experience-centered)

Conclusion: “Cursor for X” Is Not Just a GPT Wrapper

“Cursor for X” represents next-generation SaaS/AI product strategy where AI is deeply embedded in specific professional workflows to provide overwhelming productivity/experience innovation compared to existing tools.

It’s not simply “adding AI features” but the trinity of “context + AI + experience” that’s key.

References:

What Will Be the Next "Cursor for ____"? - Testing in Production

The meteoric rise of Cursor and what we can learn from it to build the next big thing

testinprod.substack.com

Cursor at $100M ARR - Sacra

Analysis of Cursor's rapid growth to $100M ARR and market dynamics

sacra.com

참고