I Used AI to Build 4 $1M+/year businesses (FULL Playbook)

Key Concepts

AI-driven business building, underserved niches, audience building, content marketing, product development (V1, V2), automation, AI agents, pricing strategies, creator partnerships, public-facing tools, ecosystem building, churn management, data monetization, holding company structure, culture of shipping, portfolio diversification.

Building Profitable Companies in the AI Age: A 35-Step Playbook

1. Go Heads Down

Main Point: Dedicate specific, scheduled time for focused startup work, even with a full-time job.
Actionable Insight: Schedule dedicated "heads down" time in your calendar, even if it's just an hour a day, and eliminate distractions.

2. Find an Underserved Niche

Main Point: Identify a niche with low competition and high potential for standing out, riding a growing trend.
Tools: Google Trends, Idea Browser.
Specific Detail: "Underserved" means a niche where there isn't a lot of competition.
Actionable Insight: Use data to identify growing trends and niches with less competition.

3. Learn Pain Points and Content Preferences

Main Point: Understand the target niche's pain points and the type of content they engage with (memes, vlogs, stories).
Platforms: TikTok, Reddit, X.
Actionable Insight: Research the niche on social media to understand their pain points and content preferences.

4. Come Up with a Startup Idea

Main Point: Generate startup ideas based on identified pain points or through inspiration.
Tool: ideabrowser.com (free daily idea, paid plan for deeper insights).
Actionable Insight: Use Idea Browser for data-backed startup ideas or observe niche conversations on social media.

5. Build an Audience and Community

Main Point: Focus on building an audience on a single platform initially.
Strategy (for X): Engage with influential creators in the niche by replying with thoughtful content to their posts.
Goal: Reach 25,000-50,000 followers on one platform before expanding.
Actionable Insight: Pick one platform and master it. On X, engage with influential creators to gain initial followers.

6. Use AI Tools to Build V1

Main Point: Leverage AI tools to accelerate prototype and V1 development.
Tools:
- Manis, ChatGPT: PRD, competitive analysis, positioning, copywriting.
- V0: Initial designs.
- Bolt, Lovable: Prototype.
- Cursor, Windsurf: Scaling to V1.
Actionable Insight: Utilize AI tools for various stages of product development, from PRD creation to coding.

7. Pre-Sell to Your Audience

Main Point: Offer early access to the product at a significant discount (50-70%) to your audience to secure initial funding.
Actionable Insight: Reach out to your audience with a video demo of the prototype and offer a substantial discount for early commitment.

8. Reinvest Cash into Product and Content

Main Point: Use the pre-sale revenue to fund product development (designers, agencies) and content creation (short-form video, editing).
Actionable Insight: Prioritize reinvesting early revenue into product refinement and content marketing to fuel growth.

9. Keep the Team Small

Main Point: Treat AI as a co-founder and avoid unnecessary hiring.
Actionable Insight: Leverage AI to minimize the need for additional hires in the early stages.

10. Automate with AI Agents

Main Point: Automate at least 90% of tasks using AI agents and tools.
Tools: Lindy, Gumaloop, Zapier.
Strategy: Start with simple, three-step automations and gradually increase complexity.
Actionable Insight: Identify repetitive tasks and automate them using AI agents or automation platforms.

11. Double Down on Content and Core Features

Main Point: Reinvest profits into expanding content production and developing core product features (V2).
V1 Definition: One killer feature plus table stakes features.
V2 Definition: Adding an adjacent killer feature.
Actionable Insight: Focus on expanding content efforts and adding key features to your product based on user feedback.

12. Partner with Creators

Main Point: Collaborate with creators in exchange for equity (1-20%) or revenue share (20-50%).
Strategy: Be generous with revshare initially to attract creators.
Actionable Insight: Partner with creators to leverage their audience and content creation skills.

13. Surface New Ideas from Users and Trends

Main Point: Continuously gather new ideas from users and stay updated on emerging trends.
Tool: Idea Browser Pro plan (agent feature).
Actionable Insight: Use AI-powered tools to analyze user feedback and identify promising new ideas.

14. Build Public-Facing Tools

Main Point: Create free tools that your audience would find useful to drive top-of-funnel traffic and improve AI SEO.
Examples: V.io's free video tools, SVG to PNG converters.
Actionable Insight: Develop free, useful tools to attract your target audience and improve search engine visibility.

15. Add Modular Pricing

Main Point: Offer multiple price points to cater to different customer needs and budgets.
Example: Free, $29, $299, $3k.
Actionable Insight: Implement a tiered pricing structure to maximize revenue and cater to a wider range of customers.

16. Productize Manual Services

Main Point: Identify opportunities to convert manual services into software features to increase enterprise value.
Actionable Insight: Analyze your service offerings and identify opportunities to automate and productize them.

17. Build in Public

Main Point: Share your startup journey publicly to attract users, partners, and potential acquirers.
Actionable Insight: Share your thoughts and progress publicly to build trust and attract opportunities.

18. Bundle into an Ecosystem

Main Point: Think of your startup as part of a larger ecosystem and develop complementary products.
Example: Walt Disney ecosystem.
Actionable Insight: Develop a vision for a broader ecosystem of products that complement your core offering.

19. Own the Loop

Main Point: Create a flywheel that integrates audience, community, and product.
Actionable Insight: Build a system where audience engagement leads to product adoption, which in turn strengthens the community and attracts more audience.

20. Fix the Leaky Bucket (Churn)

Main Point: Prioritize retention over acquisition by understanding and addressing the reasons for churn.
Actionable Insight: Analyze churn data and implement strategies to improve customer retention before focusing on aggressive growth.

21. Backfill with AI Agents Before Hiring Ops Roles

Main Point: Automate operational tasks with AI agents before hiring additional staff.
Actionable Insight: Audit your processes and automate tasks with AI agents before hiring full-time employees.

22. Test New Channels with Throwaway Brands

Main Point: Experiment with new marketing channels using separate, disposable brands to gather feedback.
Actionable Insight: Create new social media accounts to test different content formats and marketing strategies.

23. Monetize the Backend

Main Point: Explore opportunities to monetize your backend data, leads, or APIs.
Example: Partnering with a video agency to provide leads generated from a video software platform.
Actionable Insight: Identify opportunities to leverage your data and technology to generate additional revenue streams.

24. Have Fun

Main Point: Enjoy the process and stop if it's not enjoyable.
Actionable Insight: Ensure that you are enjoying the journey and learning from the experience.

25. Repeat Steps 1-24

Main Point: Start a new venture after establishing a profitable business.
Actionable Insight: Diversify your revenue streams by building a portfolio of businesses.

26. Share Resources Across Products

Main Point: Share hires, tools, learnings, and infrastructure across your portfolio of products.
Actionable Insight: Leverage shared resources to create synergies and efficiencies across your businesses.

27. Acquire Underperforming Products

Main Point: Acquire underperforming products with distribution upside.
Actionable Insight: Leverage your existing audience and distribution channels to acquire and revitalize struggling businesses.

28. Relaunch or Bundle Existing Apps

Main Point: Relaunch or bundle existing apps using your playbook.

29. Create a Holding Company Brand

Main Point: Build a holding company brand to attract talent, acquisitions, and followers.
Examples: Tiny (Andrew Wilkinson), Late Checkout.
Actionable Insight: Create a holding company brand to showcase your portfolio of businesses and attract opportunities.

30. Build Long-Term Wealth with No Outside Investors

Main Point: Build a sustainable business model that doesn't rely on external funding.
Actionable Insight: Focus on building profitable businesses that generate long-term wealth.

31. Cross-Promote Wins

Main Point: Cross-promote successes across your product ecosystem.

32. Create a Culture of Shipping

Main Point: Establish a system for consistently launching new products and features.
Actionable Insight: Implement a process for shipping MVPs on a regular basis (e.g., every month).

33. License or Clone Successful Products

Main Point: Adapt successful products to new verticals or geographic regions.

34. Recruit Niche Operators

Main Point: Hire experienced operators to run individual products.
Actionable Insight: Recruit talented individuals to manage and grow your individual businesses.

35. Build Once, Compound Forever

Main Point: Focus on building assets that compound over time, including audience, code, and trust.
Actionable Insight: Prioritize building long-term assets that will generate value for years to come.

Synthesis/Conclusion

The playbook outlines a comprehensive, AI-driven approach to building profitable companies. It emphasizes identifying underserved niches, building engaged audiences, leveraging AI for automation and product development, and creating a portfolio of interconnected businesses. The key takeaways are the importance of data-driven decision-making, continuous iteration, and building a sustainable ecosystem that compounds over time. The speakers highlight that this is the best time in history to build a business due to the low cost of launching and the accessibility of a global audience.