One thing is certain: the next wave of billionaires will be AI billionaires. It’s already happening. Entrepreneurs who have been looking for an opportunity are taking the widespread awareness of artificial intelligence as their sign that this is it. Their time to shine. Forget how you used to run a business, because new skills are required for this playing field. Before you had to bang on doors, you pushed and dragged. Now you have to think smart, adapt quickly and expose every stone until you find the product that fits the market.
This technology creates new opportunities for people with their eyes open wide enough to see them. Here’s what’s available for aspiring AI entrepreneurs and how you can take advantage of it.
Access to finance
Existing funds want to invest in AI companies and more and more funds are popping up. Governments start competitionsangel investors flutter and entrepreneurs invest in their own skills to carve their way to breakthrough products and tools.
Lack of money is no excuse. If you want it enough, you can find the funding. Ask around, ask Twitter, call a friend. Dive deep into Google to find those money bags to put into development. The excitement is at its peak, so act now to get your termsheets signed and get your suppliers lined up and working on your ideas. You can even validate an idea before spending money; create a simple landing page, test value propositions with Reddit ads, and see what kind of initial interest you get.
More confidence in AI
Those who worked in AI long before that were leading the way. That curve has caught up, but where do they stand? At best, the early movers have a solid foundation to build on. At worst, they peaked too early and ran out of money, energy, or both.
Along with the hype has come a new openness to AI. Entrepreneurs test platforms and share their findings. People are willing to give it a chance. Now is the perfect time for your new business to get its first wave of customers. Make the most of the exploration phase and create the tool they experiment with and hold onto for a lifetime. You don’t need decades of AI experience to do this. You can start from scratch and learn as you build. If you have decades of experience, the floodgates are now open and you have a head start.
More tools available
With the growing number of entrepreneurs taking AI into their own hands, more tools are available to run your business. Even if you don’t plan on moving to an AI company, you can use the technology to outperform the competition or scale much faster. A new company once needed a new person for each department, now you might just have one employee as long as they are proficient in handling the tools.
With your fixed costs potentially much lower, you can take more risks. You can simmer under the surface for longer, you can finance your development with consultancy if you wish. Use graphic design, copywriting, and marketing tools. Use data analysis and outreach tools. Hire one person to run five platforms, not five people to do five separate tasks. Make good use of the increased profit margin and build better products that people love to use.
The space is wide open
Artificial intelligence has entered the collective consciousness of many more entrepreneurs, so we think in different ways. Problems can be solved by prompts. Challenges eliminated by Chat GPT. The fact that technology offers so many solutions leads to a technology-first approach. This in turn leads to new ideas for AI products that can be codified.
The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, by author Al (Albert) Ries, explains the basic principles of marketing that your business should ideally adhere to. A quick look at the list with AI in mind makes it clear that this is very much possible. Act now, act fast and you can be first in the market, first in category and first in mind. You can own a word, you can own an entire rung on the ladder, and you can obey the law of unpredictability with your agility and quick thinking.
New entrepreneurial opportunities are everywhere you look. Take advantage of the new funds, the improved levels of trust, the new tools out there that you can use to reduce costs, and the collective awareness as you come up with the next wave of ideas. Ride this wave or wait another decade for the next one, the choice is yours.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.