I'm shifting Bootstrapped Giants towards an AI focus. So over the past few weeks, I’ve had conversations to learn how founders are using AI to grow their companies.

Check out these 7 stories that got me hyped:

1. Single-person creators

I interviewed Dan Shipper who showed me how individual developers on his team are creating software by themselves. That’s going to allow his company, Every, to create a huge number of apps. But there’s something else going on here–because these are 1-person creations, each app has an artisanal feel.

My favorite example is their dictation app, Monologue. It’s competing with dozens of similar apps, but it has raving fans because Naveen Naidu, who created it, added his own personal touches: it’s multilingual (like Naveed), and has this cyberpunk look:

Dan Shipper’s interview is here.

2. Huge rate of growth

Garry Tan, who runs Y Combinator, told me their startups have literally never grown this fast before. In the past, a startup in their accelerator might have grown weekly revenue by 2-4%. Now they’re growing by 10-20%. Weekly!

I asked him “why?” He said 1) customers are eager to buy AI quickly. They don’t want to miss the AI opportunity. And 2) developers are using AI to create and iterate faster than they’ve ever been able to before.

Garry’s interview is here.

3. Boring is exciting

2 years ago I invested in Jordan Gal’s company, which created an AI phone receptionist. When he targeted plumbers and other service providers, I tried to talk him out of it. Plumbers typically aren’t known for loving software. (Unlike me. I have an app addiction.)

I was wrong. When it comes to AI, even non-techies want in. He showed me his recent revenue for Rosie, his AI voice receptionist, and it keeps climbing.

This is a pattern I’ve noticed. Garry Tan told me that YC startups are going after similarly “boring” businesses, HVAC, electricians, etc.

4. FOMO

When I started these calls, one thing I was trying to uncover is why do businesses book sales meetings with companies that promise “AI transformation”? I mean, it’s such a fuzzy, meaningless term.

So I talked with the founders of Tenex, Alex Lieberman and Arman Hezarkhani. They told me a big reason companies meet them is FOMO, fear of missing out.

But once they get the sales meeting, AI kind of sells itself. They were able to show a billboard company how replacing human ad screeners with AI would cut costs AND grow sales. AI gives buyers instant answers.

The Tenex interview is here.

5. Customization at scale

Neil Patel told me that he had an effective way of acquiring customers for his social media marketing service. His team scrapes Yellow Page data and cold emails each prospect a customized media plan that they can use instantly.

The problem with it is that it’s too labor-intensive to create so many custom plans.

So he used an AI automation that:

1. Scrapes businesses from Yellow Page listings

2. Researches each company deeply

3. Sends each business a customized plan

4. Includes an AI-generated voice memo from Neil

5. Encourages the businesses to book sales meetings

It works so well that his team keeps having to pause the campaign because his sales team gets slammed with sales calls.

Neil’s interview is here.

6. Artists are creating software

An artist named Nathan Segal told me he wasn’t happy with the way Shopify displays his artwork. No one created what he wanted. So he used ChatGPT to create his own Shopify plugin, one that displays his art exactly as he wants it.

He showed me the video he’s sending to his artist friends to get them to use the plugin he made.

7. More companies are being built

Wade Foster of Zapier told me about a roofer who wanted to create a software company instead of spending his days on roofs.

He used Zapier’s automation tools to create a company that handles the “back-office” work for roofing companies. They handle things like lead collection, scheduling, invoicing, follow-up texts, and marketing workflows.

With Zapier, he can “program” it all for his clients by telling AI what to build.

Who else should I meet?

I’m looking for more stories about AI. Are you working on anything interesting? Have you used an interesting tool or worked with an interesting company? Is there anything you think I should know as I shift our company towards AI?

~ Andrew