‘One-man’ companies are growing worldwide:No boss, no team, youth are building multi-crore companies alone with AI

Factories were built during the Industrial Revolution. The AI revolution is creating ‘one-man companies’. Between 2023-25, such companies, run by just one person, have grown rapidly. But new jobs are shrinking. Analysis by payment company Stripe states that in the US, one-man companies with annual earnings up to one crore dollars (95 crores) doubled in two years. During the same period, such companies earning more than one crore dollars tripled. According to Stripe’s Chief Economist, Ernie Tedeschi, AI has become entrepreneurs’ ‘built-in business partner’. Ben Broca – Added over 10,000 customers without any employees In the US, 40-year-old Ben Broca started a company in December last year that creates AI tools for entrepreneurs. Without any employees, he acquired over 10,000 customers in just 8 months. This year, an income of approximately 95 crores is estimated. He has already raised 287 crores from investors. Surge – Business applications in the tech sector increased by 45 percent Taylor Bowley, an economist at the Bank of America Institute, draws attention to another emerging picture of this development. According to her, new business applications in the information sector increased by about 45% in just one year, which is the highest among all sectors. But in the same sector, promoters intending to recruit new employees decreased most rapidly. Challenge – Copying others’ ideas is now extremely easy Troy Johnston (40), who runs a credit-card benefits app alone in Orlando, earns about $3,000 (approximately 2.9 lakh rupees) profit every month. He says that AI has handed everyone an ‘Excalibur sword’. Meaning, anyone can easily copy his ideas. Success – 9 months solo, then business gained rapid momentum Claire Wo (41) created a low-cost documentation app in 2023, priced at one dollar (i.e., 95.6 rupees) per month. After working alone for the initial 9 months, she hired an engineer. Today, this app has nearly one lakh users, and this year, a strong profit of approximately 10 crore rupees is expected for her. On average, 25 percent fewer employees in AI-centric firms – In a study by Harvard Business School Professor Rembrandt Koning, 50,000 AI-centric companies were found to have an average of 25% fewer employees. – Julian Weiser, a solo-founder from San Francisco, received 4,500 applications for 10 positions in June, five times more than in May. – 39-year-old Sameer Ahmed left his 20-year job to start a solo coaching-consulting business. It closed down within a few months.