How to Launch Your One-Person (Unicorn?) Company with AI in 2025?

In my forecasts for 2025, I suggested that AI would enable the creation of the first one-person company capable of becoming a unicorn. I believe many would still treat such an assumption with skepticism. And quite unjustifiably so.  

In February 2025, CEO Sam Altman stated that by the end of the year, they might already have a model that surpasses any human developer in programming. How do you think this will change the prospects for launching a business? Any business.  

In this article, I will share my thoughts and advice on the opportunities AI is already opening up for those who want to start their own one-person company from scratch. And what opportunities for launching a successful solo business will emerge in the very near future.  

And even if achieving unicorn status doesn’t happen quickly, having your own successful company looks like a much more promising future than simply losing your job because AI now does it better and you are no longer needed. Remember, AI creates opportunities for those who are enterprising, have a problem-solving mindset, are curious, constantly improving themselves, and continuously learning. And it shuts them down for those who are the opposite.

Lack of technical or specialized skills is no longer a blocker!

Many of us have had great, ambitious business ideas—how to solve existing problems, bring value to companies or people, and receive a reward in the form of profit.

But these ideas never came to life because of the following obstacles:

• A lack of technical or other specialized skills.
• As a result, the need to hire specialists who have them.
• As a result, the need to pay them salaries. And the salary of a qualified specialist is high.

Overcoming these obstacles was only possible if:

• You had sufficient financial resources, keeping in mind that a business does not become self-sustaining immediately after launch.
• You had skills in effective people management. Or, at the very least, had a well-founded confidence that you would be able to achieve this.

AI can help solve all these problems—partially or entirely 

Many routine tasks can now be automated, either by purchasing existing AI-powered tools or by developing your own. This makes it possible to scale your business quickly.

Hire and fire AI agents

Many, including myself, have good reason to believe that 2025 will be the year of AI agents. Already this year, they will become significantly more capable. You will be able to "hire" and "fire" such agents as needed (without severance pay—at least for now :) ). Primarily, they will be used to automate routine tasks and assist in performing a broader range of tasks that still require human involvement.

Build your own applications and AI agents - amazing times are coming

Hiring AI agents is a great option. However, paying for external tools can have a significant impact on your expenses. How realistic will it be in 2025 to create your own applications and AI agents capable of solving complex tasks for your business?

Even now, AI allows people without any significant technical background to create highly advanced applications and AI agents—something that was impossible just 1–1.5 years ago.

How advanced will the solutions you can build on your own be in 2025?     

To answer this question, it is necessary to compare the capabilities of human developers with those of cutting-edge LLMs—past, present, and those already on the horizon.

Let’s give the floor to an expert. In February 2025, during a conversation with students and faculty at the University of Tokyo, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman stated the following:

“The progress over the recent scale is quite amazing. Our very first reasoning model was like a top 1 millionth competitive programmer in the world. People thought that was very impressive. It's like wow in AI. It's, you know, the millionth best people that do this. That's pretty good.

We then had a model that got to like a top 10,000.

o-3 model which we talked about publicly in December 2025 is the 175th best competitive programmer in the world.

I think our internal benchmark is now around the top 50.

And maybe we'll hit number one by the end of this year.”

So, once again, very briefly about the most important point. The capabilities of OpenAI’s most advanced publicly available model—o-3—are already comparable to those of the 175th best programmer in the world.

A model that OpenAI already has but has not yet made public is capable of programming at the level of the 50th best developer in the world.

By the end of 2025, OpenAI expects to have a model that can handle programming-related tasks better than any human programmer.

Did you read the previous sentence carefully? Now take a deep breath. And think—what level of complexity of applications for your own business you can create yourself already now. And what will you be able to create by the end of 2025 if you have at your disposal not even the best, but the 100th best programmer in the world? After all, Sam is an interested party. You should always take his words with a grain of salt.  

But for me, for example, even the 100th best programmer would be perfectly enough. Right now, finding even the 100,000th best human developer on the job market is already a serious challenge.

How to Use the #1 AI Programmer for Your Business Needs?

First, let’s come down to earth a little. Having the #1 AI programmer at hand is not the same as having a magic wand. Or it is—but only if you know all the necessary "spells".

To build an application or AI agent in the exact form you need, simply describing the task in a few sentences is not enough. Whether you assign this task to the 175th best programmer in the world or the first—it won’t be enough. At least, not yet.

To get precisely what you need, additional assistance is required. You need a platform that is already pre-configured for creating applications and agents. For example, a popular platform for building applications with the help of AI is Cursor, and for creating AI agents—CrewAI.

Many people without significant technical backgrounds are already successfully using these platforms. However, it should also be noted that having technical expertise can significantly speed up the process of achieving the desired result.

In my opinion, now is the perfect time for developers with an entrepreneurial mindset to launch their own company. Already knowing the most important "spells," they can move forward at maximum speed.

Outsource other tasks as needed

Some tasks may not yet be fully automated—accounting, for example. In such cases, you can take the traditional route and contract an experienced, qualified accountant. Chances are, they are already leveraging AI to boost productivity and reduce costs. This translates to lower overhead and, ultimately, lower service fees for clients—for you.

Business plan with Deep Research

You may be an excellent specialist in your field. You may have a great business idea. But it's a general one. And to successfully launch a new business, you need a business plan. But you've never created one before. And maybe you don’t even know where to start.

AI can help with this as well. Right now.

In fact, AI chatbots began being actively used for this purpose immediately after the release of ChatGPT in November 2022. But in February 2025, you have a tool at your disposal that can generate a detailed and long-term business plan that is damn good.

On February 3, 2025, OpenAI announced the release of the Deep Research feature in ChatGPT.

This presentation showcases more everyday use cases of Deep Research, which are also quite useful. However, many ChatGPT Pro users have already tested this feature for creating business plans and marketing strategies. For developing YouTube channel strategies, social media marketing, and much more. Their feedback is mostly enthusiastic.  

So, don’t worry. At the very least, you will have a solid business plan. And you will have it very quickly. The rest is up to execution.

What type of businesses are promising?

The "cold shower" paragraph. AI is not only capable of helping launch a successful business. It will also inevitably force many companies to shut down or completely restructure, as the services they provide today will become either obsolete or unprofitable.

When starting a new business in 2025, it is crucial to ensure that you won’t have to close it in 2026, losing both your investment and time.

A student from the University of Tokyo, at that same meeting, asked the right question (which is on the minds of many right now) to the OpenAI team. Here is the response from Sam Altman and CPO (Chief Product Officer) Kevin Weil:

Key points:

• you have to find something to build that has enduring value and stickiness and something differentiated;
• you need to have some long-term competitive advantages;
• if you're building something and you're nervous about our next model release because it might be able to do the thing that you're doing - that's not promising;
• if you're building something and you can't wait for the next model release because you're just at the edge of capabilities and the next model release that'll be that much smarter is going to make your product amazing - that's promising.
• build in a way that every time the model gets smarter your product is going to get better.

I completely agree with everything said above.

But agreeing is much easier than determining whether your business idea is promising. There is no official list of niches and businesses guaranteed to succeed in the AI era, approved by the Ministry of AI. Unfortunately. Or rather, fortunately.

You will have to figure this out on your own—or at a family council with your favorite AI assistant.

I will share a few ideas that will help you better assess your situation.

How to Determine in 2025 if Your Business Idea Has the Potential for Success (up to Unicorn Status) in the AI Era?

1. You are an expert in a specific field. 
2. You are aware of an existing problem (or problems) in this field and understand the value of solving it for customers.
3. This problem was previously difficult to solve without AI. But now it can be solved. However, solving this problem requires not just AI but also your expertise, which will provide your product or service with a Unique Value Proposition (UVP).
4. Your product is too niche to interest large multinational companies like Google or Microsoft, which could easily scale it to the global market. For example, giants typically do not enter markets related to taxation, payroll, etc.
5. Demand for your product is highly likely to persist as AI evolves.
6. Barrier to copying. It will not be easy for competitors to replicate your solution, even considering AI advancements. If copying occurs, you can quickly introduce a fundamentally new UVP, preventing competitors from taking a significant share of the market.
7. Your long-term competitive advantage will be ensured by your expertise, not AI.
8. You can quickly make changes and add new features in response to market or technology shifts.
9. Your product is easily scalable and can quickly integrate new AI capabilities without a complete overhaul of its architecture and strategy, and without significant cost increases.
10. Demand for your product is large enough—ideally global (you are planning to reach unicorn status, right?).
11. Your product can easily adapt to a growing number of users and new markets.
12. You have a clear strategy and roadmap for integrating new AI technologies into your product and business processes. You have a solid understanding of AI’s development trajectory and the opportunities it will unlock in the short- and medium-term. This will allow you to adapt in advance, staying ahead of competitors.

Important! If you still think AI offers vast opportunities for launching SaaS products, think again. For instance, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella might suggest considering something else. But if all 12 points align perfectly with your business idea, it might be worth ignoring his warnings.

Also Important! Even if your idea does not fit well with everything listed above, there’s no reason for disappointment. Maybe you’ve been nurturing it for a long time, waiting for the right moment. And now, it feels like that moment has arrived. Perhaps it truly has. Every case is unique. Only you can make the decision.

Want to save this checklist, print it, and hang it on the wall in your living room so you don’t forget about your plans to launch a one-person unicorn company? Just download it. Direct link to PDF. No email or subscription required. Feel free to use, share, and adapt it to your needs.

What kind of person should you be? What skills are required?

Remember, you’re a solo entrepreneur with a focus on hiring AI agents and maybe, in rare cases, outsourcing humans to operate your company. So, your main role will be an Orchestrator. And there is a list of personal and professional skills that you will need to successfully bring your idea to life.

Professional skills

Just some key ones.

1. Deep expertise in your field.

2. Technical Literacy (AI, Software, and Web Development):

• Understanding the architecture of AI models, their capabilities, and limitations.
• Skills in working with LLM model APIs (OpenAI, Gemini, Anthropic, etc.).
• Basic programming (Python, JavaScript, SQL, API integrations).
• Ability to create prototypes quickly and iteratively.
• Web development (CMS, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, or a similar back-end language, hosting/server and domain administration).

If you are not confident in your technical skills, you can hire a Technical AI Orchestrator. I believe this role will soon replace several existing ones, such as Technical Lead or Technical Architect. You can hire a specialist either on an outsourced basis or as a full-time employee.

In the second case, you can immediately say goodbye to the prospect of putting up a sign that says "First one-person unicorn company founder."

3. Automation and Systems Thinking:

• Ability to minimize routine tasks using AI tools (automation of marketing, support, analytics).
• Building low-cost MVPs, testing hypotheses with minimal expenses.

4. Product Management/Product Thinking:

• Ability to define problems and find optimal AI-driven solutions.
• Skills in working with user feedback and quickly adapting the product.
• The ability to see how AI should enhance your product rather than replace it.

5. Marketing and Distribution:

• Deep understanding of digital marketing (SEO, content marketing, paid ads, community management, etc.).
• Knowledge of sales funnels.
• Ability to build a personal brand and attract attention to your product.
• Ability to continuously discover new, uncovered, and unique ways to reach potential customers.
• Ability to continuously discover new/revolutionized ways to showcase your product (3D, augmented reality, smart glasses, AI wearables, etc.).
• Ability to expand internationally. Native speakers for content writing are no longer as essential. AI dubbing with lip sync is already close to providing a seamless experience. However, you also need to effectively connect with multicultural audiences.

Marketing skills are critically important. They are one of the key tools that will help you establish, maintain, and expand your competitive advantage.

Of course, you can ask AI for help. It will likely provide you with excellent strategic and tactical solutions. But your competitors will have access to the same advice just as easily.

This means that the winner in this field will be the person who can come up with something (in collaboration with AI) that neither AI nor a human could achieve alone.

If you are unsure about your marketing knowledge, you might consider hiring a Marketing AI Orchestrator.

6. Financial Literacy:

• Optimizing expenses and minimizing burn rate.
• Creating a self-sustaining business without the need for external investments.
• Accounting.
• and more.

Personal Qualities

1. Extreme autonomy and self-discipline.
2. Willingness to work without a team and make decisions independently.
3. Ability to quickly switch between tasks: coding today, negotiating tomorrow, analyzing the market the day after.
4. Curiosity and adaptability. 
5. Ability to quickly master new technologies and tools.
6. Flexible thinking. If the AI industry shifts significantly, your business strategy must adapt accordingly
7. Ability to maintain hyperfocus on key metrics, avoid distractions, and have patience. Creating a one-person unicorn is not a marathon—it’s an ultramarathon. Imagine you’re Pheidippides on steroids—who survived. 
8. A tendency toward experimentation and rapid launching. "Launch fast, fail fast, iterate faster"—testing ideas and MVPs (Minimum Viable Product) in the real market without perfectionism.
9. Readiness to not fear failure but to learn from it.
10. Charisma and the ability to sell. Not just selling to customers, but also engaging your target audience worldwide, including a multinational and multicultural market.

Summary

Launching a successful one-person startup with AI in 2025 is more than realistic.

Can a one-person company achieve unicorn status in the near future? I am confident that it can.

Is it possible to succeed in the AI era simply by investing a lot of money in AI agents, leaning back in a chair, and watching the money roll in? Of course not. At least, not yet. In the future—perhaps.

Before starting to execute your business idea, it is critically important to assess how promising it is. Ensure your product won’t become obsolete with the release of a new LLM or related tools.

Bonus

If this article was useful to you, made you think, or inspired you to start planning your one-person business empire, don’t forget to save it to your bookmarks. It might come in handy later.

You can also save the most valuable information as a PDF, print it out, and hang it on your living room wall - How to determine in 2025 whether your business has the potential for success in the AI era? Checklist.