1. The nascent AI startup world is under the illusion that there is an inexhaustible supply of subscription payers who will all pay $5 - $20 a month for what are effectively low barrier AI features. Note, not full applications, just features.
2. Most of these features are 'interesting' at best. Almost none of them are compelling enough to attract subscribers faced with multiple choices for their money.
3. Top of the tree for subs are mission critical AI applications which are mandatory for work. Design tools like Adobe Firefly spring to mind as an example. Bottom of the tree are 'nice to have' feature utilities, which don't really add huge amounts of value to daily lives. Examples could be browser assistants, or AI search tools, or AI holiday finders etc etc et.
4. 99% of these startups will fail.
5. The only realistic and faint possibility for success in this brutal current climate is to release either a) on a credit per use basis (probably with a freemium up front for testing or b) to release on a freemium to gain traction with premium tiers once the application value has been proven in action.
This is all, or course, in my limited expertise opinion.
- i'd argue that a tool like this could become indispensable by enhancing the productivity of internet users who spend significant amounts of time completing online tasks (remote workers), and browsing for information, such as researchers, journalists, or academics
- the tool has the potential to act as a single point of interaction that enhances other online tools and services
- and it's pretty cool and convenient having your own "Jarvis" on the browser
- Regarding monetization, adopting a hybrid model could indeed be beneficial. Starting with a freemium model to build user trust and demonstrate value, followed by premium features for power users, could be a strategic approach
I'll look into giving out free licenses in my next post
Thanks. I admire anyone who starts up something in this business climate. :)
Your comments make sense. :) I think you're going to be fighting against free or almost free alternatives such as OpenAI models API pennies per search etc etc. Also there are a number of browser plugins like Kagi.com (freemium) which already offer some AI functionality alongside other features.
The only way you'll win is to convince prospective buyers with compelling use cases, and you'll only find that through users who give feedback. Another reason for some sort of trial period or freemium option?
