As a founder, how often are you relying on generic AI tools to help with business decisions?
Little bit of context about me:
- Working on a SaaS startup with a team of 5
- Founded 3 companies prior with decent outcomes
- Most recently, I helped in building a recently acquired $150Mn startup from scratch
For the last few months, I have been working on my startup and have subconsciously started relying a lot more on generic AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude. For the initial, basic research it works fine, but off-late, I have been validating almost every decision (Eg. Pricing, Unique insights, can't mention others) with them and it has been largely a hit-or-miss experience. More misses than hits lately.
With the kind of non-business-oriented, generic, and repetitive response I kept getting, I snapped out of it for now. But it left me wondering a couple of thoughts:
- Are other founders also relying so heavily on these tools?
- If yes, are you getting tangible value out of it?
- What are the issues you have noticed with these tools?
- For me, no context is the biggest one, repetitive generic answers and people-pleasing behavior are the others. It should be more like a partner.
- If we really have to use AI to help with Decision-making/Strategic insights, shouldn't there be a specialized assistant or copilot for this purpose?
I believe we're at an interesting inflection point in how founders build companies. The tools are powerful, but we need to be thoughtful about where and how we apply them.
What according to you does the future of startup building look like from a Founder's lens?
I will go first.
I think specialized tools partner of some sort for founders/startup building will eventually be built and it help reach critical decisions faster. It may or may not be the correct decision but it will move the needle in A direction quicker. Data-driven rapid decision partner?