5 AI Business Ideas That Will Make You Want to Quit Your Job

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🎙️ SNAPSHOT Steph Smiths 5 AI Business Ideas

What do you get when you mix two idea machines and pour AI sauce all over it? 🔥 This episode is a startup buffet where Steph and Greg unpack not just one or two—but five juicy, AI-native business ideas you could actually build this weekend. From health dashboards to AI dating, they explore what’s disruptable and what stays timeless in this new techno-barbell world.

This episode isn’t just idea candy—it’s a masterclass in how to think like a founder in the AI era.

💡 Biz Idea Summaries

1. 🎯 The Future is Barbell-Shaped: AI or Timeless

📌 The Idea:
Steph introduces a core startup thesis: the winning ideas in today’s chaos will come from either end of the “barbell”—the extremes, not the middle. On one side, you have AI-native ideas built on top of cutting-edge tech. On the other side, you have timeless human needs that AI can’t disrupt (like storytelling, status, rituals).

🧠 Why It Matters:
Most startups are stuck in the “meh” middle—playing it safe with incremental improvements. But Steph’s advice? Go hard. Either bet big on bleeding-edge tools like custom GPTs, or build for emotional, social, or identity-driven spaces that will always be valuable (like fitness communities, personal storytelling, or collectibles).

📈 Examples:

• AI side: Tools like an automated health detective, meme-based dating apps, or GPT-powered career coaching.

• Timeless side: Products like journaling apps, open dashboards for lifestyle goals, or personal expression platforms.

💥 Metaphor time: Think of it like investing. You either go for high-risk, high-reward crypto (AI), or buy into timeless blue-chip stocks like Coca-Cola (timeless habits). The middle is just... index fund energy. Safe, but sleepy.

2. 🧾 Personal Open Pages Are the New Link-in-Bio

📌 The Idea:
Steph proposes a modular, dynamic "Open Page" builder where individuals can track any personal metric or life goal in public—like a lifestyle dashboard that doubles as a digital mirror. Think Strava meets Notion meets Quantified Self, but for anything: tennis matches, books read, sleep stats, even sobriety streaks.

📱 What It Looks Like:
A customizable web page—powered by tools like Cursor—that tracks real-life goals with animations, charts, timelines, and optional social components (think: leaderboard, peer challenges). Could also embed affiliate links, supplements, goals, or podcast appearances.

🔒 Business Model:

• Freemium SaaS: basic dashboards free, upgrades for custom modules

• Affiliate marketing: recommend gear, supplements, or books

• Social monetization: fitness coaches or creators showcase achievements for community clout

💬 Real Example:
Steph’s husband built one using Cursor to track his surfing stats. It became a mini-portfolio and social motivator all in one.

⚙️ Why Now:

• Tools like Webflow, Cursor, and Framer make this 10x easier to build

• The “public accountability” wave is rising (Strava, Goodreads, Duolingo streaks)

• Personal branding is mainstream—people want websites that show who they are, not just what they sell

3. 📩 Lead Magnets Are the New "Subscribe"

📌 The Idea:
Nobody wants to "subscribe" anymore. That CTA is as dead as dial-up. Steph and Greg suggest replacing bland newsletter popups with gated, high-value content—tweet compilations, guides, templates—that give people instant value in exchange for their email.

🛠️ How It Works:
Take your most viral tweets, essays, or insights, and bundle them into a mini-guide or workbook. Gate it with an email opt-in. The user gets instant value, you get permission to market.

⚙️ Tool Opportunity:
A no-code SaaS that turns top-performing content (Twitter, Medium, LinkedIn) into automated, branded lead magnets. Could plug into platforms like Beehive, ConvertKit, or Webflow.

💡 Example Use Cases:

• Greg turned tweets into “popular guides” on his personal site—thousands of downloads monthly

• For creators: turn their “greatest hits” into downloadable bundles

• For businesses: convert case studies into gated assets

🧲 Why It Works:
It’s reciprocity psychology 101—give something good, get something back. And in an age of content overload, value-first is the only play that earns attention and data.

4. 🧬 Health is Wealth—and a Billion-Dollar Opportunity

📌 The Idea:
Steph’s wishlist startup: a unified, AI-powered health dashboard that integrates data from every wellness device you use—Oura, CGMs (Dexcom), Strava, Function Health, Apple Health, even your meds—and gives you holistic insights, warnings, and habit nudges.

🩺 What It Solves:
Right now, your health data lives in silos. Your sleep data doesn’t talk to your glucose data, and your bloodwork doesn’t sync with your running stats. That’s dumb.

👩‍⚕️ Her Personal Use Case:
She ran a marathon but was battling nausea. She realized her medication might be a factor—but only after the fact. An AI layer could’ve spotted that correlation instantly if it had the data.

💰 Business Model:

• B2C: Subscription ($30+/mo for serious health nuts)

• B2B2C: Employers subsidize it for their team’s wellness (improves retention, lowers healthcare costs)

• API integrations: Platform fees for wearable companies

📉 Why This Hits Now:

• Everyone’s biohacking, but they need help making sense of it

• Health insurance companies are gamifying wellness (in the UK, wellness points = free Starbucks ☕)

• AI can turn raw data into personalized insights (without needing to see a doc)

📦 Bonus Layer:
Add a behavior-change layer—drink water reminders, posture nudges, bedtime alerts—customized by the user’s weak spots.

5. 💘 No More Swiping—The AI Dating App of the Future

📌 The Idea:
The next-gen dating app doesn’t care what you look like. It cares about what you laugh at, what you read, and how you think. Enter: AI-powered matchmaking based on digital behavior—Spotify, Goodreads, Strava, meme taste.

👀 The Vibe:
You don’t swipe faces. You swipe memes, movies, or ideas. The app builds a behavioral profile of you, then sets you up on a blind date—complete with location, time, and a compatibility summary.

🧠 How AI Plays In:

• Scrapes your digital activity to understand personality

• Finds aligned partners based on shared quirks and patterns

• Suggests date prompts based on common interests

📈 Why It Matters:

• Gen Z is exhausted from dating fatigue + superficial apps

• "Arranged marriages by AI" actually outperform swiping, in early tests

• AI is now capable of modeling nuanced personality traits via content preferences

🧲 Monetization Models:

• Premium matches / “compatibility score” breakdowns

• Local date concierge service (a la Uber for meetups)

• Event add-ons / group date mixers powered by data

🌐 Future Add-on:
Integrate with your Open Page (👆 #2 above) to use lifestyle tracking data in matchmaking. Imagine: “Runs 3x a week, sleeps 8 hours, also loves sci-fi.”

If you want full plan on how to start the above just respond with “YES PLEASE”

🧵 WRAPPING IT UP: The Barbell Blueprint for Builders

Greg and Steph's AI startup brainstorm isn’t just idea candy—it’s a lens on the future of internet business. If you want to build in today’s climate, their advice is clear:

👉 Go all-in on AI-native tools that automate, analyze, and personalize
👉 Or double down on timeless human experiences like health, dating, and self-expression
👉 But whatever you do—don’t sit in the middle. It’s boring there, and no one pays for boring

🛠️ TOOLS, WEBSITES, RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Cursor – No-code/low-code site builder Steph’s husband used to make an animated surfing tracker. Perfect for crafting personalized "open pages."

• Namecheap – Greg and Steph’s go-to for snagging domains (RIP to openpages.com though).

• Strava – Fitness tracking with weak embeddables. Ripe for disruption or integration.

• Dexcom, Abbott, Oura Ring, Eight Sleep – Health data tools mentioned as inputs for a unified health dashboard.

• Function Health – Blood testing startup referenced for data integration.

💼 BUSINESS IDEAS & OPPORTUNITIES

1. Open Pages Creator – Build a modular, customizable dashboard anyone can use to track anything—from reps to routines to relationships. Charge per module like Shopify plugins.

2. Lead Magnet Builder for Creators – Squarespace for gated resources. Helps creators auto-generate high-conversion landing pages based on their top content.

3. Integrated Health Dashboard – Centralize CGMs, blood tests, workouts, and meds with an AI assistant. Monetize via subscriptions or employer health perks.

4. Custom GPT Directories – Replace static info pages with AI chat layers. Think: Nomad List, but smarter and interactive. Use as lead gen.

5. AI-Powered Dating App – No swipes. Match via humor, memes, or health habits. Uses real-world data (Goodreads, Spotify) for blind date matchmaking.

🧠 LIFE HACKS

• Don’t just track—display your goals. Steph’s surfing page? Lowkey accountability hack.

• Hydration = business idea? Steph’s tweet about not drinking water sparked 400+ replies of solutions.

• Your personal website should sell not just tell. Add a funnel, not just fluff.

💰 FASTEST MONEY-MAKING IDEAS

• Lead Magnet Builder – Easy MVP with high demand from creators drowning in “link-in-bio” fatigue. Email = money.

• Open Pages SaaS Influencer Online Profiles/Bios– Monetizable via freemium + add-ons (fitness tracking, affiliate links, dashboards).

• Custom GPTs as Lead Gen – Build niche GPTs (law, finance, parenting), then upsell real services behind them.

📊 STATS & TRENDS WORTH NOTING

• People spend hundreds on health wearables (Eight Sleep, Oura), yet still lack centralized insight. That’s a gap worth $30+/month to many.

• Newsletter fatigue is real. “Subscribe” CTAs don’t cut it—free value-first offers (aka lead magnets) are converting better.

• OpenPages.me is still available... 👀 (at least at time of recording).

🔑 ACTIONABLE STRATEGIES

Step-by-Step: Launching an Open Page SaaS

1. Start with a vertical: fitness, sobriety, surfing, etc.

2. Use Cursor or Webflow to build a dynamic, beautiful page builder.

3. Offer templates + modular add-ons (e.g. Strava embed, supplement tracker).

4. Monetize with a freemium model + upsell for branding, analytics, integrations.

5. Market through niche communities (Reddit, Twitter, Instagram micro-influencers).

📚 BOOKS MENTIONED

• None directly, but Steph referenced David Perell and his “Write of Passage” cohort, which is essentially a masterclass in thought leadership.

🚀 GROWTH HACKS & CHEAT CODES

• Create tweet-to-guide pipelines: repurpose viral tweets into gated guides = high-converting lead magnets.

• Use health data APIs (Strava, Dexcom, Oura) as a free backend. Don’t reinvent—integrate.

• Flip “boring” GPTs into money machines by layering lead-gen funnels behind them.

📝 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This episode is a goldmine of AI-native startup ideas grounded in real-world behaviors—tracking, optimizing, connecting, and monetizing how we live and work. Steph and Greg’s conversation makes you rethink everything from personal websites to dating apps. Whether you’re chasing passive income or the next big thing in health tech, the frameworks here are fresh, feasible, and future-proof. TL;DR? If you’re not building, you’re missing the best sandbox the internet’s had in years. 👷‍♂️👩‍💻

💬 COMMON THEME

🔁 Barbell thinking: Go all-in on either futuristic AI-first tools or timeless human behaviors. Avoid the mushy middle. Build for what’s here (AI) or what never left (connection, identity, health).

Watch the full episode we based our notes off of:

Certainly! Here's an expanded, data-backed analysis of the AI startup ideas discussed by Greg Isenberg and Steph Smith, structured using the following framework:

🧭 Our Analysis:

External Factors

📉 Economic Climate & Funding Landscape

• Venture Capital Trends: Despite a general decline in venture funding for consumer startups—from 25% a decade ago to just 5% last year—there's a renewed interest in consumer-focused ventures, especially those leveraging AI advancements.

🏛️ Regulatory Environment

• European Union's AI Act: The EU has implemented the Artificial Intelligence Act, classifying AI applications by risk levels and imposing obligations accordingly. This regulation affects AI startups aiming to operate within or expand to the EU market. U.S. State-Level Regulations: In the absence of federal AI-specific legislation, U.S. states like California, Colorado, and Utah have enacted their own AI laws. Other states are utilizing existing consumer protection and anti-discrimination laws to regulate AI applications, especially in sensitive sectors like healthcare and hiring.

🌍 Geopolitical Dynamics

• Open-Source AI Advocacy: Industry leaders, including Marc Andreessen, emphasize the need for the U.S. to lead in open-source AI to maintain technological sovereignty and prevent global reliance on AI software developed by geopolitical competitors.

📊 Business Metrics

• Cohere's Financial Growth: The Canadian AI startup Cohere reported an annualized revenue run rate of $22 million as of March 2024. By July 2024, the company secured $500 million in funding, reaching a valuation of $5.5 billion. Additionally, in December 2024, Cohere received $240 million in public funding from the Canadian government to support the construction of a domestic AI data center.

📈 Significant Trends

🎯 Hyper-Personalization

• Consumer Expectations: Approximately two-thirds of Gen Z and Millennial shoppers desire hyper-personalized content and product recommendations delivered through generative AI. This trend underscores the importance of AI-driven personalization in consumer-facing applications.

🛍️ AI in E-Commerce

• Conversational Commerce: AI is transforming digital commerce into conversational commerce, enabling more direct and personalized interactions between brands and consumers. This evolution is particularly evident in direct-to-consumer platforms and social commerce ecosystems.

🌱 Sustainability Integration

• AI as a Sustainability Enabler: Businesses are leveraging AI to optimize resources, reduce waste, and implement eco-friendly practices. This trend is gaining traction as companies aim to meet environmental goals and consumer demand for sustainable products.

🚀 Business Initiatives

🧰 Modular SaaS Platforms

• Open Pages Creator: Developing customizable dashboards for individuals to track various personal metrics, from fitness to sobriety, aligns with the trend of self-quantification and personalized self-improvement tools.

📧 Lead Magnet Tools

• Creator-Focused Solutions: Building tools that help content creators convert their audience through gated resources and personalized landing pages addresses the need for effective audience monetization strategies.

🧬 Health Data Integration

• Unified Health Dashboards: Creating platforms that consolidate data from various health devices and applications can provide users with comprehensive insights into their well-being, catering to the growing health-conscious consumer base.

💘 AI-Powered Dating Platforms

• Interest-Based Matching: Developing dating applications that utilize AI to match individuals based on shared interests, behaviors, and preferences offers an alternative to traditional appearance-based matching systems.

🔮 Forward-Looking Statements

• AI Investment Growth: A significant majority (87%) of European business leaders plan to increase investment in AI to prepare for a rapidly evolving landscape, with generative AI expected to be adopted at scale by 58% of organizations in 2025. (

• Regulatory Developments: The implementation of the EU's AI Act and various U.S. state-level regulations indicate a trend toward more structured and comprehensive AI governance, which will influence how AI startups develop and deploy their technologies.