"$10.3 Million in Revenue Without Hiring a Single Employee"... How AI Is Transforming Startups, and Opening the Era of the U.S. 'One-Person Unicorn'

[Financial News] As artificial intelligence (AI) takes over tasks ranging from writing emails and coding to customer service and marketing, the number of 'one-person businesses' run without a single employee is rising rapidly. With some founders now operating companies that generate hundreds of millions of won in annual revenue entirely on their own, analysts say AI could reshape not only startups but also the labor market.
On the 30th of last month local time, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing analysis from payment company Stripe, reported that the number of solo operators earning more than $1 million in annual revenue rose twofold between 2023 and 2025. Over the same period, the number of one-person businesses with annual revenue above $10 million nearly tripled.
WSJ highlighted Ban Broka, an entrepreneur in California, as a representative example. After launching an AI service for founders last December, he secured 10,000 paying customers in just a few months. His projected revenue this year is $10 million, but the company has only one employee: Broka himself.
AI handles most of the work, including email replies, coding, bug fixes, customer inquiries, onboarding new subscribers, and processing refunds. Broka said, "When you have a team, compromise is necessary, but when you're alone, you can make the decisions you want at the pace you want."

Experts say AI is effectively serving as a business partner, significantly lowering the barriers to starting a company.
Ernie Tedeschi, chief economist at Stripe, explained, "In the past, it was difficult to turn an idea into reality without a network or business experience, but now AI functions like a built-in cofounder."
In practice, AI-driven startups are especially prominent in the information technology sector.

This was based on findings by Taylor Bolli, an economist at the Bank of America Institute, who analyzed U.S. Census Bureau data.
He emphasized, "Census Bureau data do not track one-person businesses directly, but new business applications in the information industry rose about 45% over the past year, the highest increase among all sectors." He added, "By contrast, the share of new companies saying they would hire employees fell by the largest margin."
Julian Weiser, who runs an accelerator in San Francisco that supports AI-based solo founders, said, "The barrier to starting a business has never been lower." In the accelerator's latest recruitment round, 4,500 people applied for 10 spots, about five times more than last year.

AI does not solve every problem. In some cases, it can cost more than hiring employees.
Broka said he used Anthropic's AI model Claude for customer service, but usage-based billing led to substantial costs and even losses on some customers. He eventually switched to a free open-source AI model from China to cut expenses.
Another concern is that as AI makes it easier to launch a business, it also makes it easier for competitors to copy services.
Troy Johnston, who runs a solo AI-powered credit card benefits management service in Florida, said, "Now everyone has the same weapon in hand." He added, "AI is a tremendous opportunity, but it is also a double-edged sword."

Attention is also turning to how the spread of AI-based one-person businesses will affect the labor market.
A research team led by Professor Rembrandt Koning at Harvard Business School found, after analyzing 50,000 startups, that AI-focused startups employed 25% fewer workers on average than conventional startups.
Professor Koning said, "If the number of companies keeps rising while hiring at each company declines, we need to pay close attention to what that means for overall employment."
Still, some say AI alone does not guarantee success.
Claire Bo, a former tech worker in San Francisco, built an app herself using generative AI and recorded thousands of downloads within weeks of launch. The app now has more than 100,000 users, and she expects revenue in the millions of dollars this year.
She said AI handles marketing, sales, and customer support, but "people emphasize how easy AI makes things and underestimate the value of the career and network I built before that."
[email protected] Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter