For New Disruptors

Disruption Now® is a tech-empowered platform that helps elevate organizations in entrepreneurship, social impact, and creativity. Through training, product development, podcasts, events, and digital media storytelling, we make emerging technology human-centric and accessible to everyone. This week I’ve been reflecting on how a unique AI window has opened, letting everyday builders turn niche ideas into real revenue. The rules of entrepreneurship are changing — here are 7 principles to help you seize the moment.

This is a defining moment for you

This moment represents a strategic shift in software development. For decades, creating software required large teams, significant funding, and deep technical expertise. This model made it economically unviable to serve small, specialized markets. Today, AI tools have democratized development, allowing a solo entrepreneur to build for a niche community. It is now possible to build custom software that addresses the specific, unmet needs of previously unserviceable "micro-niches." If you've always wanted to build a custom sales technique tailored to your unique method, a fantasy football app with features you've never been able to find, or special event planning software for a specific community, you can do that now.

As an individual aware of these capabilities, you are positioned as an early disruptor. You have the chance to identify a niche you know well, build a tailored solution, and establish a market presence before this advantage becomes commonplace and the market landscape matures.

The urgency of this moment cannot be overstated; this window will not remain open indefinitely. Capitalizing on it requires a new way of thinking and a strategic framework that prioritizes market access over product obsession. Follow these principles to win as an AI startup in 2026. 

Principle 1: Lead With Community First Distribution

The old playbook: build first, market later. The new reality: distribution comes before product.

Your edge is community, note code, it’s knowing where your first 100 users are and how to reach them authentically. This is the Community First Distribution Approach.

Mini Action Steps:

• Map 2–3 online spaces where your target audience “hangs out” (Reddit, Discord, Slack groups, LinkedIn niches).

• Post, comment, and contribute for 2–3 weeks before you ever pitch anything. Build trust first.

• Document the top 3 frustrations or “pain posts” you see repeatedly in that community. Those are product ideas.

Principle 2: Build Where You Belong

Authenticity is your moat. Start with a niche where you already have credibility as a practitioner, hobbyist, or insider.

Your insider knowledge reveals pain points outsiders can’t see. It also shields you from being perceived as an opportunist. In a world full of “AI scams,” community trust is priceless.

Example: Predis.ai started by solving social media headaches for creators and small businesses. Within six months of relaunch, it earned $200,000 in revenue and later scaled to $550,000/year. The secret? They built where they already belonged.

Mini Action Steps:

• Ask yourself: What niche am I already a trusted member of?

• List your unique “insider advantages” (language, pain points, distribution channels).

• Validate your role: can you show up as one of them, not an outsider selling something?

Principle 3: Solve Durable Problems

AI is evolving so rapidly that entire product categories risk being rendered obsolete by the next release. The key is to pick problems that outlast AI improvements.

Durable problems often fall into three categories:

1. Coordination Pain Points – Connecting multiple tools or workflows.

2. Physical-Digital Bridges – Anything involving real-world logistics or integration.

3. Stable Workflow Challenges – Complex processes embedded in industries (e.g., product requirement docs in tech).

Example: Elicit, an AI tool for researchers, didn’t try to outdo ChatGPT. Instead, it focused on summarizing academic papers, a stubborn problem that persists even as models get smarter. (SigmaSchool, 2024)

Mini Action Steps:

• Test your product idea with this filter: Would this still be a pain point if AI doubled in intelligence tomorrow?

• If no, pivot. If yes, proceed.

• Interview 5 people in your niche to confirm the problem is real and persistent.

Principle 4: Master the Discipline of Less

In the past, high development costs forced entrepreneurs to ruthlessly scope down their products. Today, with cheap and easy AI-powered tools, the temptation is to endlessly "add and add." I must confess this is where it’s even harder for me with my superpower of ADHD, but I digress. With AI, we have intelligent abundance; you can do anything, but you can’t do everything. You can multitask, but you can’t multi-focus. The discipline to stop building and focus on a core Minimum Remarkable Product (MRD) has shifted from an external economic constraint to a critical internal skill. You must be the one to say "no" and determine the absolute minimum set of features required to solve one core problem for your niche.

Mini Action Steps:

• Write down every feature you imagine. Cross off all but the one that solves the core pain point.

• Commit to a launch deadline no more than 6 weeks.

• When tempted to add a feature, ask: Will this meaningfully change adoption in the first 100 users? If not, cut it.

Principle 5: Tie Features to Value

In micro-niches, users have no loyalty. They won’t tolerate bloat, and they won’t pay for fluff.

Your job is to understand exactly what people will pay for and price it fairly. Transparency builds trust, and trust fuels retention.

Mini Action Steps:

• Interview your community: What would you actually pay for this?

• Draft a pricing model that feels like a fair exchange of value.

• Launch with a paid version first. Free users don’t validate value.

Principle 6: Treat AI as a Dance Partner

Every organization has invisible channels for information and decision-making. They’re not on the org chart, but everyone knows them. AI doesn’t create new channels; it accelerates the ones you already have.

If your organization’s communication is broken, AI makes it break faster. If trust and flow are healthy, AI strengthens them. That means the first strategic question isn’t “What AI should we implement?” It’s “Are our channels ready to handle more speed, more volume, more flow?” If the answer is no, fix the channels before you pour AI into them.

My Disruptive Take

The opportunity before you is both profound and fleeting. The unique "micro-niche window" is open now, but it will not last forever as technology matures and market awareness catches up. Success in this new era hinges on a new set of entrepreneurial skills.

The opportunity is clear, the tools are accessible, and the strategy is laid out. 

The real winners will be those who:

• Start with distribution and community, not product.

• Apply ruthless discipline to build less, but better.

• See AI not as a replacement, but as an amplifier of human judgment.

Now, I'm not going to pretend that your next weekend project is going to earn you a billion dollars, but I think it's fair that a well-executed plan can realistically generate revenue in the hundreds and thousands of dollars a month.

Want to learn how to go from zero to one as a small business? We are launching our accelerator for small businesses, founders, and nonprofits to launch or scale their concepts, community, or product. We’re launching an accelerator for small businesses, founders, and nonprofits to go from zero to one. If you’re a W-2 employee in Ohio, you may even qualify for free. Sign up here.

Sources

1. Solo Founder Builds $1.7M AI SaaS with No Code (Sept 2024)

2. Elicit: AI for Researchers Case Study (2024)

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Keep Disrupting, My Friends.

Rob Richardson – Founder, Disruption Now® & Chief Curator of MidwestCon