A recent Forbes article stated that, on average, it takes six months to hire someone for a startup.

Imagine the plight when you are at an early stage with a lack of funds, and marketing is the last vertical you want to spend on. Building your brand becomes a challenge, and then you end up where it's even harder to understand why marketing.

Surprisingly, startup owners can spend around 40% of their working hours on tasks that do not generate income; sadly, marketing has become that domain for most.

Working in the startup and venture Capital ecosystem for quite some time, I have realized that we all need to push ourselves to the power of marketing at the start. Startup founders lack understanding of how to use data and stories to market and hiring for marketing, be it teams or agencies, comes at a cost. This lack of understanding for founders makes it even worse.

Can a Virtual CMO built on AI solve the marketing needs of small and medium businesses at early stages?

What are we building, and how ample is the opportunity?

The central idea is to allow SMEs to market digitally on various channels without hiring a marketing team. The CMO regularly asks founders questions and pictures and creates ready-to-post content on social media such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. We plan to integrate it with a CRM tool for users in the future so they can run email campaigns as well. 

Based on 100 dedicated interviews and our team's own experience in the digital marketing industry working with clients, we learned that founders and small business owners often already have a lot of marketable data that can be strategically placed to generate sales inflow but do not have time, money, or the 'language of the customers' for their offerings. Many small businesses, as a result, do not participate in digital marketing. Our virtual CMO solves this with a simple subscription system. 

But is it big enough to be a problem to solve or a billion-dollar opportunity? That is a question we should ask ourselves.

Entrepreneur India recently said new technology will be implemented to solve problems across various startup industries. To add to our optimistic self, Startupbasics' lines echo, "Recognize that personalized marketing will become important to the success of your startup."

But what do numbers say?

Approximately 150 million startups exist worldwide, with 50 million new startups launching annually. This means that about 137,000 new startups emerge every day. Not all of these have big budgets to hire teams and agencies, but they surely do not want to go into increased CAC with ads, have no sense of what is happening, and have lost track of impact.

Interestingly, Early-stage startups typically have a marketing budget of around 10% of their annual revenue or roughly $5,000 to $10,000 monthly. 

While AI is nascent in India and parts of the world, a lack of understanding of marketing adds to it. This is still a booming sector to come, and we are on a mission to create a global solution for marketing.

The size of artificial intelligence (AI) in the marketing market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years due to the increasing demand for personalized customer experiences and digital assistance:

• 2022: The AI in marketing market was valued at USD 12.5 billion.
• 2023: The AI in marketing market was valued at USD 15.76 billion.
• 2024: The AI in marketing market is projected to grow to USD 19.3 billion.
• 2030: The AI in marketing market is projected to grow to USD 72.1 billion.
• 2032: The AI in marketing market is projected to grow to USD 79.2 billion

But before concluding where we are heading, let me take you to the analysis of 10 companies Sam Altman invested in.

Analysis of 10 companies Sam Altman invested in.

GALY

GALY grows lab-made cotton, revolutionizing textile production by reducing water, land, and pesticide use. What makes them better than their competitors is that their focus on sustainability addresses environmental and resource limitations in the textile industry.

Strength: They are Eco-friendly and reduce environmental impact.

Weakness: Scaling lab-grown cotton commercially can be difficult due to the complexity of lab processes.

Their website easily identifies the focus on sustainability, impact, and future textile production. It's visually appealing but could improve transparency about their scalability.

I realized Sam Altman invested in tech solving global problems. The potential to disrupt the resource-heavy cotton industry aligns with Altman's focus.

By 2023, GALY successfully launched its first commercial-scale facility, increasing production capacity by 150%. The company has secured partnerships with several major textile companies. While they raised an additional $50 million in Series B funding to further expand manufacturing capabilities and R&D and reach new markets, GALY faced increasing competition from other sustainable textile startups and had regular hurdles.

Slope

Slope provides instant B2B payment and financing solutions, streamlining business transactions. What makes them better than their competitors is that their real-time financial operations eliminate delays typical in traditional monetary systems.

Strengths: Seamless transactions for businesses, making finance operations smoother.

Weakness: A highly competitive fintech space with similar services might present challenges for user acquisition.

Their website has a Modern design and intuitive navigation. However, its complex financial tools could be daunting for less tech-savvy users.

I realized Slope tackles inefficiencies in traditional payment systems, aligning with Altman’s focus on fintech innovations that disrupt legacy processes.

Slope has become a notable player in fintech, particularly in the B2B payments sector. It has increased its client base by 300% while ensuring compliance with international financial regulations, which requires significant resources.

ValueBase

ValueBase uses AI to provide accurate, data-driven valuations for companies, saving time and reducing costs. What makes is better than competitos is that ValueBase uses AI to generate data-driven company valuations quickly and accurately. This cuts down the time and cost needed in traditional valuation processes.

Strength : Speed and precision in valuations, empowering investors.

Weakness : Over-reliance on data; niche companies may not benefit as much from automated systems.

The website is clean and has a professional layout targeting investors and financial experts. However, it could benefit from clearer case studies to demonstrate practical applications.

I realized that automating complex valuation processes aligns with Altman’s interest in using AI to streamline business tasks.

ValueBase has established itself as a leading AI-driven valuation platform for businesses. Their improved valuation models led to a 25% increase in prediction accuracy compared to traditional methods but they had key issues and challenges on data privacy.

APEX

APEX offers decentralized financial tools focusing on blockchain technology to enhance privacy and security. It is better than its competitors because APEX creates decentralized financial tools, offering enhanced privacy and security for its users compared to centralized platforms. It emphasizes cutting-edge blockchain technology.

Strength: Pioneers blockchain-based privacy solutions for finance.

Weakness: Complex user interfaces make adoption by non-technical users harder.

The website's design is blockchain-forward. It conveys the vision well but is heavy on technical jargon, potentially alienating a broader audience.

I realised Altman’s belief in decentralized tech and blockchain’s potential for disrupting traditional finance systems makes APEX a strategic fit.

APEX has advanced its decentralized financial tools, focusing on blockchain-based privacy and security solutions. It successfully launched its first decentralized exchange, gaining a user base of over 100,000 active traders within six months, but later fell for Regulatory Scrutiny.

Airchat

Airchat combines voice AI and chat technologies to create real-time, natural conversation tools for users. What makes them better than competitors is that Airchat merges voice AI and chat technology to create natural, real-time conversation experiences, surpassing conventional text-based chat tools.

Strengths: Highly interactive and personalized communication experiences.

Weakness: It faces intense competition from other AI-driven communication platforms.

The website has a friendly and inviting design, but it may lack in-depth demonstrations or live demos, which could better showcase its AI capabilities.

With his focus on AI, I realized that Altman likely sees the potential in Airchat's combination of voice and AI for transforming communication experiences.

Airchat has evolved its voice AI and chat technology to create sophisticated conversational agents. It has secured contracts with major enterprises in sectors like retail, healthcare, and finance while Competing with tech giants like Google and Amazon, which offer similar AI-driven communication tools.

Exowatt

Exowatt focuses on renewable energy storage solutions, advancing efficient power storage for the green energy sector.Exowatt advances renewable energy storage solutions, solving major grid and energy problems, making them better than competitors. Its approach to efficient power storage is critical for green energy scalability.

Strength: Supports the green energy transition with improved storage tech.

Weakness: Regulatory and infrastructure challenges in the energy sector might delay adoption.

The website is a technical, informative design aimed at industry professionals. However, it's not user-friendly for laypeople who want to understand renewable energy innovations.

I realised clean energy and climate change solutions are key areas for Altman, making Exowatt a natural choice for returning to the energy space.

Exowatt has made significant progress in renewable energy storage solutions. Despite global shortages, it has expanded in Europe and Asia while Managing the supply chain for critical materials used in battery production.

Meter

Meter provides on-demand internet infrastructure for businesses needing fast, flexible internet setups. It is better than competitors because Meter offers on-demand internet infrastructure, cutting the setup time for companies that need fast internet services and making it ideal for startups and remote workers.

Strength : Provides flexible, fast-deploying internet solutions for growing companies.

Weakness: Network reliability may be a concern in certain regions or scaling scenarios.

The website is simple and clean, easy for users to understand the service. It could benefit from more case studies or testimonials.

I realised Meter's potential to streamline internet infrastructure aligns with Altman's belief in tech-driven solutions that remove traditional barriers for companies.

Meter has solidified its position as a key provider of on-demand internet infrastructure and established an international presence while facing competition from traditional ISPs and emerging tech-driven internet providers.

Shelpful

Shelpf uses AI to create personalized health and wellness recommendations, tailoring solutions to individual needs. What makes them better is that Shelpf develops personalized health and wellness recommendations using AI, offering tailored solutions that cater to individual health needs better than generic apps.

Strength: Deeply personalized, making wellness recommendations more effective.

Weakness: Questions around the accuracy of AI health recommendations remain challenging, especially for complex medical needs.

The website is user-friendly and health-focused but lacks detailed scientific backing for their AI's decision-making process, which could raise concerns for skeptics.

I realised Altman values AI-driven personalized services, and Shelpf’s health focus addresses a growing consumer need for individualized wellness solutions.

Shelpf has advanced its AI-driven personalized health and wellness platform. They are rapidly scaling in user growth while Continuously improving the accuracy of health recommendations to avoid potential misinformation and ensure user safety.

OpenAI

OpenAI leads in artificial intelligence, particularly in natural language processing and generative models like GPT-4. What makes them better is that OpenAI leads the field in artificial intelligence, with groundbreaking advancements in natural language processing and generative models, which far surpass the capabilities of traditional machine learning applications.

Strength : Industry leader in AI development, influencing everything from chatbots to creative AI.

Weakness : Ethical concerns surrounding the societal impact and potential misuse of AI technologies.

The Website is Sleek, professional, emphasizing research and open collaboration. It strikes a good balance between technical depth and accessibility for general users.

I realised Altman is a co-founder of OpenAI and is deeply invested in the future of AI. OpenAI’s advancements align with his vision of AI transforming multiple sectors.

OpenAI continues to lead the AI industry with groundbreaking advancements in natural language processing and generative models.Integrated its AI models into various applications, including Microsoft’s suite of products, enhancing productivity tools with AI capabilities but Ongoing debates about AI’s societal impact, job displacement, and potential misuse of technology.

Replit

Replit offers a cloud-based platform for coding, making development easy and accessible without the need for complex setups. What makes it better is that Replit is a cloud-based platform for coding that offers allaborative environment to code and deploy apps. It removes traditional barriers, such as complex software setups, allowing beginners and experts to work together.

Strength: Streamlines the coding process, making it highly accessible.

Weakness: Large-scale, complex projects might better suit other, more robust development environments.

The website has a developer-centric design and immediate access to coding environments. However, it's less inviting to users unfamiliar with coding.

I realised Replit fits Altman’s vision of democratizing technology by making programming more accessible to people at all skill levels, especially for education and small startups.

Replit has expanded its cloud-based coding platform, supporting over 50 programming languages. Launched features like real-time collaborative coding, integrated version control, and AI-powered code suggestions, but on the other hand, Scalability for Enterprises is becoming a challenge.

Is this the biggest problem in the world that needs to be solved? Yet to think of it, but is it the biggest challenge I wish to solve and can? A big yes.