AI Sparks the 'One-Person Company' Revolution! Can You Really Earn Millions Without Hiring Employees?

Generative AI is rewriting the rules of entrepreneurship. In the past, scaling a company typically required a full team of engineers, customer support, marketing, and administrative staff. Today, AI is gradually taking over these roles, allowing more and more entrepreneurs to run companies solo—even generating millions of dollars in revenue.

Ben Broca, who founded an AI tools company at the end of last year, is a prime example. His company has accumulated around 10,000 paying users in just a few months, with projected revenue reaching $10 million this year—yet he has not hired a single employee.

Broca says most daily operations are handled by AI, including replying to emails, writing and debugging code, managing customer support, onboarding new clients, and even processing refunds. This allows him to manage the entire company alone and make decisions quickly.

Stripe Data Reveals Trend: Solo Operators on the Rise

Payment platform Stripe analyzed its data and found that the number of solo operators earning over $1 million annually doubled between 2023 and 2025. Those earning over $10 million annually nearly tripled.

Ernie Tedeschi, Stripe’s chief economist, noted that in the past, many lacked the experience, connections, or business knowledge to turn ideas into ventures. Now, AI is increasingly acting as an 'in-built business partner,' significantly lowering the barriers to entrepreneurship.

Wall Street Journal original: The Rise of Million-Dollar Companies With Just One Employee

Most Evident in Tech: Startups Increase, Hiring Intentions Decline

The impact of AI is especially visible in the tech industry.

The Bank of America Institute analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and found that new business applications in the information sector increased by nearly 45% over the past year—the highest growth rate among all industries.

However, during the same period, the proportion of entrepreneurs in the information sector planning to hire employees declined the most across all industries.

While official statistics don’t directly categorize 'one-person companies,' economists believe the rise in new startups alongside declining hiring intentions suggests AI is enabling more entrepreneurs to operate independently rather than build traditional organizational structures.

Julian Weisser, head of a San Francisco-based accelerator focused on solo founders, says AI has reduced startup costs to their lowest level in history. The accelerator’s latest cohort offered only 10 spots but received over 4,500 applications—nearly five times more than when it launched last year.

AI Isn’t Free: Computing Costs Remain a Burden

However, solo entrepreneurship isn’t without cost. Broca admitted that in the early days, his company heavily relied on Anthropic’s Claude model to handle customer requests. Since AI services charge based on usage, some customers actually caused the company to lose money. He later switched to open-source Chinese large language models to reduce computing costs.

He raised $30 million in funding but saved millions in personnel costs by avoiding building an engineering team.

Everyone Can Start a Business—And So Can Everyone Else

Lowering barriers with AI also means competitors can emerge more easily. Troy Johnston, who runs a credit card deals management app in Florida, also has no employees. His company currently earns about $3,000 per month and is growing steadily.

However, he admits his biggest concern isn’t technical—it’s that anyone can use AI to quickly build similar products, making business models easier to replicate.

What’s more concerning to the market is whether this 'one-person company' wave will reshape the overall job market. Americans increasingly worry about AI replacing jobs, and academics are still assessing its long-term impact.

A study co-authored by Harvard Business School associate professor Rembrand Koning, analyzing around 50,000 startups, found that AI-centric startups have 25% fewer employees on average than others.

Koning notes that if every company hires fewer people while the number of startups increases, it remains unclear whether overall employment will decline. He also believes that slowed corporate hiring and prolonged unemployment for some job seekers are pushing more people toward entrepreneurship.

AI Accelerates Entrepreneurship—But Success Still Requires Networks and Experience

Of course, not all AI startups succeed. Samir Ahmad, who served as a Verizon executive for nearly 20 years, left two years ago to launch a personal consulting firm. He used AI to design business models and marketing strategies, treating it as his 'chief of staff,' but shut down operations after a few months and has since returned to corporate employment.

In contrast, tech executive Claire Vo successfully leveraged AI for entrepreneurship. At the end of 2023, she used ChatGPT to write code and developed a product design management app. With an initial monthly fee of just $1, it attracted thousands of downloads within weeks.

Today, the company has around 100,000 users, and profits this year are expected to exceed seven figures in dollars. After running solo for nine months, she hired her first engineer. AI still handles most of the company’s marketing, sales, and customer support.

However, Vo emphasizes that while AI shortens the startup process, what truly drives growth is years of accumulated industry experience, networks, and market trust. 'Many overestimate how easy AI makes things and underestimate the capabilities I’ve built over years,' she said.

This article was specially written for Feng Media by contributor Jin Niu Bang Bang Mang. Subscribe to Feng Media’s Wall Street Journal VVIP membership for exclusive access to the lowest global price for full bilingual (English, Japanese, Chinese) WSJ content and stay ahead on global politics and economics.

Editor: Lin Yan-Cheng