✨ AI-Powered SaaS: AI Startup Studios, Validating Demand, Predictable Revenue

In this Trends.vc Report, we talk about embedded AI, dogfooding, validating demand, getting predictable revenue and more.

🔍 Problem

We write first drafts, draw wireframes, edit videos and more.

This is slow and repetitive.

💡 Solution

AI-powered SaaS helps you get results faster.

Jenni AI writes research papers
Framer builds websites from text
OpusClip turns long videos into short clips

🏁 Players

AI-Powered SaaS

Loom • Video recording for screen, camera and audio sharing
Notion • All-in-one workspace for notes, tasks and collaboration
Hemingway AI • Rewrite text for clarity
Grain • AI meeting automation tool
Resume.io • Write resumes with AI

🛠 How to Build AI-Powered SaaS

“Dogfood” your product by using it yourself. You will build better products faster when you understand and empathize with customers.

Matthew Lesiuk is building Clipio. He uses it for cold video outreach to market Clipio.

Bhanu Teja P is building SiteGPT. He used it to build a chatbot for his blogging platform Feather.

Simon Hoiberg is building Aidbase. He uses it to handle customer support on his personal website.

Build an audience first. Fans are more eager to support you by buying or sharing your tool.

Dharmesh Shah shared ChatSpot on X (Twitter). His post got 4,600,000 views.

Bhanu Teja P launched SiteGPT on X (Twitter). The launch tweet got 1,000,000 views.

Mark Gadala-Maria says growing on X (Twitter) helped him get 7,500 people on the waiting list for Post Cheetah.

Build a waiting list to validate demand.

Dorik lets you sign up for the waiting list for Dorik AI. It helps to generate UI, copy and images for your websites.

Slack lets you sign up for the waiting list for Slack AI. It helps to get insights into your chats and knowledge bases.

JetBrains lets you sign up for the waiting list for JetBrains Grazie. It helps software teams write and communicate better.

🌱 How to Grow AI-Powered SaaS

Use side project marketing to get more users.

Hippo Video has a video ROI calculator.

QuillBot has a suite of free grammar tools.

Jungle Scout has a profit calculator for dropshipping.

Use a freemium model to fill your funnel.

Aaron Edwards made DocsBot AI. It’s free for chatting with docs with up to 50 pages.

Abdulhadi Y made AI Magicx. You can make a limited number of articles, logos and images for free.

Helghardt Avenant and Michail Brynard made Lampbuilder. You can build 1 landing page with AI on its free plan.

Use affiliate marketing to get others to sell for you.

Copymatic offers a 30% commission to affiliates.

Seamless.AI offers a 20-40% commission to affiliates.

Pieter Levels offers a 20% commission to Photo AI affiliates.

💰 How to Monetize AI-Powered SaaS

Offer subscriptions to get predictable revenue.

Jon Yongfook is building Browserbear. He charges up to $949 per month.

Shawn Tucker is building Feedloops. He charges $69 per year while it’s in beta.

Dobroslav Radosavljevič is building Written Labs. He charges up to $49 per month.

Offer single-use plans for a one-time price. This helps to serve users with occasional needs.

Jera sells website roast packs at Roast My Web.

Lior Grossman is building Completely. It costs $39 per competitive analysis report.

Philipp Seeser lets you enhance the audio of 1 file with Xound. It costs $4.99 per file.

Use a free trial to convert more leads into customers.

Jared Rhizor offers a 7-day trial for MealByMeal. It helps to track food and calories.

Alex Buran offers a 7-day trial for Help-Desk.ai. It helps to build AI chatbots for customer services.

Eddie Forson offers a 7-day trial for EnVsion. It helps to uncover insights from your customer interviews.

🔮 Predictions

Companies will let existing users try AI features for free. Before locking them behind a paywall.

Loom let existing users try Loom AI before launching.

Evernote lets users try AI-powered search for free before adding it to paid plans.

Archbee offered a beta of AI Addon for free to paid users. It now costs up to $50 per month on top of paid plans but is part of the Enterprise plan.

We’ll see AI startup studios that take a systemized approach to building AI companies.

Twelvefold builds generative AI tools.

1811 Labs builds AI products in 2-4 weeks.

Slimmer AI is a venture studio for building AI products.

Pawa is a venture studio for machine learning startups.

VirASTRAL helps to build AI SaaS and generative AI products.

AI will be embedded in hardware. The era of “smart things” will turn into the age of “AI things”.

Bolt uses Drover AI to boost scooter safety.

VoiceKitt is an in-car voice assistant. It helps salespeople close deals while driving.

Samsung has washing machines with AI Control. It also says smartphones are obsolete –– it’s time for AI phones.

😠 Haters

“Most of these companies are retrofitting AI into existing products. The future is AI-native UX.”
This is common with technology. It took decades for manufacturers to redesign factories around electricity instead of adding to existing factories. Progress is iterative.

“Some of these are AI wrappers with weak moats.”
If an AI wrapper can make people’s lives easier, they will pay for it. Seize the opportunity when you have it.

“Uncontrollable growth can lead to bankruptcy. Freemium users can eat up API credits faster than expected.”
Limit the number of available credits to free users. Design Sense lets you generate only 1 image for free. Logie has user caps.

“This market is crowded.”
You can differentiate by offering unique features, great customer support or serving a niche audience.

🔗 Links

$22,000 in 1 Week with a Better UI for ChatGPT • The thread behind this report.
Building a Report on AI-Powered SaaS • The tweet behind this report.
What The Generative AI Craze Will Look Like • AI experts and business leaders explain how AI will change the business.
Making $22,000 in 7 days • How Tony Dinh bootstrapped a better UI for ChatGPT.

📁 Related Reports

Niche AI Models • These are fine-tuned to perform well on domain-specific tasks.
AI Agents • They work on your behalf without your supervision.
Prompt Engineering • Learn how to direct AI to get accurate results.
No-Code • Stop wasting time, money and energy doing repetitive work.
Software Development Services • Build a software business without technical skills.

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