Entrepreneurs say new AI tools are compressing the time and cost of launching a business—from writing plans and marketing to coding websites. Still, economists split on what that means for jobs as founders move faster with leaner teams.
For Chris Franco, starting a business used to mean a long list of obstacles. Now. he points to tools that can draft a business plan. dig through industry research. generate marketing content. design logos. and even help prototype products. “You can do anything you can imagine. There’s nothing holding you back. ” Franco. an entrepreneur who has used AI extensively in growing his New York-based marketing and customer acquisition firm. Woodridge Growth. told CBS News. “There’s no excuse not to start a business in this age.”.
The push behind that optimism is hard data and hard speed. In recent years, new business formation across the U.S. has surged to its highest level ever, according to Census Bureau data. An analysis of Census data from Stripe Economics credits solo founders with much of that growth.
Economists who study the mechanics of entrepreneurship say AI is tightening the bottleneck. Torsten Slok, chief economist at asset management firm Apollo Global Management, argues the reason is straightforward: AI is lowering the cost of starting and running a business.
“That’s because you can more easily write a business plan with a large language model. use agents to do work. so that’s likely the reason the economy is becoming more dynamic for entrepreneurs. ” Slok said. “It’s becoming easier for experts in their respective fields. like consulting. finance or legal services. to break out and become entrepreneurs and compete with some of the incumbents.”.
Lower cost, higher speed is the phrase that keeps echoing through the examples. Angela Lee, a professor of entrepreneurship at Columbia Business School and herself a serial entrepreneur, described a shift toward smaller, leaner teams—funded less, doing more.
“One way AI is lowering the barriers to creating a new business: reducing startup costs,” she told CBS News. “Are founders able to hire leaner teams and do more with less funding because of AI? One hundred percent.”
Lee’s own comparison goes back to the 1990s. when she said she spent $20. 000 for coders to build a website for one of the first businesses she launched. “Today. you can use Lovable to vibe code a website in 20 minutes with a free tool. ” Lee told CBS News. citing the AI coding app. “Everything has decreased in cost and increased in speed.”.
Striping that speed into practical tasks, Ernie Tedeschi, chief economist at Stripe Economics, said entrepreneurs are using AI not only for ideas but for the steps that make an idea real.
“It can help you come up with a business plan, or give you advice on supply chains. It can do what you need to make your vision a reality,” Tedeschi said. “It can help you identify what forms you need to fill out and help you complete them before you even get to the idea itself.”
That “before you even get to the idea itself” part is where the real tension sits—because it’s not just about speed. It’s about who does the work. In Boston, Albert Feldman runs Sky Candle Co., a candle company he started before the era of artificial intelligence. Even so. he said he now leans on AI for marketing campaigns. financial planning. and analytics that keep production decisions grounded.
“It helps us understand what products we should make more of and which we should move away from. We make the product ourselves — we hand-pour the candles — so it requires a lot of financial planning. ” Feldman told CBS News. “By leveraging historical sales data. it helps us know how many wax and scent vessels we need to buy. and helps us make heads and tails of everything.”.
The debate over jobs sits right beneath these success stories. Slok expects AI to eventually fuel innovation—and, with time, job creation. “If a fraction of the new ideas people have end up being successful, they’ll need employment,” he said. “It suggests the economy is becoming more dynamic, and ultimately, AI is going to create more jobs.”.
Lee’s view is sharper. “Lee of Columbia Business School is less optimistic,” the reporting notes, arguing that the speed and efficiency founders gain can come at a human cost. She told CBS News, “Founders are hiring less, and unfortunately, I think ultimately it will take away jobs.”
AI startups entrepreneurship business plan AI marketing automation AI coding tools Lovable Stripe Economics Apollo Global Management job creation job displacement
So basically AI makes it easy to start scams now.
I mean… “cheaper” and “faster” sounds great until everyone’s competing at the same time. Also people are gonna get replaced, right?
They say it compresses time and cost but my cousin tried building a website with AI and it looked like garbage. Then it still took forever to tweak. So idk how real this is.
Chris Franco says there’s “nothing holding you back” which is kinda wild because landlords, permits, and taxes are literally holding you back. If it’s so easy, why aren’t more people doing it? I’m guessing those “highest level ever” business numbers are just part of the economy after COVID or whatever, not AI. But also maybe AI helps solos, I don’t know, I didn’t read all the econ part.