Henrik Werdelin, renowned for his role in building brands like Barkbox through his startup studio Prehype, has embarked on a new venture named Audos. Based in New York, Audos leverages artificial intelligence to democratize entrepreneurship, aiming to assist everyday entrepreneurs in creating million-dollar AI-driven companies without necessitating technical expertise.
The current economic landscape, marked by widespread layoffs across various sectors, has prompted many individuals to reconsider their career trajectories. Simultaneously, advancements in AI have significantly lowered the barriers to developing digital products and services. Audos positions itself at the intersection of these trends, offering tools that enable individuals to build sophisticated products using natural language inputs. By harnessing the power of social media algorithms, Audos facilitates the identification and engagement of niche customer bases.
Reflecting on his transition from Prehype to Audos, Werdelin emphasizes the shift from collaborating with tech founders on traditional startups to a broader mission of democratizing the entrepreneurial process. He states, What we’re trying to do is take all that knowledge, all the methodology that we’ve created over the years of building all these big companies, and really trying to democratize it.
Audos’s approach involves guiding individuals through the startup process by providing AI tools that simplify product development and customer acquisition. For instance, platforms like Facebook offer sophisticated algorithms capable of identifying and reaching specific customer groups. By defining a target audience, entrepreneurs can utilize these platforms to test the viability of their business ideas and assess sustainable customer acquisition costs.
Since its beta launch, Audos has facilitated the creation of several hundred businesses. Prospective entrepreneurs often discover Audos through targeted Instagram advertisements posing questions like, Have you ever thought about starting something, but don’t know where to go? The ventures emerging from Audos’s platform are diverse, including a car mechanic developing a service to evaluate repair quotes, an individual offering after death logistics services, virtual golf swing coaching, and AI-driven nutritional advice. Werdelin humorously refers to these small-scale, impactful businesses as donkeycorns, distinguishing them from the elusive billion-dollar unicorns.
The process for launching these businesses is streamlined: interested individuals engage with Audos’s AI agent, which initiates a dialogue to understand the problems they aim to solve and their target customer base. Once these parameters are established, Audos expedites the connection between entrepreneurs and potential customers.
Audos’s business model diverges from traditional accelerators or venture capital firms. Instead of acquiring equity, Audos adopts a revenue-sharing approach, taking a 15% share of the revenue from the businesses it helps launch. In return, entrepreneurs receive up to $25,000 in funding, access to AI-powered business development tools, and assistance with distribution, primarily through paid social media advertising. Werdelin explains, We’re not taking any equity in their business. We don’t think these companies might ever get sold. What we’re really inspired by are the mom-and-pop shops that are the backbone of our society.
While this revenue-sharing model offers immediate support and resources, it also means that entrepreneurs commit to a perpetual 15% revenue share, which could amount to substantial sums over time. This arrangement may be appealing to some, while others might question the long-term financial implications.
The rapidly evolving AI landscape presents additional considerations. As AI tools become more accessible and sophisticated, entrepreneurs might find similar capabilities elsewhere without the obligation of a continuous revenue share. However, Audos’s investors remain optimistic. True Ventures led Audos’s $11.5 million seed round, with partner Tony Conrad expressing confidence in Werdelin and Thorne’s vision. Conrad notes, I think there are just lots and lots of people who might eagerly embrace the opportunity to work with a platform like Audos.
Conrad draws parallels to Instagram’s $1 billion exit with a minimal team, suggesting that AI could enable even greater efficiency. Werdelin elaborates, What we’re after here is the millions of people who can create million-dollar businesses or half-million dollar businesses that are real and life-changing.
Werdelin’s ambition is to facilitate the creation of a million companies generating a million dollars each in annual revenue, culminating in a trillion-dollar turnover. This vision aligns with the growing trend of extending entrepreneurial opportunities to individuals who traditionally lacked access to startup capital or technical skills.
Audos’s investor roster includes Offline Venture and Bungalow Capital, along with notable angel investors such as Niklas Zennström and Mario Schlosser.
