{
  "id": 17038539,
  "title": "Sell first, build second, automate last: A solo founder’s playbook for the AI era",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/29/sell-first-build-second-automate-last-a-solo-founders-playbook-for",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-29T08:43:17.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "YourStory",
    "slug": "yourstory",
    "url": "https://yourstory.com/2026/10/sell-first-build-second-automate-last-a-solo-founders-playbook-for-the-ai-era"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In 2019, Emilis Strimaitis spent nearly a year and hired a developer agency to create a shopping app, but it ultimately failed. Fast forward to 2026, and Strimaitis, now the Head of Product Innovation at Hostinger, believes an AI subscription and a weekend could produce the same app, only this time, it would fail 100 times faster. At a webinar during TechSparks 2026, Strimaitis argued that the steps founders took before AI existed remain crucial, even as AI changes the speed at which they can be executed.\n\nFor Strimaitis, selling a product is essential before building it or automating it. During the webinar, he shared a seven-step selling machine that founders can use in the AI era to ensure their business succeeds. The first step is to identify a niche, using three checks: knowing the people, finding them in one place online, and confirming they are already paying for something. AI can assist in this process by transforming skills and interests into a list of potential business ideas. Next, founders should search for complaints about existing tools, looking for patterns and common issues. AI can help group these complaints into the top problems expressed by customers in their own words.\n\nFrom the identified problems, founders should write 10 promises or angles, each with a simple landing page featuring a title, description, and a pre-order or waiting list button. Next, choose a social platform and post daily for 30 days, aiming for no initial audience engagement. Record one long video per week and break it into smaller clips. Once the 30 days are up, analyze the results, discard what didn't work, and grow the successful components. If there is initial interest, fulfill the first 20 or so orders manually before building the software. Strimaitis also cautioned that AI-driven shortcuts can backfire, such as sending AI-generated cold emails, which are becoming ineffective. Instead, engage with creators by hand, and avoid posting AI-generated content on platforms like LinkedIn.\n\nIn summary, Strimaitis suggests using AI as a tool to accelerate the selling process, but demand must come first. By following this seven-step selling machine, founders can leverage AI while ensuring that their product idea has real-world demand before investing time and resources into building and automating it.",
  "summary": "Hostinger’s Emilis Strimaitis on why founders who build first still fail faster, and the seven-step process that puts customers before code",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}