co-Founded by AI
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Live experiment

Can AI run a business?

What happens when entrepreneurs stop executing and only decide?

In co-Founded by AI, two seasoned digital entrepreneurs launch a radical experiment. One product. No staff. One hard target: €200,000 revenue in year one. Everything that's normally human work gets executed by AI. From market research to prototyping, marketing, sales, and customer service. Production, warehousing, and fulfillment are outsourced. The business becomes a machine.

Status · Week 05

The (adjusted) winner.

The winner shifted after the customer panel. They found The Dual's twin function weak; we're refining The Dual and picking it as the winner anyway.

Co-founded by AI, Guided by Vision.
the principle: humans set the direction · the algorithm asks the questions and does the work
Year 1 target €200Krevenue

One company, one physical product, clear revenue goal.

AI-driven 95%

From research and marketing to customer service: 95% of execution by AI.

Remote 100%

No office, no meetings, no staff. Everything online, asynchronous.

Entrepreneurship 4hrs/week

Maximum 4 hours per week per person, following the "4-hour work week."

The Manifesto

We stop executing.
We only decide from here.

The Premise

AI is mature enough to build and execute. The question is no longer whether, but how. What happens when entrepreneurs outsource all execution to AI and limit themselves to setting direction, making judgments, and taking decisions?

The Experiment

The central question is simple and uncomfortable: can AI run a business? This site follows the experiment closely. The decisions. The failures. The moments AI breaks down and surprises. It shows how entrepreneurship shifts from doing to directing.

co-Founded by AI is an entrepreneur's handbook and a glimpse of what business looks like in the age of AI.

The Experiment

From idea to online sales, executed by AI.

01 · Conceive

The Product

AI analyzes markets, identifies opportunities, and advises. The entrepreneurs select the winning product.

02 · Design

The Design

AI designs the product, packaging, and brand identity: ready for production.

03 · Produce

The Production

AI selects the right manufacturer and runs negotiations. Production fully outsourced. Little or no inventory, no hassle, no headcount.

04 · Launch

The Launch

AI builds the brand identity, web shop, content, and ads.

05 · Sell

Online Sales

AI sells, analyzes, and optimizes. AI handles customer service. Day and night. Fulfillment is outsourced.

In the media
Live poll The wager

Can they hit € 200,000 in revenue within one year?

co-Founded by AI is building a company with an AI as co-founder. The wager: €200k in revenue within twelve months. You decide. What's your prediction?

Yes, they'll do it · your vote 0%
No chance · your vote 0%
For investors

We build the operating model for AI-native product companies.

co-Founded by AI is building a company that develops consumer products fully based on AI. We use AI to discover, validate, design, launch and market physical products with an extremely small team.

Manufacturing, warehousing and fulfillment are outsourced; AI runs the operational processes; humans make the most important decisions.

Our first proof is simple: launch one physical product, without staff, and reach €200,000 in revenue within twelve months.

If it works, the biggest opportunity lies not in a single product, but in a repeatable operating model for launching consumer products in the AI era.

co-Founded by AI is building the operating model for AI-native companies that develop consumer products.

Three key questions · 03

The central questions we're asking and will answer here.

01

Can AI co-found and run a business?

We're curious whether AI can truly run a business. Providing entrepreneurs with sound advice and laying out decisions for them to make. In our view, that's the winning combination of the future.

Research question → regular update
02

What happens when entrepreneurs stop executing and only decide?

Execution goes to AI or gets outsourced to external partners. No spreadsheet tweaks, no typing emails, no content polishing. We stay responsible for direction and decision, AI handles the work. How do you build a successful business that way?

Time tracking → public log
03

Can this business successfully sell a physical product?

Not SaaS, not an e-book, not a marketplace. We're building something you can hold in your hands. From supplier to packaging to returns, we let AI guide all processes. Will a tangible product successfully launch and sell, or does the experiment fail?

Proof point → first sale

The Founders

Founder-led · tech focus · AI-proof
Geert-Jan Smits

Geert-Jan Smits

Co-founder

Experienced entrepreneur in e-commerce and startup investor. Believes in the power of AI, combined with pragmatism and a bit of nerve.

Jurriën Kerstholt

Jurriën Kerstholt

Co-founder

After 20 years leading e-commerce agency De Nieuwe Zaak, he's convinced of AI's potential. But where does it end? Time to find out.

Co-founded by AI,
Guided by Vision.

Live experiment · in progress

AI does the work, humans limit themselves to making decisions. That's the assumption we start with. We don't know if it holds. That's precisely why we're doing this in public.

co-Founded by AI is not an agency, not a tool and not a pitch. It is a research project with a commercial goal. What happens here, happens in full view of anyone who wants to watch.

Follow it up close.