Start where money isn’t the bottleneck: skills and creativity. One of the most powerful opportunities today is workflow automation with AI agents. Pick an industry function that’s repetitive and painful (e.g. lead qualification in sales, customer support triage, or document processing in logistics). Build a robust AI workflow that automates it. You don’t need upfront capital: prototype with free or low-cost tools, test with real users, and refine based on the market’s response. Once someone sees it saves them time or reduces errors, they’ll happily pay for it. Use their subscription revenue to cover your software costs, then scale to more clients. Focus on two things: – Learn how to design and deliver automation that solves a concrete problem. – Talk directly to potential users, show them quick wins, and charge early. That way you’re not waiting for funding—you’re building value from day one.

Not mine, because I prefer building such circuits myself, including current event analysis, topic ideation, creating written and visual content, posting it, and tracking engagement. But I believe many businesses would benefit greatly from it, given it ensures a high level of personalization and authenticity.

In my experience and that of my customers, compounding improvements in retention and expansion move the needle more than aggressive acquisition spend. Acquisition without a solid retention engine is expensive and unsustainable. Key metrics to track include churn rate, monthly recurring revenue (MRR) growth, customer lifetime value (LTV), cohort retention, engagement metrics (DAU/WAU/MAU), and expansion revenue (upsells, cross-sells). Balancing acquisition with subscription base management is crucial: while bringing in new users matters, nurturing your existing base often delivers higher ROI. Referral programs amplify growth at lower cost, particularly when you create mechanisms for users to invite others, turning your product into a networked asset. Product value increases when engagement triggers more engagement—features that encourage users to involve others, collaborative or social elements, and user-generated content all deepen retention. Usability matters enormously: onboarding flow, frictionless experience, and clear value delivery drive both adoption and continued subscription. Continuous feedback loops, personalization, and content that evolves with users also compound retention effects. In short, scale through acquisition, but compound growth through retention, expansion, and network-driven product value. Acquisition is expensive; retention multiplies the value of every dollar already spent. Side note: In subscription businesses, retention and expansion usually outweigh raw acquisition in long-term value, though both must be balanced strategically.

First of all, it would be more accurate to frame this in terms of angel investors rather than traditional VCs. VCs typically look for startups that can scale to tens or hundreds of millions in annual revenue and usually invest in the range of $1M–$10M+ per round. A total market of $9M and costs under $500k is far below the scale most VCs target. Angels, micro-VCs, or early-stage seed funds are the appropriate audience for such a startup. A market size of 150k raises the question — are we talking about TAM, SAM, or SOM? Investors will want clarity on this. With costs under $500k annually, the next issue is how much you expect an angel or VC to finance versus what can realistically be covered by early revenue, especially if expenses are distributed across the first year. The real focus for VCs is not just the theoretical $9M ceiling but how much of that you can actually capture in your first year (or within your runway). Another critical question is whether there’s solid evidence that this market truly exists and can be accessed at scale. If it were really possible to generate $9M in revenue with only $0.5M in costs, it would be an attractive proposition — but both sides know growth is rarely that straightforward. To make your case compelling for investors, I recommend focusing on three things: 1. Present a conservative, evidence-based market sizing. 2. Show the timing and structure of your expenses. 3. Demonstrate how many sales are needed to reach breakeven and how quickly you can scale beyond that point. VCs look for startups with not only large markets but also a credible path to significant scale. Proving that your business can capture and expand market share sustainably is often more persuasive than headline revenue-to-cost ratios.