THE BIGGEST STARTUP OPPORTUNITIES IN 2024 BY LEAN STARTUP GUY ERIC RIES

December 14, 2023

AI Summary

5 min read

The Biggest Startup Opportunities in 2024 by Lean Startup Guy Eric Ries

The Wrapper Startup Dilemma

Eric Ries opens with a vivid metaphor that frames the current AI landscape. When you build a "wrapper startup"—a thin layer on top of an existing large language model like ChatGPT—you are picking up dimes in front of a steamroller. The parable, which Ries attributes to Jean-Louis Gassée of BeOS and Apple fame, describes a platform war: the platforms (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google) are the steamrollers, massive and powerful but intrinsically slow-moving. The dimes are the small, profitable opportunities that are too small for the platforms to care about. The strategy works perfectly—until you trip and fall even once.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **The Obituary Algorithm & Roll-Up Strategy** - Eric Ries shares a story about a startup that reads obituaries to find dying vendors, then buys them out to acquire customer relationships.
2 (01:25) **AI's Unique Funding & Founder Profile** - AI startups are backed by different investors (corporate VCs) and older, more sophisticated founders than previous tech waves.
3 (03:04) **The "Wrapper Startup" & The Steamroller Parable** - Eric explains the strategic logic of building on top of AI platforms using the classic "picking up dimes in front of a steamroller" metaphor.
4 (07:00) **The Hidden Value of "Doomed" Wrapper Startups** - Even if a wrapper startup gets steamrolled, it provides immense career equity and learning for founders, especially younger ones.
5 (11:57) **The Roll-Up Strategy: Buying vs. Understanding** - Eric discusses the idea of buying a non-AI startup and adding AI, but warns that you cannot buy customer understanding.
6 (15:03) **The Only Framework That Matters: Talk to Customers** - Eric gives blunt advice on how to gain customer understanding: spend time talking to them, no framework can replace it.
7 (20:04) **Getting Closer to Customers: The Tuscaloosa Story** - The host shares his experience of moving to Tuscaloosa, Alabama for six months to build a college-focused group chat app.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Greg interviews Eric Ries, author of "The Lean Startup" and founder of The Long Term Stock Exchange.

They talk about how to test business ideas, why businesses with a social mission will outperform, and opportunities in AI.

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https://latecheckoutstudio.ck.page/

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LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:

Production Team:

https://PodFlow.com

ERIC RIES:

Eric Ries's Newsletter: https://theleanstartup.com

Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE): https://ltse.com

Lean Startup Corporate Training and Events: https://leanstartup.co

X: https://twitter.com/ericries

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eries/

TIMESTAMPS:

00:34 Concept of AI companies being funded differently

02:06 Longevity of wrapper AI startups and platform wars

07:16 Benefits of creating viral startups

11:07 Idea of buying non-AI startups and adding AI capabilities

14:08 Approaches to quickly understand customer needs in a new space

21:41 Eric's point about companies doing the right thing and the importance of trust

36:23 First Business Idea: Religion startup - HQ trivia meets a church

37:08 Second Business Idea: Social network for gig workers

38:31 Third Business Idea: AI accountability bots