My Year of Failure & Finding the AI Era's Perfect Model

From a bankrupt studio to a solo AI creator — one person's honest reckoning

Last year I became a "company of one" — not by choice, but because my previous business collapsed. I was ambitious, jumped into AI, built a product, and still failed. But from that wreckage, I discovered a new way to work that actually fits the age of AI. Here is what happened, what went wrong, and how I found a model that finally makes sense.

Before the fall

My company made script murder (剧本杀) games — both online and offline. If you played any, you probably played ours. But the market cooled fast, and the pandemic years made it worse. By 2024 I was a solo founder, with no team, no revenue, and no clear direction.

📌 The C++ tutor that nobody used

When AI arrived, I saw a chance. My daughter was learning C++, so I built an AI-powered learning tool. I learned Python & TypeScript, spent 6 months, and created something genuinely useful. My daughter passed the GSP Level 5 through self-study. I even found early users — parents who knew nothing about code.

But it failed. Most people didn't even know what a "token" was, let alone how to use AI features. I spent hours in group chats explaining basic stuff, but retention was near zero. No compounding effect. No growth.

The final blow came when my daughter switched to Claude Code. She no longer needed my tool. All the UX polish I'd built became worthless overnight. In the age of AI agents, the moat of "better UI" evaporates.

"The window for time-based壁垒 is gone. AI compresses any technical head start into nothing."

— What I learned the hard way

🔍 Why the old rules no longer work

The market wasn't just small — it was fragmented. Everyone had a different idea of what AI even is. No consensus, total confusion. The old formula — find a niche, build for users, iterate — completely broke down. I tried multiple directions. All failed.

But one thing accidentally worked: I became an AI content creator with decent traffic. I had stumbled into a different audience — people willing to learn, even when it's hard.

🔁 The three questions that changed everything

I sat down and asked myself:

1. What is actually scarce?
Code is cheap now. Attention and trust are not.

2. What can compound?
Software no longer earns rent. But taste — the ability to spot opportunities — compounds.

3. What can be leveraged by AI?
Every digital expression and repetitive task can be automated.

The answer surprised me: being a creator (or a "super individual") is actually the perfect business model for a solo company in the AI era.

⚡ The Iron Triangle of Solo AI Business

Scarcity

If code becomes worthless, attention becomes gold. Content that earns trust cannot be replicated.

Compounding

Not software rent — but taste. Every post, every model test, every market probe builds your ability to spot the next niche.

AI Leverage

All digital output and repetitive execution can be accelerated by AI. Your content pipeline becomes a flywheel.

My new definition of a "company of one"

Have taste → find a niche → use AI to produce fast → earn trust → repeat.

📈 The compounding loop I actually run

My week: 5 days learning, 2 days outputting. I publish 2 pieces of content per week. Every new model, every tool, every trend — I learn it, test it, and share it. Not for the video, but to explore the market.

My compounding cycle:

🔁 Discover new trend → Learn → Output → Build followers & taste → Repeat (faster with AI)

Each cycle is shorter, and the assets (trust, taste, audience) keep growing.

📊 Results so far (from zero)

+5k

followers in 30 days on 小音 (tech category)

on track to 10k next month

10k+

followers on 某红薯

viral posts increasing

5-fig

passive income (monthly)

expected 2-3x growth in 6 months

7k+

GitHub stars for a tool I covered

from 100 to 7k after my video

I refused all paid consulting, coaching, and拜师 offers. Short-term cash kills compounding.

📎 Case: Spotting the niche before it blows up

I covered a tool called OLX when it had only 100 stars. After my deep-dive video, it crossed 7,000 stars. The WeChat index kept rising. This proved something: I could identify a niche and direct attention to ignite a trend.

"My content isn't just content — it's a market probe. Every post tests whether a trend has real momentum."

🚫 What I let go of

Perfection: My videos are simple PPTs. No fancy animations. But the substance helps people who truly want to learn.
Short-term money: Consulting, coaching, paid mentorship — all declined. Time-for-money doesn't compound.
Building products first: I don't have a product yet. I'm building trust and taste first.

🧠 The pattern for any solo founder

You don't have to copy me. But the Iron Triangle applies everywhere:

Scarcity — What can you offer that AI can't replicate? (Trust, taste, human judgment)
Compounding — Are your efforts building an asset that grows over time? (Audience, insight, reputation)
AI Leverage — Are you using AI to accelerate your loop? (Automation, production, scaling)

My north star

Help as many people as possible bridge the AI gap. Not through courses, but by showing how I build systems, tools, and infrastructure — and sharing what works.

🌱 What's next

I'm building a systematic infrastructure for solo creators — AI agents that collaborate 24/7, toolchains that automate production, and a repeatable playbook for finding niches. That will be the main thread of my content going forward.

I don't like the hype around "company of one." But in the AI era, it's becoming inevitable. My failure and recovery taught me this: find your compounding loop, protect your trust, and let AI be your multiplier.

"The most important skill in the AI age is not coding — it's taste. The ability to see what matters, before the crowd does."

— My core takeaway

I hope my failures and wins help you find your own path. Thanks for reading.

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My Year of Failure &amp; Finding the AI Era's Perfect Model

My Year of Failure & Finding the AI Era's Perfect Model