2026 AI Startup Playbook: How to Build a Profitable AI Tool From $0 — CEO of OpusClip

So let's imagine you have to start a company again. Walk me through the first

company again. Walk me through the first 30 days. What will you do

30 days. What will you do >> if I have to start a company again? I

think the first thing is >> this is Young, co-founder and CEO of Opus Clip, an AI tool that turns long videos into viral short clips. In just 2 and 1/2 years, he built it into one of

the fastest growing AI companies in the world. 50 million users, $215 million

world. 50 million users, $215 million valuation. LLMs are advancing so fast

valuation. LLMs are advancing so fast and large companies are releasing better and better products. Do you think there are any niches or problems that are not worth solving anymore?

>> If you ask me like 3 years ago, the answer will be much simpler. I think

every AI founder should be somehow aged, which means that you can predict what the financial models can release in the next few weeks or months.

>> The rules have changed and most founders don't see it yet. Young breaks down where the opportunities are, what to avoid, and what it takes to win in 2026.

This video is sponsored by HubSpot.

Okay, Young, thank you so much for being here. You've built one of the fastest

here. You've built one of the fastest growing AI companies, 12 million users in 12 months, 215 million in valuation.

Can you introduce yourself in 60 seconds? What do you do?

seconds? What do you do?

>> Thank you for having me, Marina. Um, I'm

Yan, co-founder and CEO at Opus Clip. We

built the products that turn long- form dense information content like articles, blogs, footage, papers into engaging content like short form videos that can

attract your audiences worldwide. We

have gathered actually more than 15 million users in the past 2 and a half years.

>> What? This is crazy. Wow.

>> Super crazy.

>> And also like your story is fascinating cuz you started during co and you started with all the different features and only this one stuck. Can you talk to me about this mindset of like trying

things and seeing them not work and not giving up?

>> Yeah. Um it's kind of frustrating for sure. I think in the early days like we

sure. I think in the early days like we are like new founders or early founders.

Um it's actually the passion that drove us to continuously try different things.

uh but like probably after half a year or even one year of trying like let's say three to four different things if you don't still get any early signals of the product market fit you will be

easily fatigued. Um so I think that's

easily fatigued. Um so I think that's the challenge and we're kind of lucky that we first built a live streaming tool. um nobody likes it but there's

tool. um nobody likes it but there's only one feature that is like um the clipping feature in the live stream tool uh that had somehow early signal of the

product market fit and also thanks to that time which you know actually in the same week was launched by open AAI um so we quickly married that to this you know

standalone feature and pivoted to a new product which is the open opus plate right now >> what should people pay attention to when they decide to double down on one particular feature.

>> Good question. So, we were not tracking any classic OG um a RR kind of metric.

We didn't build a product for OpenClip in the in the first day. We actually

engineered the result, the final outcome, the final videos and just emailed them to all of the potential customers. Oh, so you're like manually

customers. Oh, so you're like manually creat we we man we we work we work with the AI to edit all these videos and write and send out to all the um potential customers and I think we got like more

than 60% of positive feedback.

>> I love this clip. I want to use it like I just want to tweak one thing and you know I can publish it right away. So

those are the very early feedback and the then like after a few more weeks we built the product into a discord bot still no interface right so we save a lot of time building the you know UIUX

and all that all that kind of stuff and just focus on delivering the value validating the outcome so we grabbed you know hundreds of uh thousands of uh

creators into our discord channel and they are playing with the bot so what we were looking at or basically their retention right their engagement of that tool

And but but beyond that we also look into the discussions around the content like we saw people hey how do you get that content how do you get that piece

of um the clip. So I think in the early days quantitative data are important but qualitative um data or feedback is also super important. When we start hearing

super important. When we start hearing people uh complaining about the queue, complaining about the quota of their daily usage, we realize this is the part of market fit moment.

>> Nice. And was there a metric uh when you said you were tracking how often people were coming back to the bot in Discord?

What's a good number? Cuz I feel like it's not something like Google, right?

When you're like googling several times a day, but for a feature like yours, what's what's a good metric? Yeah, the

general use case for content creator, let's say, they would normally have like one piece of long form content, uh, long form footage, and they want to use our

tool to to generate like 5 to 10 short clips so that they can post to their channels, one clip a day. Um, so I would say the average uh frequency of using

our tool is like on a weekly basis. But

when we see people like come to use it every day or you know multiple times a week that is a very strong usage. Yeah.

>> Beyond what we can imagine.

>> So based on this story that we just talked about of you ended up finding this feature. What would be your advice

this feature. What would be your advice to all the startup founders? What would

you say is the key learning from that?

>> The key learning is that you should build a real business with a product not a cool demo. Right? Because many people just start with building a very cool

demo. Um they showed it off to the

demo. Um they showed it off to the people and you know it looks like magic because the demo really demonstrates >> you polish the way it looks right works.

Yeah.

>> Yeah. So the demo shows a very strong capability but um many founders failed because they didn't find a product market fit for a real business. What

that means is that they are not solving probably they're not solving a real painoint a real painful job to be done in the real world because for your product if they if it is a real painful

job to be done there must be a lot of alternative solutions like you know humans do the job or they build some internal tools or they manually just you know concatenate couple of different

snippets of the or solutions to make it work right they spend extra time effort or you know painful hours to get the job done.

>> So are you really replacing those type of like tedious or human heavy workflows that is one part of you know whether it is a real business. The second thing

would be how your customers uh understand the values you created, right? If you can tell your product

right? If you can tell your product value in just like 10 words, maybe or probably you're close to a real business. If your product is just cool

business. If your product is just cool and all the feedback was like this is amazing, this is awesome, but nobody want to give you uh their credit card information. Nobody want to ask you what

information. Nobody want to ask you what is the you know what is your pricing tier. it's also not helping you um get

tier. it's also not helping you um get to the product market fit as well.

>> I really like the way you approached this. So you figured out the problem

this. So you figured out the problem that people are solving manually and then you created a product manually without any interface and then you saw early users feedback. I really like that approach. If people want to use that

approach. If people want to use that approach, what would you say comes first? Passion about particular problem

first? Passion about particular problem are the or the problem itself?

>> Yeah, I would say both of them are super critical. Um but my first principle for

critical. Um but my first principle for passion is actually not necessarily the passion for solving the problem. I think

passion is something more emotional. Um

I think all the entrepreneurs, all the founders need to have the passion to be a problem solver. You need to have the passion to be a builder, to build something that people want, to build

something that you know ideally change the world. I think that's the passion

the world. I think that's the passion founders need, right? You don't have to have a passion for like video clipping.

You don't have to have a passion for like, you know, running a restaurant. I

think all you need to have for a passion is to be a problem solver, be a builder, be a game changer. And rationally

speaking, the real painful job to be done is something that is inevitable in your journey. Um you have to be very

your journey. Um you have to be very rational to figure out this is a real problems to be solved by my passion right um so the deep understanding about

the industry about the workflow about the customer profiles about the use cases those are all rational um so I think an emotional passion for like a

bigger picture um just just to be a builder plus um the rational conviction for solving a concrete problems that you

know very well. Those are the necessities for becoming a founder.

>> My guest Young built a tool that creators love. And if you're interested

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learning directly from the people who see the data every day. Download the

toolkit for free in the description below. Honestly, if you're serious about

below. Honestly, if you're serious about growing as a creator, this is where you start. Let's talk about your new agent

start. Let's talk about your new agent opus cuz I was I heard this presentation where you compared uh where you tool your tool is doing now to human editors.

And yes, human editors are slightly better, but when it comes to someone who's just starting out multiple channels, agent opus becomes invaluable because it just takes all the content, creates, I guess, all those channels.

Can you explain how it works?

>> We currently have two products, right?

The Opus script product is like a very refined workflow um or agentic workflow that follows um a rigid um plan and then

execute it. The agent opus on the other

execute it. The agent opus on the other side is more um is more agentic. Um

there is no preset workflow. Um and the interaction for users is that you can just drop your um drop your idea, your story or some links or some you know

assets and instruct the agent to do whatever you want them to create.

>> So the agent is more is playing the role like a director, right? It's not a video editor. It's not a video creator. It's

editor. It's not a video creator. It's

not a video generator. It's not a designer. It is a director. And think

designer. It is a director. And think

about you know what how director works in those uh movie studio. They are like a true leader um managing and collaborating with multiple different

functions like there are designers, producers, um artist um researchers and script writers, scene writers, right?

there are so many sub agents in agent opus all reporting to the central director agent um so I think that's the

magic part of it um because when well everyone says I'm using AI I'm building AI but I think building a team of AI is

another level of challenge but it also unlocks another level of superpower so when when we saw that um agent the agent

office was the central director agent um you know designing a plan and also orchestrate among the other 8 to nine agent.

It is a truly end-to-end autonomous experience where the input is just some article or pieces of news while the output consists

like you know well-written script polished voiceovers um photorealistic avatars real world assets sourced from the

entire internet and also YouTube plus AI generated scenes animations infographics along the video. So, it's a true multi-

aent, multimodal agent workflow.

>> And so, or I can drop my LinkedIn post, right, which is a written post, and you'll be able to create >> a video out of it.

>> Yeah, exactly.

>> So, can you show the new AI feature? Cuz

th this is something that we're doing a lot. We're trying to repurpose whatever

lot. We're trying to repurpose whatever is going viral on LinkedIn. This is so funny. I posted myself sitting in the

funny. I posted myself sitting in the garage on a call because my kids were going crazy upstairs and I just couldn't take the call upstairs and I'm like in this messy garage I'm freezing. Um and

it got 120,000 impressions >> and ideally I want it to become you know something else I can post. So for sure >> so I copy link right?

>> Yeah you copy and paste. You can just say like create a video of this LinkedIn post and

>> should I add more prompts like uh make it a viral re or >> Yeah.

>> or it should or it's like pre-prompted or something.

>> Yeah, it's pre-prompted but you can always always add >> um or you can you add some thought on it. Um up to you. So and for voice you

it. Um up to you. So and for voice you want to also create your own voice but let's just like use our default all voice >> um everything >> what is the hook

>> hook is that you we have different um hook templates like the fast cuts article highlight right now it's kind of slow uh so probably takes about like 30

to 60 minutes >> oh 30 to 60 minutes >> yeah we're optimizing this the speed hopefully we can get to like 20 minutes uh in two months I'm going to show you the result.

>> Work and home lives blend together now more than ever. A constant zigzag between professional calls and family chaos.

>> Okay. So with all of this, what will happen to creators in 3 years? So like

in general creator economy, how do you see it evolving with all the agentic tools?

>> I think the entry barrier to create something is going to dissolve so that everyone has the superpower to become a

creator. Um that's a brutal fact.

creator. Um that's a brutal fact.

um and it makes the competition much more challenging to be honest. But the

good thing is that um everyone now don't have to think about you know what tool do I need to use or what techniques what expertise do I need to learn but now you

can focus on figuring out what is your uniqueness how should you stand out right what is your unique narrative your of your story what is your unique

messaging what is your unique tone um what sets you apart um so just focus on yourself focus on your own storytelling and in you know point of two years, no

more than 3 years, AI can just deliver the job for you. They're doing actually the dirty work for you, but you're going to be the real creative one.

>> But it's crazy. The competition is going to be insane.

>> It is.

>> Do you think there's less and less time to build a personal brand? Because what

happens if in 3 years everyone has access to tools, everyone tells a story, and then we don't have enough eyes to consume all that content. Do you ever worry about it?

>> I don't worry that too much. Um because

think about like 10 years ago, 5 years ago when you want to build a personal brand, um I think most of the time you're you're wasting is to um you know edit the video scene by scene, right? Is

to design design your colors, design um everything like page by page. I think

that's how you wasted the time. So the

analogy is that is that if you have to spend five months um building your personal personal branding from zero to one but nowadays it's like you just need a couple weeks

>> my like thing because I started 10 years ago and I remember editing all the videos.

>> Something that set me apart was the willingness to do that. So my content was super mediocre but because I took the chance of like you know spending six hours to edit a video I got my followers. It's impossible today. like

followers. It's impossible today. like

if my content is mediocre, it's not going to be noticed. That's the thing, right? So, your story either has to be

right? So, your story either has to be extraordinary or or that's it. Do you

think we still have this opportunity to showcase our personal brands or because there's so many, we're getting saturated?

>> The good storyteller um or the the real unique people can still um have the advantage. U think about um you know,

advantage. U think about um you know, carriage versus cars, right? 100 years

ago very few people have cars. Uh so it become a privilege to be you know one of the fastest people in the world.

Nowadays everyone are able to to drive a car. Almost everyone are able to drive a

car. Almost everyone are able to drive a car. Um but there are still formula 1

car. Um but there are still formula 1 drivers. There are still you know WDC

drivers. There are still you know WDC drivers who are you know way faster than the ordinary people. So I think this probably you know 10 years ago you showed your willingness to become to

build your personal branding by uh spending extra time um writing content um polishing your website editing the

videos. But I think in the future you

videos. But I think in the future you people who want to stand out should still probably spend the same amount of time on something else. not using the

tools, not you know building by yourself but the time should be spent on thinking it through how you should stand out. So

I think time spent probably the same but the actual word are completely different which is more human actually.

>> Yeah. Yeah. I like that refle I like the car analogy actually. Thank you.

>> So let's imagine uh you have to start a company again. Now walk me through the

company again. Now walk me through the first 30 days. what will you do >> if I have to start a company again? The

first thing is always to figure out what is what is a real painful job to be done. Um I want to so I I'm the

done. Um I want to so I I'm the prototype of founder who don't start everything from technology but from um

users from the market. Um I have to segment my market um to a very clear very vertical niche that I can clearly

understand their existing workflow, their existing pain point um their existing alternative solutions and then so I think probably I I would have to

spend you know the first couple weeks um two or three weeks understanding the real use case um the very specific ICP.

Um and the second thing is to just engineer a you know prototype or pro proof of concept. I can do that very easily with all the web coding tools right now. Right.

right now. Right.

>> What's your favorite?

>> Uh well I'm a heavy um cursor user. Um

but I I tried many other different tools but cursor is my goto goto tool. Yeah

>> cuz I came from engineering background so it's um yeah more familiar with the IDE. The step two is actually just um

IDE. The step two is actually just um couple days should be good enough u to have a proof of concept. Uh and then I go back to share that with the early

users um the ICPS to get you know their feedback. Uh the feedback should not

feedback. Uh the feedback should not only about do you like the product but also like what kind of problems are am I solving for you and what is the value

you perceive which means how much money you are willing to pay for it. Um right

so that that process probably is the majority of the early 30 days but I think on the other side I'm also I also need to think it through about what kind

of propri proprietary data can I possess along the way and will that data set grow as the product grow as the user

grow right um we don't have to build toward a moat um or a very clear plan of differentability but I think We need to have that idea

at least well thought in the first early days. Um because you have you can't

days. Um because you have you can't avoid it right when you really launch the product. So it's better to have

the product. So it's better to have something in mind have some idea in mind >> like what makes you stand out market and what makes people come back.

>> Yeah. And if you ask this question, especially nowadays, especially we are entering 2026, >> we're switching between apps like crazy.

Like there's new shiny app, you install it, you're like, "Oh, I love it now."

But the next day something else comes out and it's so easy unless you have history within certain app. Right.

>> Exactly. So the last thing I think we should consider is the distribution channel. Um I think the competition is

channel. Um I think the competition is totally different. Yeah. Two years ago.

totally different. Yeah. Two years ago.

two years ago you can easily say you are the chachibility of ABC right it's so easy to go viral right at that time nowadays like everyone knows AI everyone has used AI um so figure out a

distribution channel will help you better refine your user experience your on boarding and also um your target IP as well >> so basically you start with expertise it

looks like you need to understand at least one niche to be able to build something not like oh this market looks good I'm going to try and build something for it. No, you need to be deep in that market and understand the problem.

>> Exactly. Because you asked me a question. Uh the assumption is today,

question. Uh the assumption is today, right? AI has been there for like more

right? AI has been there for like more than 3 years. The LM has been there for more than 3 years, right? It's because

if you ask me like 3 years ago, the answer was will be much simpler. But

nowadays, >> just build with AI.

But now when you know LLM are advancing so fast and large companies are releasing better and better products. Do

you think there are any niches or problems that are not worth solving anymore just because big companies can take over in like a week?

>> I think two major types of problems that a founder should avoid. Um the first one is that you are just building a feature for an existing type of ICP ideal

customer profile within an existing workflow built by the incumbent. So

basically what that means that is that um the incumbents can easily build a feature that you know bundles everything right and probably you won't have your

own distribution channel for example I think like if you want to build a noteaker think it through right probably find another direction because it's super easy for zoom or you know Google meet to have that feature in their

existing workflow because you're targeting basically the same ICP same market same almost you know same or adjacent use cases attached to a big

workflow, a big platform. I think every AI founder should be somehow AGIP, which means that you can predict or you should

be confident to make some predictions about what the financial models can release in the next few weeks or months, right? if they are already doing you

right? if they are already doing you know some job 80% very well 90% very well I think it's you know in their second in their next few release they

can probably do that job like 99% well or even 100% right so um run that test in your internal strategic discussions

if you're just becoming a rapper with some prompts then probably you don't have to write any prompts in the second release in the next release of um Gemini

or CH GPT you need to focus on solving like a vertical business problem um by like integrating the workflow end to end right you need

to own the workflow end to end so that you know AI is part of the workflow but it's not all right instead like if you build a rapper with some prompt engineering AI is almost the endto-end

workflow itself >> can you also walk me through um the process of coming up with pricing for an AI tool how do you decide on cuz I know you have lower tier but then you also

have like a 20k check for um bigger companies. How do you come up with the

companies. How do you come up with the price?

>> Pricing is a is a real science. So

couple of factors we uh considered in the first place. For example, first what is your value creation? How to measure your value creation? Right? Um before

using your product, what would your users do to achieve the goal uh to get the job to be done? uh they probably you know spend their own time which there is

a price for their own time right they probably outsource it to some vendors or um yeah they pay humans to get the job done or they may like use some like OG

tools uh by some professional guys like in our use case professional editors to to get the job done. So in our industry

like editing a clip, editing a like a viral ready high quality clip, one minute clip often takes about 1 hour or

at least 30 minutes and the price the market price is about 25 to $50.

>> So that's the value creation we're benchmarking against. The second thing

benchmarking against. The second thing is about your unit economy. um because

you have inference cost um and that can even that can go down in the future but um it's still very pricey in the early

days and also for videos another elephant in the room for the cost is the storage. The storage can be just 5% in

storage. The storage can be just 5% in the early days but it can become like 50% of your total cogs after 3 or 5 years.

>> Yeah. So the unit economy you want to make sure it's healthy, it's um sustainable. The third one I was I would

sustainable. The third one I was I would say just do as many experiments as possible. We actually send out like

possible. We actually send out like thousands of surveys in the first few months and we tweaked our pricing logic again and again well in the early days right you don't want to change

drastically in the in the late stage but in the early stage um we we did a lot of survey customer interview to understand how much they are willing to pay. Um

because even you have a clear value creation and a well- calculated um unit economy, can users still perceive that right? Is your metric clear enough for

right? Is your metric clear enough for user to understand the value creation, you know, to buy in your value creation that is still relying on your market

messaging and also your um metric setup like most of the products are using a metric of usage instead of seat. I think

that makes sense especially for solo printers. Uh but the experiment really

printers. Uh but the experiment really tell tells us what price to go because you don't have to uh set up a price that everyone are happy with. You probably

have a assumption or hypothesis of what kind of customers you want to target too, right? All you need to do is to

too, right? All you need to do is to make sure those ICPS are okay, are happy with the price. you probably have to say

no to like 70% of the early stage users but you should be to only focus on your ICAP in in the early days and then maybe you can develop other you know pressing

or even product um capabilities for the rest of the users.

>> Yeah, the the importance of saying no right all the time. When you said you do customer interviews, how many interviews do you need to do in order to land on some kind of a decision?

>> I think the number of customer interviews are not the key. Uh but how you do it is more important. Um I think we did about 20 to 30 um for on average

for one single um critical product decisions. But we set the distribution

decisions. But we set the distribution of the those 20 to 30 um customers in a in a very um mey way where like okay

four marketers you know five creators and also they're in different industries. They're they come with

industries. They're they come with different um you know purchasing empower come from different geographic locations backgrounds. You want to make sure they

backgrounds. You want to make sure they are representative enough to help you make a decision.

>> You don't need a lot but you need to have a clear concise set of um testers.

>> Yeah, you want to make sure you get like a full picture of the market.

>> That's really helpful for the research and validation phase. Now once you're in building mode, what about the AI skills?

What is the number one AI skill everyone should be working on right now?

>> The number one AI skill is should actually go for first principle. It

doesn't matter like if you're using AI for um you know design your poster um you v code your prototype. I think

everyone should treat AI as your thinking partner or even thought partner. Which means that when you are

partner. Which means that when you are having a problem of understanding your users, when you are having problem of managing your teams, when you are having

problems of um figuring out your pricing or you know all the critical decisions in your lifetime uh when you are a founder, I think traditionally you will just go reach out to your coach or some

more senior people uh or people with relevant experience, right, to ask for their advice. But I think in this era of

their advice. But I think in this era of AI, you should run through it with your with you know Gemini or Chad GBT. They

are actually a very very senior very important thinking partner. Um just you know instead of like asking one line of questions um throw as many context as

possible um and also you know do like more than 20 rounds of back and forth um communications.

you will be mindblowingly enlightened through these conversations. So nowadays

that's how I practice myself.

>> Do is there a certain daily practice that you have? Uh I talked to Mustafa Sleman on this podcast. Uh he's a CEO of Microsoft AI and he shared that every

single day he would talk to Copilot and just tell Copilot about what the day has been like and the decision that he's made and how those decisions made him

feel. So that when in 3 months he has

feel. So that when in 3 months he has something like a similar problem, he still talks to the same threat and copilot and copilot will be like, "Oh, when you made that decision 3 months ago, you actually regret it. So this

time let's do this." Is there something similar that you have?

>> Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. Because I think the current uh chatbot uh memory is so powerful that uh so what I um like monthly one of my monthly ritual is that

I ask chat to PT about um you know what are my major decisions in the past month um you know give me some comment um feedback on >> but that means you shared every single

>> I shared everything. Yeah.

>> How does it like every night you just sit and like these are the decisions I made or >> Yeah. Sometimes I you know talk to the

>> Yeah. Sometimes I you know talk to the AI in that way and sometimes I would just um >> um forward my decision just um like I

captured like a screenshots of our group discussion. Um I dropped a link of my

discussion. Um I dropped a link of my the document of of a PRD of a spec uh that kind of thing too. I yeah I I I kind of forced myself to >> to document.

>> Yeah. To document it.

>> So you said Gemini is the best for it or >> Yeah. I'm um I'm I'm heavily using both

>> Yeah. I'm um I'm I'm heavily using both JA and ChBT. Okay. Yeah.

>> But I think recently I realized they really memorized almost everything I talked to them. So now I can start a new question like what is the biggest

mistake I made in the past 6 months? Uh

what is one thing you you want to suggest to me? Uh if you could three months ago. I think this becomes super

months ago. I think this becomes super powerful right now.

>> I love these questions. Let everyone go go to your favorite app and ask those questions. I'm going to do this right

questions. I'm going to do this right after the interview.

>> It's a good like end of the year practice to see what's what's going on.

Love it. Absolutely.

>> Do you have any top three AI business ideas you would start >> if you hadn't had Opus Club?

>> It's hard to name like three ideas um because I'm not an investor. I you know I I don't meet as many founders as possible. Um but I think the general

possible. Um but I think the general first principle uh for now right the question is to start a business like in 2026.

>> Yeah >> as we discussed the market is becoming super competitive and there are like for most of the markets or industries uh there are like more than 20 50 AI tools

out there already. Um so the first principle I would say is to find a really niche business. Often times many people don't really understand what is a niche. For example, is restaurant

niche. For example, is restaurant business a niche? No. Is Chinese

restaurant a niche? No. Is um canonist Chinese

a niche? No. Is um canonist Chinese restaurant business a niche? Still no.

Um you have to drill down. Uh there are, you know, so many different types of canonist food. Um and even for one

canonist food. Um and even for one specific vertical um are you going to target to be like the um the Chanel of Canada's restaurant or the Zara of or

Uniqlo of Canada's restaurant right so the different pricing will match to different um markets different ICPS as well so pick a really really really small niche that you cannot further

segment it >> to start with um >> Wow that's that's a good one yeah >> yeah you have to ruthlessly segment your niche The second thing is ideally pick

something that's boring because the non- boring the cool ones are definitely 10x or even a more 100x more competitive.

You probably don't want to work in those areas. That's why I mentioned earlier

areas. That's why I mentioned earlier that the passion for building the passion for problem solving is more important because your passion for a

specific business is most likely not a viable business. Right? So you need to

viable business. Right? So you need to have a passion to build something for a boring industry but you solve a really big problem and furthermore ideally

there are a lot of existing services. I

think we are actually you know changing from we're redefining the term SAS and previously it was like software as a service nowadays it's becoming service

as a software. So in that specific market niche, boring market niche, are there existing services um done by like agencies um by

freelancers um or some internal tools or some hacky solutions, imperfect hacky solutions. Um that is your opportunity

solutions. Um that is your opportunity to tackle. Um so go through some boring

to tackle. Um so go through some boring test, go through some niche test and go through some service test. Um, so these are the my first principles to find a new business in 2026.

>> That's great. That's great. That's

amazing. Okay. And for young viewers who watching, what is one principle that you wish you understood when you were 20 that would saved you years?

>> Damn, >> it's like me talking to your internal Gemini tragedy.

>> I really wish I can travel back to my 20s. But um I think the first principle

20s. But um I think the first principle is to be as disciplined as possible. Um

I've been following um Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James for two decades.

They are at their 40s and they're still one of the best players in their fields.

The reasons are they are super disciplined in their early 20s. Uh you

can't change your behavior when you are over 30 or 40. it's it's just impossible. Um but if you're like in

impossible. Um but if you're like in your early 20s or even younger, um make sure that you use time effectively. Make

sure you can plan things accordingly.

Make sure you push yourself to your boundary. Make sure you are okay with

boundary. Make sure you are okay with you know suffers. Um you can recover fast. Uh make sure you have clear

fast. Uh make sure you have clear mission and you are well aligned with your mission. and you work toward

your mission. and you work toward automation every day. I think you know I can list a few different behaviors but the key principle is to be super disciplined if you want to be a

successful founder uh later on and also be disciplined to your own health right like how many hours you should log to sleep um what you should eat or not um

what kind of exercise you should do you should do every day like I I saw many people started to develop these um patterns these behaviors in their 30s

but not in their early 20s.

>> It's hard in your 30s. I love that. And

also that brings you to say no to different things and it's also a great skill.

>> Yeah. Yeah.

>> Yeah. This is something I've been hearing a lot when I'm talking to people who are building something amazing.

>> Yeah. Discipline. I think Priscilla Chan just shared that she only has work and family. Parties don't exist in her life.

family. Parties don't exist in her life.

>> Not exist anymore.

>> Yeah. And this is what you hear a lot from successful people here in the US.

They work like crazy.

>> I'm trying to learn. Like I think I'm disciplined, but like that level of discipline. Oh my god.

discipline. Oh my god.

>> Yeah. Exactly. Because with a super high level of discipline, you can just like master said, right? You can segment your your time into, you know, buckets of

five minutes. You can easily you can

five minutes. You can easily you can easily get super focused and also switch context to focus on something else. That

is the ultimate result of discipline. I

saw many people like find really hard to switch context to focus for a longer time. That is because you are lacking

time. That is because you are lacking the discipline from day one.

>> This is something I'll be teaching my kids.

>> Thank you so much. It was amazing.

>> Thank you. Oh, thank you ever having