It’s the Best Time Ever to Become a Millionaire by Working Alone
There are more—and richer—tiny companies. AI could be playing a big role.
The debate about the future of jobs and AI often polarizes into two extreme categories, neither of which I find particularly useful.
On one side, there are the Doomers. They predict that AI will destroy millions of jobs. Most notably, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has sometimes predicted an imminent entry-level white-collar wipeout. The problem with this theory is that it doesn’t really stand up to the current data. The employment rate for prime-age workers in the U.S. is near its all-time high, and a survey of corporate executives found “little evidence of near-term aggregate employment declines due to AI.” Practically every claim of AI’s strong effects on the labor force are highly contested among economists.
On the other side, there are the Deniers. They insist that AI is a scam, a stochastic parrot, and an overhyped category of vaporware. But while the Doomers too often live in a future that doesn’t exist, the Deniers too frequently dwell in a past that’s no longer with us. The generative AI economy, which barely existed four years ago, has now generated between $100 billion and $200 billion in total revenue in the last 12 months, and AI’s facility with coding has transformed the jobs of millions of software engineers.
Between doom and denial, there is the evidence. Through the mists of statistical confusion, a clearer picture of AI and the future of work is finally coming into view. AI doesn’t seem to be obliterating jobs so much as leading to the explosion of a very specific kind of work, which has major implications for the way we think about AI, the future of jobs, and how to get rich in America.
I. Matt’s Story
Matt Rosenberg left his job at Amazon in 2025. He wanted to open a restaurant in the East Bay with his Thai wife, whose family had served food in Bangkok for decades.
Hoping to buy a restaurant, Matt shared his plans with ChatGPT. He shared strategy documents, foot-traffic research, and videos of restaurant kitchens. One day, he said, ChatGPT suggested he look into “micro-enterprise home kitchens,” a little-known rule that allows families to sell food that they whip up at home. Soon, the couple opened a restaurant from their own kitchen called Bangkok Rush Thai Kitchen.
Restaurants can exist without AI; millions have. But Bangkok Rush Thai Kitchen might not. Matt and his wife have used AI to build their website, keep up with compliance, manage their inventory, and analyze customer trends. “Starting a business takes a lot out of you,” he told me. “Without ChatGPT, I think my wife and I might have given up early on in this process.”
Today, the Rosenbergs’ restaurant—whose most popular dishes include khanom krok, a small round coconut pancake—sells out of desserts so frequently that they’re looking to open a brick-and-mortar location. Flush with confidence, Matt has even started a second business: a one-man consultancy that teaches other people how to start a company using AI.1
II. The Rise of the Solo Act—and the Indie Millionaire
This is a golden age for solo acts. There has never been a better or easier time to work independently. And there has never been an easier time to become a millionaire by working for yourself.
I’m going to walk through this phenomenon step-by-step, and then I’ll tell you why it’s happening and whether I think it’s going to last:
