AI apps are the hardest way to make money
44sIt challenges the trendy AI-startup narrative and promises a contrarian, boring path to real profits.
▶ Play Clip"Promises AI businesses but the entire video is about non-AI middleman models — total disconnect between title and content."
The video debunks the AI business hype, explaining that the most reliable businesses for beginners run on a simple middleman model: connecting people who have something with people who need it. It presents four specific, unglamorous niche markets — running gear, women's boxing gear, disc golf, and aquarium supplies — with real-world proof and step-by-step starting points.
Building AI businesses might sound attractive, but consistent money comes from unsexy, embarrassingly simple models that most people overlook.
Amazon and Uber don't invent revolutionary products; they connect people who have something with people who need it and take a cut. This same model applies to any niche.
Runners buy gear that reflects their identity, not just function. Running club memberships grew nearly 60% in the last year, making this an identity-driven community.
George started screen printing t-shirts in his parents' shed in 2011 and built 247 into a brand doing close to £100M a year by building a community before launching products.
Pick one specific product (headbands, hydration belts, apparel), research Strava groups, local run clubs and subreddits, and test product ideas directly with the community.
Women's boxing is growing fast, but almost all gear is still designed for men. KO Studio's founder documented her process on social media and gained 100k followers before launch.
Disc golf has over 5 million active players and courses have nearly tripled since 2015, yet big brands ignore it. Dynamic Discs started when a student sourced a $15 disc directly from a manufacturer, now doing ~$6M a year.
Aquarium hobbyists spend heavily and constantly. Aquarium Co-op did over $500k in a single month and built a $13.5M business by creating content around the hobby.
Run ads to get fast proof of concept and early sales, while building organic content on the side for long-term compounding growth.
The middleman model is simple; the hard part is picking the right community, knowing which products to test, and deciding when to scale or pull back.
The middleman model is a reliable, low-risk way to build a business, but success depends on execution: choosing a passionate niche, testing ideas cheaply, and using content and ads to get customers. The video's four examples show that boring communities can quietly generate millions.
What is the middleman model?
Connecting people who have something with people who need something and taking a cut for the connection.
01:10
What psychological concept explains why runners buy identity-driven gear?
Self-image congruence — people buy things that make them feel like the person they want to be.
01:49
By how much did running club memberships grow last year?
Nearly 60%.
02:16
What did George start in his parents' garden shed in 2011?
A screen-printing t-shirt business that became the brand 247.
03:25
What is the approximate annual revenue of 247?
Close to 100 million pounds.
03:38
What did the founder of KO Studio do before shipping her first gloves?
Documented her sourcing process and journey on social media, gaining over 100,000 followers.
10:01
How many active disc golf players are there?
Over 5 million.
11:42
How did Dynamic Discs start?
A college student noticed that a $15 disc could be sourced directly from a manufacturer and became the middleman, eventually making ~$6M a year.
12:09
How much did Aquarium Co-op make in a single month last year?
Over half a million dollars.
14:28
What are the two ways to get in front of the aquarium community?
Run ads for fast sales or build content around the hobby to let trust sell for you.
14:40
The Middleman Model Works
Provides a simple, repeatable business framework that anyone can apply to any niche.
01:10247 Proves Community-First Branding
Shows that a shed startup can scale to £100M by building a lifestyle community before selling.
03:38Document the Process to Pre-Sell
Turning content into a launch audience without any ad spend is a powerful zero-cost strategy.
10:01Underground Niches Beat Crowded Sports
Less competition and high community loyalty can mean higher margins than mainstream markets.
12:09Ads Plus Content = Faster Validation
Combining immediate paid sales with long-term organic content is the fastest path to proof of concept.
14:40[00:01] building AI businesses, agencies, apps, automated systems. And look, some of that stuff does work, but it's honestly one of the hardest ways that you could noticed after building multiple seven-figure businesses from [music]
[00:14] absolute scratch. People making consistent money every single month are about. And the reason nobody talks about them is because they are not sexy, embarrassingly simple, almost kind of boring. But that's exactly why they
[00:29] these, you need to understand the model behind them first. Because once you do, you'll start seeing opportunities everywhere. Let's get into it. Now look, Some of the biggest companies in the world started that way. But for most
[00:43] people that are starting out, it's one of the hardest paths that you can take. realize. You don't need to create anything to start a business. And if you biggest companies in the world. Amazon, they didn't create a revolutionary
[00:57] product, they just connect people with the products they want to buy. Uber, they didn't come out with a super futuristic car, right? They just a ride. They all do pretty much the exact same thing. They connect people
[01:10] who have something with people who need something. And then they take a cut for making that connection happen. That is the middleman model. You take something that already exists and you connect it to people who want it. And the best part
[01:22] literally any type of business. It could be cars, it could be cosmetics, sports, gaming, whatever you want. But not all of them are equal. Some are way easier to enter as a beginner. And the four businesses that I'm about to show you
[01:36] are the best ones to start right now. So the first one is one that most people would never think about starting. And honestly, that is exactly why it works. running gear, they're not just buying something that is functional, they're
[01:49] buying into who they are. The gear is a part of the identity that they want to name in psychology, it's called self-image congruence, which basically just means people buy things that make them feel like the person that they
[02:03] not, runners are one of the most identity-driven communities on the exercise for these people, it is their entire life. These are the type of people that are posting their splits on running apps. They're wearing the gear
[02:16] weekends around race schedules, and run clubs have completely blown up right now. Memberships grew nearly 60% in the last year alone. Running stopped being just a simple workout, and it became a whole lifestyle and an identity. People
[02:32] are building literal communities around it. Brands are forming out of those communities, and the spending that follows is absolutely crazy. Now, here's where the opportunity comes in. The big brands like Nike, Adidas, Under Armour,
[02:44] they're trying to sell to everyone, right? Which means that their stuff ends up being just fine and okay. It does the job, but it doesn't feel personal. And is because their whole business model requires mass appeal, right? They
[02:57] physically cannot go deep on one single community because that's just not how these massive companies operate. So, you don't need to compete directly with that they're ignoring. That is the middleman play. So, you become the
[03:11] connection between the passionate runners and the gear that they actually reflect who they are. And the best proof of what's possible here is 247 by started this whole thing, which was screen printing t-shirts in their
[03:25] parents' garden shed back in 2011. So, George was training every single day and kept reaching for the same Nike tracksuit bottoms, but they never fit quite right or exactly how he wanted them to look. So, what he did, he just
[03:38] built what he wanted, and that became 247. And what started as a personal frustration turned into a brand that's doing close to 100 million pounds [music] a year in revenue. And here's what made it work. They didn't just
[03:50] launch a product, they built a community around the lifestyle first. So, they whole entire movement. So, by the time was already there waiting to buy. Now, you're not going to go ahead and build
[04:02] Represent overnight, but the model behind it is something that anyone can you actually get started. So, the first thing is picking one specific product to could start with headbands, hydration gear, running belts, apparel, whatever
[04:16] it may be. And to figure out which one you need to go where runners are already talking. So, Strava groups, local run clubs, running subreddits. You want to complaining about, what they wish existed on the market, and then what
[04:31] keeps coming up over and over again. Or, you could just go and literally ask them Chicken Legs. Chicken Legs is a running brand that was built entirely around bold personality-driven gear for the running community. And one of the things
[04:45] that they do really well is run a design contest, which is really cool. basically when customers, they can go ahead and submit ideas for new prints, and the community votes on which ones actually get made. Now, this company isn't
[04:59] guessing what to sell next, and you can do the exact same thing even if you are is you can go to communities, show three product ideas, see which one people actually respond to, and that one post could cost you literally nothing if
[05:12] you're simply submitting it to a community or a forum. It could save you nobody wants. That is literally how you start. And once you know what you're sell it. Now, let me show you how to get this sorted out in a couple minutes for
[05:26] that you need is Shopify. It's one of the main platforms that pretty much everyone uses. And right now, you can get it for a dollar for the next 3 description of this video, uh the one that you're watching, and you simply
[05:39] have to go to this link right here, and you will see the attached offer for a when it's normally $30 a month. But, once you've got your account, the next your store URL is going to look something like a bunch of random
[05:53] letters.myshopify.com just like this, which doesn't really look like a real business. So, you're going to want a proper domain. And the one that I go with is a .store domain. Now, when someone sees your brand.store,
[06:06] confusion, there's no second-guessing. And then there's actual data that shows clicks. And as you can see here, some of the biggest names and brands are using .store. So, this has really become the standard when it comes to selling
[06:21] online. So, super straightforward. All you have to do is insert the brand name that you would like. Uh so, we'll type in RunGear for the sake of this example. We'll press search. And then as you can see, this domain is available, which is
[06:33] really cool. So, RunGear.store, all we have to do is add this to cart and proceed like this. And then the domain for a year is $29, but if you use my code, which is Andy, and you apply it, you can see that you get a $28 discount
[06:47] so that the domain ends up being only 99 cents. So, pretty much a no-brainer. All you have to do is press place order and then go back to your Shopify and connect your .store domain with your Shopify store. And then once you make that
[06:59] to be a bunch of random letters.myshopify.com, it's going to be these businesses that I'm going over are some of the best opportunities out there right now. And if you want help actually
[07:12] building out one of these, that is what my mentorship program is for. So, we'll sell, how to get your first customers, and make the right call so that you are not second-guessing anything throughout this whole process. Now, if this sounds
[07:25] free to apply below and we'll see if you're a good fit. Now, the middleman model works best when you find a community where the current options aren't actually built for them. And this next business is maybe the clearest
[07:37] example of this. Now, when a group of people enter a space that was traditionally dominated by a different group. You're not just buying products because they are useful, they're buying to feel like they belong. Now, this is
[07:50] exactly what happened with women's athletic gear for decades. Women's workout clothes were literally just smaller versions of men's clothes. That is all the market was offering. But then brands like Lululemon came along and
[08:02] women's body, and they built billion-dollar businesses because of that. And the exact same opportunity exists right now in women's boxing gear. So, women's boxing and combat fitness have exploded over the past few years
[08:16] one of the fastest-growing fitness categories. [music] So, right now there are hundreds of boutique boxing studios, women's boxing clubs, and then there's millions of views. So, needless to say the community is massive and still
[08:30] growing. But here's the problem, almost all the boxing gear is still designed for men. The gloves, the wraps, the bags, pretty much everything. All of it is still built for male bodies and preferences. So, women in the space are
[08:42] constantly frustrated because they have to find ways to use gear that really isn't designed to fit them properly. So, they're almost desperate for a brand example of this is KO Studio. They're making products that are functional and
[08:56] that make women feel like they truly belong in this space. You can look how branding, how they speak to their community, and then of course what their products look like. It's clear that they understand exactly what this community
[09:09] wanted. So, business is connecting women from combat fitness communities with products specifically designed for them. So, you can sell products like gloves, wraps, boxing apparel, and training accessories. But the most important part
[09:21] here is going to be the branding because it needs to reflect both the strength and the femininity at the same time, and the generic stuff in this case just of what they really want, you can search boxing hashtags on Instagram. So, combat
[09:34] fitness influencers or studio communities, these will give you a really good sense of what the community is looking for at the moment. Now, after you have a solid idea of what to sell, you need to find a way to get in front
[09:46] product. And one of the best ways is to make content around your progress. That's exactly what the founder of KO Studio actually did. She was 18 years didn't launch with a full product line or a big marketing budget, right? What
[10:01] create an account, and document everything from the sourcing process, work, and then, you know, of course, her wins. She basically put it all out there, but by the time her first gloves were actually ready to ship, she already
[10:15] had over 100,000 followers emotionally invested into seeing her succeed. So, supported her and bought her products. Now, she didn't get to 100,000 followers overnight, right? That took showing up every single day, putting in work when
[10:31] work, but the principle behind it is something that anyone can start right serve, open up an account, and just start documenting the process. So, what you're researching, what you're testing, what's working and what isn't. When you
[10:45] your story, they came to you. Okay, so this next business is maybe the most list, and I say that because when most people hear what it is, their first reaction, honestly, my first reaction, too, is seriously. If I tell you that
[10:59] you're probably going to think that I'm talking about football, soccer, basketball, but the problem with going for the most popular sports is going to are fighting over the same customers with the same products. So, you'd end up
[11:14] competing on price and making almost nothing for each sale. So, instead, you want to go for something that's more underground in this case. Now, the Underground sports are some of the best markets in the world. Even though that
[11:27] doesn't sound intuitive, they are because communities are really prove it. Now, the sport that I would choose right now is disc golf. Disc golf went from a fringe hobby to a legitimate sport with over 5 million active
[11:42] players, and the numbers of courses worldwide has nearly tripled since 2015. casual players that shop one time a year, right? They're constantly buying new discs, upgrading their bags, trying new types of gear. The spending never
[11:57] really stops, and the competition from giant corporation is basically zero because they prefer to be in more popular markets. Now, if you want proof you can go ahead and look at this company called Dynamic Discs. It's
[12:09] estimated that they make around $6 million a year. And here's the thing, business plan. The guy was just a college student who noticed that the same disc sitting on the shelf for $15 could be sourced directly from
[12:22] just became the person in the middle connecting the two. That's literally it. And that one insight turned into a company doing $6 million a year. You could sell discs for different throws, bags, mini markers, towels, and
[12:36] accessories, but it won't work if you don't know what this community really wants. So, look for golf subreddits. You can look at Facebook groups, YouTube research and build your brand and
[12:49] community this tight, word travels pretty fast. One person buys your disc, then suddenly you got 10 new customers. Now, the fourth business is the one that I saved for last because it might be the best example of a business that sounds
[13:04] so boring, but it quietly is making an insane amount of money. So, if you know they'll do anything for their pets. They will buy the best food. They'll make basically treat them like family. So, it's clearly a good market. But when I
[13:18] say pet owners, you probably think that I'm thinking of dogs or cats. And the competition for dog and cat products is pretty much brutal. Instead, you want like fish. Now, thing is, smaller doesn't necessarily mean less money. The
[13:33] global aquarium market is worth billions of dollars, and for the last 5 years, it's only been growing. Aquarium hobbyists are one of the highest spending and most dedicated communities out there. These people, believe it or
[13:46] not, they truly care about their fish, and they build them entire ecosystems to live in, even if that cost them hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. And work, they need to perform maintenance constantly. Tanks, filtration, lighting,
[14:00] plants, substrate, fish, and an endless stream of accessories and supplies. much never ends, which means that spending never ends, either. And here's why this is a gold mine for a middleman. The big retail chains, like PetSmart and
[14:14] aquarium stuff. And the people who are serious about this, they can't stand it, specialized products and better quality what they want. Now, Aquarium Co-op is the proof that this works. These guys
[14:28] built a business. They did over half a million dollars in a single month last year alone. Now, there are two ways to get in front of this community. You can run ads, and that's honestly one of the fastest ways to get early sales or to
[14:40] test the market, or you can build content around the hobby. You can be the person that's teaching people how to set up better tanks and let the trust do the selling for you. Now, in Aquarium Co-op's case, they went the organic
[14:53] content route, and they built that $13.5 million business off the back of a best move would just going to be to do both. So, run ads to get your first sales going, to gain proof of concept, and start making content on the side at
[15:06] bring in the money right now, and the content is just going to keep working in Now, all four of these businesses run on the same model, and honestly, the model itself is not the hard part. The hard part is the execution. So, picking the
[15:20] right community, knowing which products to test first, understanding when to scale and when to pull back. That is where pretty much majority of people get mentorship program is for. Now, if you guys are really serious about building
[15:32] partner, I'll leave a link below for you guys to apply. Now, if you want to see from zero, I put together a challenge video where I did the whole thing in 7 watch. If you want to, you can see it right here. Other than that, I will see
[15:47] right here. Other than that, I will see you in the next one. Peace.
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