In recent weeks, we have become accustomed to seeing people share their ChatGPT wins on social media. The latest example is Ihor Stefurak, who says he built an AI Chrome extension with the help of ChatGPT 3.5 before selling the startup three weeks later to software marketplace Acquire.
AI-powered entrepreneur
Stefurak detailed the process on Twitter, revealing that he had ‘brought ChatGPT on board as my CTO’ in March. The goal was to create a Chrome extension that resided in the text boxes of visited websites. By simply typing /ai followed by a prompt, users could leverage the tool to generate text in the relevant field.
✨ I spent the last 10 hours building a chrome extension with ChatGPT as my CTO.
We made an invisible AI assistant that lives in the text boxes of websites you visit. One command, infinite possibilities.
Just type /ai + add your prompt -> https://t.co/QLBH6NBHaP pic.twitter.com/M4GOp2CVDE
— Ihor Stefurak (@ihorstefurak) March 16, 2023
The process of creating the extension took 10 hours and Stefurak was quickly inundated with likes, retweets and replies as users pre-ordered the tool and soon put it through its paces. “This is going to streamline so much work for people!” said one, while another added “Well, that was an impulse purchase, looking forward to testing it out – real nice concept.”
Describing his motivation for the venture, Stefurak said “It all started as a fun experiment to see what was possible. I’m not a programmer but have some experience writing apps script. Nor have I ever created Chrome extensions before… So I upgraded to ChatGPT Plus and wrote my first prompt asking for help.”
Working as ChatGPT’s ‘prompt engineer’, the entrepreneur says the process of creating the tool was ‘somewhat easy’ and within the capabilities of a non-technical person, providing they understood the code (sounds like a technical person to me). Amazingly, $1k worth of pre-orders were made within just 24 hours of the assistant’s completion.
Although proud of the tool, Stefurak admits that he worked hard to network and market it as a slew of imitators attempted to ‘capitalize on the same idea.’ To get the word out, he contacted TikTok influencers and media figures and managed to get mentioned in Ben Tossell’s influential AI newsletter. “I even cooked up a programmatic SEO project for the extension,” he said.
The extension is now available from https://typeslashai.com/ for a one-off cost of $19.
A quick build, a swift exit
Rather than stay behind the wheel, Stefurak sold the tool to Acquire for an undisclosed sum.
‘I’m exploring AI and want to create various things,’ he explained on Twitter. ‘/ai went viral and gained traction, so I had to make a choice: grow, sell, or shut it down. I chose to sell and move forward.’
Moving forward is likely to involve more AI experimentation, as he ‘came up with numerous ideas and even developed a few prototypes’ during his recent adventure.
Stefurak isn’t the first person to use ChatGPT for business. Jackson Fall did the same thing, assigning the tool a budget of $100 and instructing it to make “as much money as possible.” As MetaNews reported, the venture – nicknamed HustleGPT – soon faced challenges and ultimately fell well short of Fall’s $100k goal.
Two days ago, Fall posted a HustleGPT update on Twitter, though it was somewhat thin on details, particularly in terms of the numbers generated by the affiliate marketing site, Green Gadget Guru, he had founded with help from the AI.
The thread prompted mixed responses, with some users unfollowing and demanding the 30-day results from the HustleGPT challenge.
“Followed you for HustleGPT as found the idea brilliant and the ride sounded really exciting, but then somehow it all evolved into some community BS,” wrote one, Priyanshu Jha. “Finally I read your thread today and read the words “NFT” when giving update on GGG – yet another crypto grift. Bye bye!”
and then