Startup Stories - Mixergy

Eric Ries, who helped so many entrepreneurs build phenomenally successful businesses based on his Lean Startup philosophy, is back with a new book called Incorruptible. The book explains why some companies succeed over the long term, while others wither. I asked him to tell us the stories of the AI companies he’s worked with and studied, and talk about how he used AI help him research his book. Eric Ries is the entrepreneur and author behind The Lean Startup, one of the most influential startup books of the last decade. He has advised founders and companies around the world on innovation, long-term thinking, and organizational design, and he also helped shape governance structures for mission-driven AI companies like Anthropic. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

The zero-human company with the $10 million run rate has a lot of skeptics online. I collected all the skeptics’ challenges and asked the founder about each one. This is my explosive second interview with Ben Cera, founder of Polsia, the company that will build you an AI-run company. Ben Cera is the founder of Polsia, an AI platform that helps users launch businesses and software products using autonomous agents. Before Polsia, Ben built and sold startups in the creator and consumer internet space, and later raised significant venture funding to pursue AI-native products. Today, Polsia combines AI agents, infrastructure partners, and automation tools to make entrepreneurship accessible to non-technical users. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Chandler Bolt realized that much of what his sales managers did at Selfpublishing.com can be done better by good AI. Within a month, he built a first version with spiked sales. Now he’s replacing all his managers. This is his guide to doing it well. Chandler Bolt is the founder and CEO of SelfPublishing.com, an education company that helps entrepreneurs and experts write, publish, and market books. Over the past decade, the company has helped publish more than 7,000 books and grown into an eight-figure business. Today, Chandler is focused on using AI tools like Lovable to build internal systems that improve sales, operations, and management at scale. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I first heard about this guy on the Joe Rogan show. He built a hot business on a simple concept: Companies hire him to embed AI usage and thinking in their businesses. Now he’s creating his own agent software (a customized version of NeoClaw) that he’s installing in companies. Best of all: Jon Cheney says what he built at GenAIPI can be built by people listening to this episode. We break down how. Jon Cheney is the founder of GenAIPI (General AI Proficiency Institute), an AI consulting and enablement company that helps businesses adopt AI through training, strategy, and implementation. He previously built and exited a venture-backed startup, then used AI tools to launch GenAIPI from scratch with just $400. Today, the company is at roughly $4.5M ARR and is evolving from fractional AI consulting into software-assisted AI infrastructure for clients. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

On X, Shane Mac showed how he created an OpenClaw agent and asked it to copy an app. In this interview, he showed how his app Convos, does it. This interview is more visual than our usual ones, so you should head over to our YouTube channel for builders to see it. Shane Mac is the founder of XMTP, the protocol behind Convos, a chat app that allows users to launch and interact with AI agents like OpenClaw and Hermes on their phones. He is building tools that make agents more personal, more mobile, and more useful in everyday life, from coordination and planning to app creation and information monitoring. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Zapier just announced a new way for founders to integrate all their favorite apps with their favorite AI model. Wade Foster, their co-founder, came on to show what we can build with it. Wade Foster is the co-founder and CEO of Zapier, the automation platform that connects thousands of business apps and workflows. In this interview, he shares how he is using Zapier’s SDK and coding agents to automate parts of his own CEO role, from customer outreach and meeting prep to hiring review and daily planning. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

When OpenClaw was released, I watched Nat Eliason create an agent, give it an X account and tell it to earn money. This is the story of how it worked and how you can build an AI agent as your co-founder or employee. Nat Eliason is the operator behind Felix, an autonomous OpenClaw agent business that has generated nearly $200,000 in about two months through products, services, and agent-focused software. He is also building tools like Claw Mart, Sodex, and Agent Letters to support the growing ecosystem of AI agents doing real commercial work online. In addition to this work, he is involved with Alpha School, where he is helping shape entrepreneurship-focused education. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

There are loads of apps that post to social media. So how did Nevo David get Postiz to take off? He started selling it to AI agents Nevo David is the founder of Postiz, an open-source social media scheduling platform designed for automation and AI-driven workflows. By leaning into open source, building tools for agents like OpenClaw, and simplifying integrations through a CLI interface, Nevo turned a crowded product category into a fast-growing bootstrapped SaaS. Today Postiz generates over $45K in monthly recurring revenue while continuing to evolve for the emerging agent ecosystem. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

In private conversations, I’m hearing a lot of founders describe how they’re starting to sell to AI agents, like OpenClaw’s. Zapier has more traction doing that than anyone else I met. So, in my monthly podcast with Zapier’s founder, Wade Foster, I asked him to show me how they’re doing it. Wade Foster is the co-founder and CEO of Zapier, the automation platform used by hundreds of thousands of businesses to connect over 8,000 apps. Since launching in 2011, Zapier has grown into a remote-first company with more than 800 employees and hundreds of millions in revenue. Today, Wade is leading Zapier’s evolution into AI-powered automation, MCP integrations, and tools built for an agent-driven future. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Ben Cera used AI coding agents to build a company that generates $689K. The agent creates ads using AI-generated people, handles customer support, and even builds the product. This is the story of how he built Polsia and the future of business. Ben Cera is the founder of Polsia, an AI platform that autonomously builds and operates online businesses. A serial entrepreneur and former operator at CloudKitchens, Ben is now focused on creating AI-native companies where agents handle engineering, marketing, and operations with minimal human oversight. Polsia allows anyone to launch a business for $50/month, while the platform takes 20% of revenue in exchange for running the company. Sponsored byZapier More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint