{"id":2379,"date":"2020-04-14T05:13:18","date_gmt":"2020-04-14T02:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kusuaks7\/?p=1984"},"modified":"2023-12-18T13:16:36","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T13:16:36","slug":"five-ways-you-can-avoid-ai-startup-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/ai-ml\/five-ways-you-can-avoid-ai-startup-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Ways You Can Avoid AI Startup Failure"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Takeaway:<\/strong>\u00a0Success requires lateral thinking, planning ahead, and smart strategies to emerge among a horde of potential competitors.<\/i><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote><\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe\u00a0artificial intelligence<\/a>\u00a0(AI) hype is getting hold of a lot of young\u00a0developers<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0startup<\/a>\u00a0entrepreneurs who see this new technology as a huge opportunity to make profits. (Read\u00a0How I Got Here: 12 Questions With Web Entrepreneur Angie Chang<\/a>.)\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHowever, things are rarely simple, and this amazing technology that\u00a0promises to disrupt so many verticals<\/a>\u00a0is generally not well understood and frequently confused with a lot of fluff and empty claims.\n\nSuccess requires lateral thinking, planning ahead, and smart strategies to emerge among a horde of potential competitors. (Read\u00a0The Ultimate Guide to Applying AI in Business<\/a>.)\n\n\nLet\u2019s wrap up some actionable advice that could help you be among that 0.1% of entrepreneurs that make it instead of the 99.9% that fail.\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Provide Value Beyond the Mere Product<\/h2><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTimes are changing, and in order to be successful a startup needs to provide customers with more than just a cool but short-lived product. Looking for profit is fine, but we are entering in an age of change and revolution since our society doesn\u2019t work anymore.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tClimate change, widespread inequalities, unscrupulous exploitation of resources are driving our capitalistic model to self-annihilation. Following the statement of\u00a0Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff<\/a>, \u201cthe new kind of capitalism that is going to emerge is not the Milton Friedman capitalism, that\u2019s just about making money.\u201d\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIn order to provide value, you need to ride the wave and leverage the disruptive power of AI to spearhead the change. An AI-based technology may look scary if it contributes to the dehumanization of our society.\n\nAny new product should provide value to the human society, and contribute to make the world a better place in some way (i.e. fighting pollution, reducing waste, promoting inclusion, etc.).\n\nYour company must be able to embed this idea both into the product that is offering to its future customer base and its brand message as well.\n\nThe key to a future that is all about connectivity is knowing how you communicate a message of transformation and evolution.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Selling Smoke Will Only Provide You with Air<\/h2><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLet\u2019s be honest about that: very few people truly understand what AI is, and even less know how to handle and implement it. (See\u00a0INFOGRAPHIC: Artificial Intelligence vs Machine Learning vs Deep Learning<\/a>.)\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMost of its capabilities are yet to be discovered, the value it offers is often misrepresented, and there\u2019s a lot of hype surrounding it.\n\nAs a technology writer, one of the most frequent issues that I personally face when writing about AI is that nearly half of the products that allegedly advertise the \u201camazing capabilities of their AI\u201d actually\u00a0do not use any AI<\/em>.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYeah, there\u2019s a huge difference between just an alternate form of\u00a0analytics<\/a>\u00a0(which may be even better than a rudimental or poorly-developed\u00a0ML algorithm<\/a>) and true Artificial Intelligence.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAnd even if those managers and executives you\u2019re targeting for your marketing campaign probably can\u2019t tell the difference, rest assured that they got at least one skilled CTO or IT department manager that is able to!\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Focusing on the technology while ignoring its marketing strategy<\/h2><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYeah, I\u2019m pretty sure that your product can make the difference and\u00a0really\u00a0<\/em>is the solution that everyone in that specific vertical was looking for.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nHowever, who cares if\u00a0no one<\/em>\u00a0in that vertical will ever heard about it? Do you know how many great ideas ultimately got stolen by other companies who simply marketed the same thing in a much better and more compelling ways (*cough* Apple *cough*)?\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOperating inside a tech bubble is, sadly, a common scenario for nerdy people like us. Technology alone won\u2019t grant you success if you\u2019re not able to market it effectively, and reach the right people.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDigital marketing<\/a> for AI companies isn\u2019t easy, especially since even those who may look like they\u2019re actively looking for your product will be\u00a0undecided 90% of the time<\/a>.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAllocating at least a portion of your resources beforehand to build a successful business and marketing strategy isn\u2019t just important. It\u2019s hands down vital.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Don\u2019t Get Caught in an Endless Development Phase<\/h2><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe number of skilled developers who are able to handle and code AI is really limited, and most of them must be paid a lot to be hired. The most likely real-life scenario is that since your startup is working on this AI project on a limited budget, the people you could employ may have very little experience with this new and complex technology.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThis should not discourage you \u2014 everybody knows that AI technologies are still in dire need of refining, and wasting a year behind closed door to create the perfect software isn\u2019t going to do any good. You will likely lose money in the process, and still end up with an incomplete or imperfect product that still needs to be polished by testing it in the real-world.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThat doesn\u2019t mean that you should release too early a buggy tool that fails at every turn, obviously. But vegetating in a never-ending design loop will only lead to missed opportunities, wasted resources, and lack of key feedback from users.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Keep Your Customers' Needs in Mind<\/h2><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tI know that the\u00a0informatics<\/a>\u00a0technology sector is a complex field, and that the AI niche is even more complicated. Developers,\u00a0data scientists<\/a>, and IT professionals need to understand each other quickly, and the unintelligible jargon just comes with the territory.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHowever, if you don\u2019t know\u00a0how to communicate value to your customers<\/a>\u00a0and audiences you are going to fail. Really, it\u2019s just that simple \u2014 not every one of them is a geek.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\nAlways communicating in an understandable way is just the tip of the iceberg. A product must be designed around then needs of your customers, and assuming that everybody will find \u201creally simple to set up a\u00a0DNS server<\/a>\u00a0for their domain\u201d may prove to be a\u00a0tragic<\/em>\u00a0error.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFunctionality should never be prioritized over form: after all people who never saw your tool and have zero experience with it will need to\u00a0use\u00a0<\/em>it, don\u2019t they?\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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What We've Learned<\/h2><\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThere are a lot of pitfalls and obstacles to dodge if you want to avoid condemning your AI startup to bankruptcy before your journey has even begun. The list of failures is long, and\u00a0includes some of the biggest names of the IT industry<\/a>, as well.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKnowing how you can fail is vital to identify those challenges and skip through them as easily as possible.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are a lot of pitfalls and obstacles to dodge if you want to avoid condemning your AI startup to bankruptcy before your journey has even begun. The list of failures is long, and includes some of the biggest names of the IT industry, as well. Knowing how you can fail is vital to identify those challenges and skip through them as easily as possible. Success requires lateral thinking, planning ahead, and smart strategies to emerge among a horde of potential competitors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":740,"featured_media":8187,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[183],"tags":[97],"ppma_author":[3585],"class_list":["post-2379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai-ml","tag-artificial-intelligence"],"authors":[{"term_id":3585,"user_id":740,"is_guest":0,"slug":"claudio-buttice","display_name":"Claudio Buttic\u00e9","avatar_url":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/medium_7baf9ebc-2c25-4c4a-888d-7c1fc9aaf732-150x150.jpg","user_url":"https:\/\/www.medsnews.com\/","last_name":"Buttic\u00e9","first_name":"Claudio","job_title":"","description":"Dr. Claudio Buttic\u00e8, Pharm.D., a Freelance Journalist and Writer, is a former clinical and hospital pharmacist,. He is now an\u00a0accomplished book author<\/a>\u00a0who has written on topics such as medicine, technology, world poverty, and science. His latest book is \"Universal Health Care<\/a>\". Many of his articles have been published in magazines such as\u00a0Cracked<\/a>,\u00a0The Elephant<\/a>,\u00a0Digital Journal<\/a>,\u00a0The Ring of Fire<\/a>, and\u00a0Business Insider<\/a>. He has also published pharmacology and psychology papers on several clinical journals and works as a medical consultant and advisor for many companies across the globe."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/740"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2379"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35012,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2379\/revisions\/35012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2379"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}