“I make $4.5 million implementing AI”

Presented by Zapier: https://zapier.com/

👉 Link to the playbook: https://thenextnewthing.ai/l/j....on-45million-ai-play
👉 Jon Cheney (X): https://x.com/cheneypiano
👉 GenAIPI: https://genaipi.org/

He started with $400, built the business himself with AI, hit $1M solo, and is now at $4.5M ARR.

In this episode of The Next New Thing, Andrew Warner talks with Jon Cheney about the exact playbook he used to turn AI tools into a high-ticket recurring-revenue business.

Jon explains how he went from vibe-coding his own ideas in Replit to discovering a much bigger opportunity: helping companies adopt AI as a service. Instead of selling cheap training sessions, he packaged strategy, education, and implementation into a fractional Chief AI Officer model — then turned that into recurring contracts worth $15K+ per month.

They also get into the mechanics behind it: using ChatGPT and Grok to pressure-test ideas, using Replit to build fast, using Zapier to connect systems, and gradually turning service work into software that becomes sticky inside a client’s business.

The bigger idea is that AI has made software cheap — which means the real moat is no longer code. It’s distribution, trust, implementation, and owning the ongoing workflow inside the customer’s company.

⏱ Timestamps
00:00 From $400 to $4.5M ARR
00:18 Hitting $1M solo with AI
01:57 The $105K dev quote that changed everything
02:15 Discovering Replit
03:18 From app idea to business opportunity
05:33 Having AI interview you to refine a business
07:21 The first business model
10:03 The first real customer and first $15K contract
13:12 Teaching practical AI, not just theory
16:48 Jon’s playbook for starting an AI business
19:03 How Zapier fits into the stack
21:18 Why the .org brand worked
23:15 Using GEO to get found in search and ChatGPT
27:27 Building recurring revenue with a fractional CAIO model
31:39 The move from services to software
33:54 What Jenna does for client businesses
36:18 Why this could become a billion-dollar business
39:00 How Jon thinks about pricing
41:33 Brand, trust, and distribution
43:39 Favorite tools: Grok, Replit, Midjourney, NemoClaw
47:51 Margins, growth, and reaching $4.5M ARR
49:12 How long this opportunity will last

👉 Join us: https://thenextnewthing.ai/