This told essay is based on a conversation with Tim DeSoto, 49, founder of an AI-native startup based in San Francisco. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Last year, I quit my job at No.1. I went from being a company on the Fortune 500 list, Walmart, to being the only employee in my AI-native startup.
I've always been an early adopter of consumer technology, but I've never built it. I also live in San Francisco, so when AI came out, I started spending my nights attending meetups to see how people were building with generative AI.
Like many people my age, I was told from a young age that the safest career choice was to work for a large company, but now that mass layoffs are happening, be prepared for that. When I saw the impact AI was having, I realized that starting a company now was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
People say this is a big risk, but I think this is the least risky thing I can do.
The job I took helped me develop the skills I needed to become an entrepreneur
I didn't grow up with the resources to bet on myself from a young age, but I focused on finding a job that would pay me to learn the skill set I needed to build and grow a business.
My career began at the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones, where I focused on business growth. I moved to Barnes & Noble for a while, then to Walmart, where I spent seven years, most recently working on business strategy and member experience as a senior director.
An important aspect of my career is leveraging information technology to empower people's lives. I started working on AI and ChatGPT when they first became available. And it's become very clear that this is a generational moment, where new technologies are creating leverage that didn't exist before.
When I saw this technology emerging that allowed me to take risks and build a business, I knew it was time.
I used Cursor to vibe code an alpha version of my product last year
One of the few things I regret in my life is not studying computer science in college. Even throughout my career, up until I worked at Walmart, I was thinking about whether I should take a coding class or learn more about computer science in general.
Then along came generative AI. With the availability of AI tools, I became a builder myself. Cursor has improved a lot this year, so it was a different experience when I started. Using this, about 60% of the code was correct and the remaining 30%-40% was incorrect. But I'm not an engineer, so I couldn't figure out which part was wrong.
I had three screens, and I placed a model on each screen, built the code, inspected it, and ran it. I will continue to use AI against AI until I reach about 95% confidence and can test and use the product.
My app should help you save money when shopping online
Once I decided to make something, I had three or four different ideas.
What led me to the product I'm currently developing is an intelligent shopping companion that helps users optimize their shopping experience through browser extensions. Companion instantly shows shoppers what's on sale not just on the site they're browsing, but everywhere else where deals are available for that item. We also offer smart shopping list features and other tools to help people shop smarter and save money.
We plan to launch this winter during the holiday season and hold formal rounds after launch.
My experience working with AI gave me peace of mind
The least risky thing I can do in today's job market is learn AI, become an expert in it, and build something that I think can really help people.
Even if everything goes wrong, the learnings from this experience and the accelerated pace of AI will help me do well in any large company in the future, if I ever return to corporate.
As a startup founder, there may be moments when you feel like you're at rock bottom, but I've learned that it's okay if you can bounce back and move forward with strength. I hope that this will help others to value themselves and follow the path they have always wanted to take.
Have a founder story you'd like to share? Contact this reporter, Agnes Applegate: aapplegate@businessinsider.com.
