Building AI Startups: How to Create Profitable Businesses Using AI Avatars
In a recent podcast episode, AI expert Omar demonstrated how to build an AI startup from scratch using tools like ChatGPT, Leonardo AI, Kling AI, and ElevenLabs. The focus was on creating Disney/Pixar-style AI avatars and turning them into profitable business ideas that require zero employees while generating significant revenue.
What You'll Learn
How to create stunning 3D Disney/Pixar-style AI avatars using a sequential prompting workflow
Step-by-step process to generate custom characters using ChatGPT and Leonardo AI
How to animate static images into videos using Kling AI
Three profitable AI business ideas you can start immediately with minimal investment
How to leverage these tools to create a fully automated workflow for your AI startup
The New Business Landscape: How AI Is Changing Everything
Before diving into the technical aspects, Omar highlighted how the business landscape has fundamentally changed due to three major shifts:
Technical shift in product development: AI allows entrepreneurs to build products instantly at low cost with zero employees.
Audience shift in marketing: The rise of solopreneurs who build in public, share revenue metrics, and create "always-on" marketing rather than seasonal campaigns.
Cultural shift in operations: Remote work has eliminated office costs, and working with global talent has become the norm.
These shifts mean that the traditional playbook of raising VC capital, hiring engineers, and spending years to launch is outdated. Today, entrepreneurs can leverage AI to build products quickly, market them effectively through transparency, and operate with minimal overhead.
Sequential Prompting: The Key to Creating AI Workflows
Omar introduced a concept he calls "sequential prompting," which is different from conversational prompting or master prompts. Sequential prompting involves:
Using ChatGPT to generate a prompt for another AI tool
Taking that output and feeding it into another AI tool (like Leonardo AI)
Taking that output and feeding it into yet another tool (like Kling AI)
Connecting these various outputs to create a complete product
This approach allows entrepreneurs to create complex AI workflows by stringing together different specialized AI tools, each handling a specific part of the process.
Creating Disney/Pixar-Style AI Avatars (Step-by-Step)
Step 1: Generate the Character Description with ChatGPT
The workflow begins by using a specific prompt structure in ChatGPT. You upload an image of a person (or child), provide a name, age, and gender, and ChatGPT analyzes the image to create a detailed character description that maintains consistency.
The prompt looks something like this:
Step 2: Generate the Image with Leonardo AI
Once you have the character description, you take that output and paste it into Leonardo AI, which generates high-quality 3D character images in the Disney/Pixar style.
Key settings in Leonardo AI:
Turn off "Prompt enhance" for better control
Set dimensions to 16:9 for widescreen images or 1:1 for stickers
Generate multiple versions to find the perfect character
The results are stunning, photorealistic 3D characters that maintain the essence of the original person while having that distinct Disney/Pixar animation style.
Step 3: Animate the Image with Kling AI
To take it further, you can upload the static image to Kling AI, which will animate it into a short video clip.
Kling AI even offers features like:
Lip sync to make the character speak
Motion prompting to guide specific movements
Camera movements for more dynamic scenes
While these video generations currently take around 4 minutes, the technology is rapidly improving in speed and quality.
Want a step-by-step guide?
Grab it here:
Three Profitable AI Business Ideas You Can Start Today
Throughout the episode, Omar shared three business ideas that leverage this AI avatar creation workflow:
1. AI-Powered Personalized Greeting Cards (The "AI Moonpig")
Moonpig, a personalized greeting card company, generates over $400 million in annual revenue. Using AI avatars, you could create an AI-first version of such a business with features like:
Dynamic character creation based on user photos
AI-generated stories and personalized messages
Animated video integration with character voices
Smart recommendations based on occasion and relationship
Revenue streams could include:
Premium card sales ($7-10 per card with 20-30% markup over traditional cards)
Monthly memberships ($10-15 for unlimited digital cards)
Upselling gifts (flowers, chocolates) matched to the occasion
This business could potentially generate $10 million in annual cash flow with about 200,000 customers purchasing an average of five cards annually.
2. Personalized Children's Stories and Educational Content
Similar to companies like HoorayHeroes, you could create personalized children's books featuring AI-generated characters that look like the child.
Expanding beyond books, you could also:
Create educational content aligned with school curriculums
Generate personalized learning materials featuring the child as the protagonist
Partner with schools to create custom educational content
The parent market is massive, and educational products that engage children through personalization could command premium pricing.
3. Custom Character Stickers for Educators and Students
This business idea involves creating personalized stickers featuring teachers and students in the Disney/Pixar style.
The workflow would include:
Generating character images with Leonardo AI
Creating sticker-friendly designs with text overlays
Using Remove.bg to create transparent backgrounds
Connecting to Printful's API for automated printing and shipping
Marketing could be as simple as finding schools online, creating sample stickers of the principal or teachers, and mailing them to the school. This guerrilla marketing approach could help the product go viral within educational institutions.
How to Automate Your AI Business Workflow
The power of this approach is that it can be largely automated:
Manual testing first: Perfect your prompts and workflow manually before automating
Connect APIs: Most tools mentioned (ChatGPT, Leonardo AI, Kling AI, Printful) offer APIs
Create a user interface: Build a simple interface using tools like Webflow or Framer
Connect automation tools: Use Zapier or Make to connect these APIs together
Add payment processing: Connect to Stripe or similar payment processors
While you may eventually need one developer to help with the technical aspects, you can start by manually fulfilling orders until you've validated the business model.
Why Now Is the Perfect Time to Start
As Omar pointed out, we're in a unique moment where:
These AI tools are powerful but not yet mainstream
Most people don't know how to prompt effectively to get high-quality results
The quality of AI-generated content is improving rapidly
Physical products created with AI still have the "wow factor"
This creates a window of opportunity for entrepreneurs who can master these tools now and build businesses before the space becomes saturated.
Conclusion
The ability to create Disney/Pixar-style AI avatars opens up numerous business opportunities that can be started with minimal investment and zero employees. By leveraging the sequential prompting workflow with tools like ChatGPT, Leonardo AI, and Kling AI, entrepreneurs can create unique products that customers love and are willing to pay for.
Whether it's personalized greeting cards, educational content, or custom stickers, these AI-powered businesses can generate significant revenue while operating with the efficiency of a solopreneur. The key is to start now, while the technology is still novel and the market opportunity is wide open.