Recently, I was asked what I would do if I could start over as an entrepreneur. This question prompted me to reflect on my journey, particularly the early years when I tried numerous ideas that didn’t succeed. Looking back to my earliest beginnings in the late 1990s, when the Internet was taking off, I started as a freelance web developer during high school and college, building websites for small businesses and nonprofits.

After several years of freelancing, I listened to client feedback and requests, which led to my first real software product idea: a web content management system delivered as Software as a Service (SaaS). This concept didn’t exist at the time. The key lesson was that the Internet’s rapid growth created opportunities for businesses and organizations eager to establish an online presence but lacking the expertise or desire to do it themselves. They were happy to pay for someone to handle the work and act as their consultant.

How does this tie back to the question of starting over as an entrepreneur today? The current excitement and energy around artificial intelligence (AI), which feels reminiscent of the Internet boom in the late 1990s. The enthusiasm for AI and its potential to transform the world mirrors that earlier era. Just as I helped companies navigate the shift to the Internet, I would now position myself as an AI consultant. I would cold-call and network with businesses and organizations to help them integrate AI tools and consult on optimizing their processes with AI.

However, the ultimate goal isn’t to remain an AI consultant. Instead, it’s to build relationships with a variety of businesses to identify unmet market needs. From there, I would develop AI-powered business software to help companies operate more efficiently and build a startup around that idea. Rather than searching for a software idea directly from the market, I propose an intermediate step: becoming a general AI problem-solver for companies. This involves doing real work, adding tangible value, and listening to authentic feedback for as long as it takes to discover a compelling AI-related software idea.

My recommendation to aspiring entrepreneurs interested in B2B software is to work with various companies, assisting them with AI-related change management. This approach mirrors my efforts decades ago, helping organizations derive value from the Internet. While the future is uncertain, I firmly believe AI is the next major technological wave. A tremendous amount of technology implementation and change management will be required, particularly in helping businesses unlock AI’s potential. This work will uncover countless opportunities for new software products, paving the way for thousands of new startups.