Full Stack Founders

Nikky Kho runs AI Startup House, a founder residence in Manhattan and Austin that is free and takes no equity. Before that he built a global events business, and he has a ladder for where people actually are with AI: Level 1 is a chat window, Level 3 is agents running unattended, and he thinks 99% of self-described AI users never leave the first rung. We got into the four levels, why delegation is a time problem rather than a skills problem, the five reasons founders exit a business (the most common one is not money), and what he asks people to do before he lets them in: sell to 40 strangers something that does not exist yet. I also told him what I am seeing from the other side. My call volume from seven-figure owners whose businesses started falling out the bottom has gone up sharply in the last six to twelve months. Start here: https://bledsoe.life/start CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open 0:44 Why I went looking for an incubator 1:42 A free startup house that takes no equity 5:01 The first time he saw ChatGPT 12:57 When do you actually need to hire an engineer 14:49 Delegation is a time problem, not a skills problem 15:58 The four levels of AI use 18:10 Why bought education goes obsolete in a month 21:05 The five Ds of exiting a business 25:36 Money is trust 31:38 Building an AI legal tool for people who cannot afford one 37:23 What it costs, and who gets in free 43:51 The 13-year-old running an AI agency 46:52 There is no better way to learn than to teach 48:18 How to apply: three tasks 50:26 Sell it before you build it 53:14 Seven-figure businesses falling out the bottom Nikky Kho is the founder of AI Startup House and CEO of Real AI Dynamics. https://aistartuphouse.com https://nikkykho.com #AI #founders #startups #aiagents

What is Full Stack Founders?

For operator-founders building for the AI era.

Mike Bledsoe and Ted Phaeton host. Mike's been an entrepreneur for 19 years: Navy veteran, built CrossFit gyms, Barbell Shrugged, a SaaS product for operators, and now consults operators rebuilding their businesses around AI. Ted's earlier on the path. Part of the show is Mike mentoring him through the conversation in public. The rest is keeping the audience up to speed on what AI is actually doing to the game in real time.

When there are guests, they're operators worth having in the room. When there aren't, Ted drives the questions. Usually the ones most operators won't ask out loud. They walk through the work together.

Most business podcasts are entertainment for operators pretending to build something. This one is for the ones actually building.

No guru energy. No performance. Two operators thinking out loud about what ownership actually requires now.

New episodes every Monday.