Startup founder claims AI tool killed her business
San Francisco founder Ira Bodnar says her startup, Ryze, was made obsolete almost overnight by Anthropic's Claude AI.
She wrote in a post: "I woke up today and Claude killed my startup."
It's a real sign of how quickly AI is changing the game for tech businesses.
Claude's new ad features are directly competing with Bodnar's startup
Ryze started strong as an AI tool for managing Google and Meta ads, landing hundreds of customers in just two months with a 70% deal close rate.
But once Claude rolled out new ad features, Ryze's close rate crashed to 20%, and things could get even tougher if Claude expands to Google Ads.
Ryze has already pivoted to a new business model
Anticipating the disruption, Ryze shifted focus weeks ago to help agencies manage complex ad workflows across hundreds of accounts with small teams.
Bodnar remains upbeat about the pivot: "Our business will be fine. We knew this was coming and we moved early."
Bodnar predicts a future dominated by AI-generated content
Bodnar warns that while AI has made building products cheap and easy, getting noticed has become harder and distribution has become everything.
She even predicts that nearly 98% of videos on platforms like TikTok and Instagram could soon be AI-generated and artificially boosted—so founders should brace themselves for big changes ahead.