WHO IS GOING TO CLEAN UP THE MESS SILICON VALLEY AND WALL STREET MADE?

262,000 tech workers, laid off by the companies now building AI to replace workers.

11 million Boomers, left with retirement accounts that never recovered.

Gen Z, 40% can't find work in the "future" economy everyone promised them.

The most talented people in America.

And no one will hire them.

So, they're starting businesses.

5.5 million new businesses in 2023, a record. 5+ million every year since 2020.

Just like they did after 2008.

AFTER 2008

Wall Street crashed the economy. Got bailed out. Kept their bonuses.

And who rebuilt everything?

Entrepreneurs.

Airbnb. Uber. WhatsApp. Venmo. Instagram.

Entrepreneurship spiked 17% higher than before the crash.¹

57% of Fortune 500 companies were founded during recessions.²

18 million jobs created by private sector from 2010–2017, not bailouts, not government.³

The people Wall Street abandoned rebuilt the economy.

BUT HERE'S WHAT NOBODY SAYS

90% of them failed.⁴

Not because their ideas were bad.

Because only the ones who got funding survived.

Airbnb had Y Combinator. Uber had venture capital. Instagram had Andreessen Horowitz.

The rest failed alone.

Because they can't afford the strategic help they need to compete.

The consultant. The strategist. The operations expert.

All the things VC-backed startups get by default.

MEANWHILE, SILICON VALLEY

I searched every major VC database for one number:

What percentage of GenAI funding goes to help these entrepreneurs survive?

That number doesn't exist.

Not because it's hard to calculate.

Because the market is so small to VCs, they don't bother measuring it.

35 million small businesses. 60 million Americans. 43.5% of U.S. GDP.⁵

And venture capital has decided they don't merit a category.

The proof:

All SMB tech combined: $29B raised cumulatively⁶

GenAI for enterprise alone: $47.4B in 2024⁷

S&P Global: "The competitive battle in GenAI has decisively shifted to the enterprise sector."⁸

Translation:

VCs fund the 0.1% building unicorns.

The other 99.9%? Left to fail at 90% rates.

Billions go to enterprise automation — eliminating jobs.

Almost zero goes to helping the people Silicon Valley laid off build their way back.

THE MATH

Reduce the failure rate from 90% to 89%, just 1%.

That saves 25,000 businesses per year.

Those businesses create 70% of all new American jobs.⁹

1% improvement = 500,000+ jobs.

This is the highest-leverage opportunity in the American economy.

And VCs won't touch it.

WHAT WE'RE BUILDING

Alice: Strategic and Executional GenAI for entrepreneurs.

What VC-backed startups get for $100K/year in consultants.

At $25/month.

Not a chatbot. Not a content generator.

Alice gives you:

→ Strategic thinking that challenges your assumptions

→ End-to-end support: idea → setup → positioning → capital → customers

→ Tools to compete with funded teams

Privacy-first: We don't see, access, or train on your data.

Your competitive advantage is your strategy.

We won't take it.

THE RESULTS

$400K raised (~$100K from 40+ community investors). 62,000 followers in 6 months. From zero. $0 on ads. $0 CAC.

MVP launched last week. 200 customers. 60% trial-to-paid conversion.

Traditional VCs: "SMB doesn't scale. Come back when you're enterprise."

We're not coming back.

THE COMMITMENT

Curiouser.AI is committed to this market, regardless of investment fashion or trends.

When 262K people lost their jobs, when 11M can't retire, when Gen Z can't find work —

They're not waiting for Silicon Valley to help them.

They're building.

We'll be here. Building tools for them.

Not because it's trendy.

Because it's right.

THE MOVEMENT

We're building wealth, for customers, community investors, and our team.

Not extractive wealth. Generative wealth.

→ Entrepreneurs compete at $25/month instead of $100K/year

→ Our community investors own this with us

→ Our team builds something that scales AND matters

Capitalism working the way it should.

THE TRUTH

Entrepreneurs will clean up this mess.

They always do.

After Wall Street crashes it. After Silicon Valley abandons them.

They rebuild.

But only if we give them tools to survive.

Right now, only 0.1% get those tools — the ones VCs fund.

We're building for the other 99.9%.

If you believe:

→ The people Silicon Valley laid off deserve tools to compete

→ 90% failure rates are a choice, not fate

→ Technology should democratize capability, not extract value

→ Communities should own the companies serving them

Join us: WeFunder

The next Airbnb is in those 5 million.

So are 4.5 million businesses that will fail without help.

Let's change the math.

Conclusion

262,000 tech workers laid off. 11 million Boomers with broken retirement accounts. 40% of Gen Z can't find work. So they're starting businesses—5.5 million in 2023, just like after 2008. But 90% fail, not because their ideas are bad, but because only the VC-funded 0.1% get the strategic help they need. While VCs pour $47.4B into enterprise GenAI (eliminating jobs), almost nothing goes to help entrepreneurs. Reduce the failure rate by just 1%, and you save 25,000 businesses and create 500,000+ jobs. This is the highest-leverage opportunity in the American economy. Entrepreneurs will clean up this mess—they always do. But only if we give them tools to survive. We're building for the 99.9% who don't get VC funding. The next Airbnb is in those 5 million. So are 4.5 million businesses that will fail without help. Let's change the math.

Written by Stephen B. Klein

Footnotes

¹ Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Fairlie 2013

² Strategy+Business, Fortune 500 recession analysis

³ Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

⁴ Bureau of Labor Statistics

⁵ US Small Business Administration, 2024

⁶ Notable Capital SMBTech 50, September 2024

⁷ TechCrunch/Dealroom Analysis, February 2025

⁸ S&P Global Market Intelligence, January 2025

⁹ Kauffman Foundation / BLS