He Created a Tool That Lets Anyone Start Their Own Business With Just an Image — And It Has Minted 4 Millionaires Already

He grew his social media accounts to over 70 million followers throughout a decade. Now, content material creator Nuseir Yassin is crafting a platform to deal with a typical want he encountered whereas interacting with hundreds of people for his social channels — the will to be their very own boss and begin their very own enterprise. 

Yassin is the founder and CEO of Nas.com, an AI-powered startup designed to assist solo entrepreneurs begin and develop their on-line companies with a single product picture. Yassin studied economics and laptop science at Harvard College, graduating in 2014. He began his profession as a software program engineer at Venmo. 

In 2016, Yassin left his job to journey the world and doc his experiences, launching Nas Day by day, a one-minute video collection that he sustained for 1,000 consecutive days and grew to a world media model.  

That enterprise into content material creation, spanning 19 languages and a number of social networks, gave Yassin deep perception into storytelling, viewers development and digital advertising. With Nas.com, he’s turning these classes into software program. The platform, which he based in 2022, routinely builds storefronts, generates excessive‑performing advertising content material and runs adverts for creators and small enterprise homeowners, decreasing the technical and advertising boundaries to solo entrepreneurship. 

The platform has already minted 4 millionaires and earned funding from the likes of Vinod Khosla, a enterprise capitalist who made early investments in OpenAI, Stripe and DoorDash. 

The next interview has been edited for readability and concision. 

Pitching Nas.com

For somebody who’s by no means heard of Nas.com, what’s probably the most concrete means you clarify what it does for a solo vendor of their first week?

Within the first seven minutes, you are taking an image of no matter you need to promote, and we deal with all the pieces else that can assist you discover a buyer to purchase that factor. With that one image, AI creates your retailer, makes your advertising, and helps you discover the shopper.

It actually comes down to a few essential issues: you may promote any product you need, market the product, and receives a commission. You add a single image of no matter you need to promote—your self, your merchandise, your candles—and AI routinely creates your product web page, units pricing and choices, writes the content material, and may even generate a video. With one click on, you may market that product on Instagram and Fb immediately by way of Nas.com. We’ve simplified what was three tough expertise—coding an internet site, creating content material and doing efficiency advertising—into one easy interface to create extra entrepreneurs on this planet.

His content material background

You may have a decade of expertise creating content material. How profitable have been you?

Throughout the web, Nas Day by day reached about 70 million followers and greater than 20 billion views. We have now round 5 million followers on TikTok and 55 million on Instagram on the Nas Day by day channel. I constructed Nas Day by day throughout just about each social media channel and lots of languages: Nas Day by day Arabic, Nas Day by day Indonesia, Nas Day by day Spanish, and extra — 19 languages and 6 platforms in whole, with about 70 million followers total. It grew to become an ideal way of life enterprise, however I noticed the larger alternative is being the platform for others relatively than being the influencer.

What did it take to get that many followers?

It felt like consuming glass. I made 1,000 movies in 1,000 days straight, which is the place the title Nas Day by day comes from. Every video took about 15 hours to make, and I produced them from 64 international locations. The primary 270 movies failed, and it was video 271 that lastly broke by way of. To get consideration and construct a social media following, you want an irrational work ethic and fervour. I don’t advocate it for everybody; at a sure stage, it turns into a safety concern and isn’t essentially a wholesome technique to reside. What I do suppose is for everybody is constructing a enterprise and dealing for your self.

What sort of content material did you place out in these 1,000 movies?

I traveled all over the world specializing in no matter was fascinating about individuals and locations. I appeared for probably the most fascinating individuals—founders of corporations, individuals doing loopy or inspiring issues—and made movies about them, plus private tales. For instance, I did a video in Bhutan about it being probably the most romantic international locations, displaying a nation that’s one of many least visited on this planet. One other video lined the girl founding father of Miami—Miami is the one main U.S. metropolis based by a lady—and others included a video about my pal’s demise and my expertise with Wikipedia. “Nas” means “individuals” in Arabic, and the channel was actually about on a regular basis individuals.

Origin story of Nas.com

How did you get the thought for Nas.com?

Whereas constructing Nas Day by day, I met roughly 100,000 individuals in individual. I noticed in lots of their eyes that they hated their jobs and lives and had a relentless want to do one thing totally different, work for themselves, and management their very own schedules. I’d already skilled the distinction that working for myself made in my life; at Venmo, I used to be overpaid and underworked—I labored about 4 hours a day and revamped $100,000—but felt no which means or ardour. If you work for your self, your life adjustments, and I wished others to expertise that. Serving to them construct their very own companies felt like the start line.

What did it take to leap from content material into an AI‑pushed enterprise with generated adverts and storefronts?

We’re cautious to not ship the message that that is “straightforward cash.” If you happen to suppose one click on of AI will create all the pieces and also you’ll simply sit there printing cash, that’s not our positioning. Our message is: life is best whenever you work for your self, and now know-how can assist you do this by way of this enterprise platform. It nonetheless takes work to construct a enterprise; it’s nonetheless arduous, but it surely doesn’t must be as arduous because it was. Previously, it may take two months to start out promoting on-line; now it may well take as little as 5 minutes. You may take an image, begin a free trial, and settle for funds inside about ten minutes.

What number of new entrepreneurs has Nas.com created up to now?

We’ve had lots of of hundreds of individuals categorical curiosity in constructing a enterprise. We have now tens of hundreds of paying customers working energetic companies on the platform. The large success is that we’ve created 4 millionaires on the platform.

Might you inform me a hit story?

One huge success story is a lady in Singapore who teaches monetary recommendation beneath the model “Singapore Price range Babe.” She monetized her monetary information on the platform and revamped 1,000,000 {dollars}. One other story is a 60‑12 months‑previous farmer in Mexico who wished to construct a enterprise instructing farming; he now makes about $1,000 to $2,000 a month on Nas.com. I think about that an unimaginable success as a result of know-how used to gate individuals like him out, and we’ve made it easy sufficient for him to take part.

These 4 millionaires you talked about — what industries are they in?

They’re in very totally different industries: one in occasions, one in training, and one in health, amongst others. The fantastic thing about Nas.com is that you would be able to promote virtually something. We assist all kinds of merchandise: bodily items like candles and cookies, occasions (for instance, meet‑ups after you’ve bought 1,000 candles), memberships (similar to 20 {dollars} a month to affix a community), and training (like instructing others easy methods to make candles). Our customers all share one factor: they need to work for themselves as solo entrepreneurs, however they monetize in many various methods.

Discovering clients and advertising

How do you assist sellers discover clients?

It’s all about integrations. We allow you to create the content material after which we allow you to run adverts. For instance, for a “Dubai Entrepreneur Networking Night time” occasion, a consumer spent about $200 on adverts we ran on Instagram and Fb. That resulted in 32,000 views, 971 web page visits, and 130 ticket consumers. We purpose to be your advertising arm throughout channels like Meta, TikTok, Google, and finally Amazon listings, which might in any other case be too difficult for most individuals to handle on their very own.

How do you establish what goes into an advert?

We have now 10 years of expertise creating content material and perceive what makes an excellent or dangerous piece of content material. We’ve turned that have into programmatic “kinds” that are inclined to carry out nicely. For instance, if you happen to’re promoting a candle, we’d create a UGC‑type or unboxing‑type video. We all know the script ought to start with one thing paradoxical or superlative—“the most effective candle,” “the worst candle,” “the healthiest candle,” “the good candle”—and we generate that script utilizing AI, guided by our inside guidelines about what makes a powerful advert. This sort of automation would have been unattainable 5 years in the past, however AI now permits us to generate efficient adverts rapidly.

So that you create the adverts utilizing AI?

Sure, the adverts are all AI‑generated. As of two weeks in the past, AI has gotten ok that the typical individual usually can not inform the distinction between an AI‑generated advert and a human‑made one. I count on that by the tip of the 12 months, about 90% of AI adverts shall be unrecognizable as AI to 90% of people.

Pricing and competitors

How a lot does it value to make use of the platform?

Pricing ranges from as little as $10 a month to as much as $99 a month, with a median of about $30 a month. For roughly $1 a day, you get your individual web site, cost processing in each nation, AI-generated advertising content material, the flexibility to listing limitless merchandise and possession of your clients. 

How does the corporate generate profits?

We generate profits by way of subscriptions, a small lower on advertising spend and a small lower on some transactions. If you happen to promote $100 by way of our platform, we take about $5. We additionally take about 1% on some transactions, however we cost 0% on bodily merchandise as a result of we need to be aggressive as an alternative choice to Shopify, a minimum of for now. 

Is Shopify your essential competitor?

Basically, sure. Shopify is a tremendous $150 billion firm, but it surely doesn’t work nicely for brand spanking new entrepreneurs. It’s too difficult and doesn’t allow you to with advertising. The entrepreneur’s priorities are: first, product; second, content material; third, advertising — utilizing that content material someplace. Shopify focuses totally on creating the product retailer, whereas we concentrate on serving to you create content material after which promote it. Many Shopify customers have a retailer however don’t know easy methods to get site visitors to it, and that’s what we purpose to unravel.

Development, traction and fundraising

How many individuals are on the Nas.com group, and the place are they primarily based?

We’re about 40 individuals. Engineering is predicated in Singapore, and advertising is predicated in the USA, and I’m the founder and CEO.

How a lot did it value to start out the corporate?

Loads. We’ve raised a complete of $40 million, together with $27 million within the spherical we’re now saying. Constructing know-how may be very costly in order for you actually good engineers, however I consider the chance is in producing billions of {dollars}’ value of worth within the type of new companies on the web.

How a lot in gross sales did the corporate do final 12 months, and what’s it projected to do that 12 months?

Final 12 months, we began at about $1 million in annual recurring income (ARR) and ended at round $8 million in ARR.

What techniques do you employ to develop Nas.com?

We develop Nas.com utilizing Nas.com. We market Nas.com with Nas.com as a result of we’re additionally a enterprise on our personal platform.

Are you able to give an instance of that?

In Mexico, we run an operation known as ECO Mexico by Nas.com. We constructed that enterprise on Nas.com and promote a product known as “Construct your individual e‑commerce in 2 hours.” Round 4,000 individuals signed up for it and got here to occasions the place we launched them to Nas.com. We discovered these individuals by advertising ECO Mexico by way of Nas.com itself, and we host workshops and occasions for potential new clients to attempt the platform and construct their companies on high of it.

How do you market these merchandise and campaigns?

We create totally different occasions for various campaigns in numerous markets. Inside my very own Nas.com account, I’ve lots of of companies I’ve began — Miami Social for Miami entrepreneurs, an training enterprise, inside firm companies, and even a clothes enterprise the place I promote my t‑shirts. Within the clothes enterprise, I’ve about 200 members and made round $3,000 promoting t‑shirts as a take a look at, with the income going to my checking account each two weeks.

What in regards to the firm was engaging sufficient to attract funding from somebody like Vinod Khosla?

Vinod is likely one of the greatest champions of entrepreneurs I’ve ever met; he actually cares in regards to the “small man” and “small woman” who simply need to work for themselves. He understands our mission and sees that present options are too difficult and B2B‑oriented. Shopify, for instance, is constructed for corporations like Apple or Tesla, not for a mother in Wisconsin who needs to promote her creations. Vinod believes AI will make all the pieces accessible to the “little man,” and Nas.com is explicitly designed for that consumer.

Recommendation for founders and entrepreneurs

What arduous, concrete recommendation do you may have for founders?

I hope you take pleasure in consuming glass. I hope you take pleasure in doing arduous issues. Beginning a media firm or a channel is tough, and beginning a know-how firm is tough. Extra typically, constructing one thing out of nothing is difficult — whether or not it’s a human giving start to a child or a founder giving start to an organization. My recommendation is to “select your arduous,” as a result of no matter you do shall be arduous.

What makes the highway to entrepreneurship simpler?

AI will make it simpler, and I consider that 100%. If you happen to couldn’t communicate English earlier than, now AI can assist you talk in good English; if you happen to couldn’t make content material, now you may. If you happen to couldn’t do advertising earlier than, AI can assist you market. But it surely nonetheless received’t be a stroll within the park.

On the subject of this particular enterprise, what have you ever discovered notably stunning?

I’m most shocked by how briskly know-how has superior within the final three years. What used to take me 15 hours per video felt like an irreplaceable talent set, and I assumed nobody else would have entry to these capabilities. Now AI can replicate a lot of that in seconds. Expertise has developed so rapidly that if an organization “sleeps” for a month, it may well discover itself out of enterprise.