Generative AI Expands Solo Entrepreneurial Entry, Yet Team Advantage Persists (Extended Abstract)

Abstract

This paper studies how generative artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes entrepreneurial entry and early market evaluation. We leverage the public release of ChatGPT as an exogenous shock and analyze more than 160,000 product launches on Product Hunt. We find a sharp increase in entrepreneurial entry driven disproportionately by solo entrepreneurs. Yet, this expansion does not translate into greater representation among the highest-quality outcomes. Team-based ventures continue to dominate the top tiers of platform rankings. These findings suggest that generative AI lowers barriers to solo entrepreneurship while reinforcing team-based advantages.