Robert Herjavec says startup founders should make AI part of their foundation, focusing on things like data and security, not just flashy features. He believes a strong, unique brand and honest investor relationships will help companies stand out. Founders need to work hard, stay focused, and use media smartly to earn trust and grow their reach. Success means combining human stories with smart use of AI tools and always showing real value. In short, it’s all about building trust, working smart, and making your brand unforgettable.
What are Robert Herjavec’s top strategies for startup founders to succeed in the AI era?
- Treat AI as core infrastructure – focus on data, security, and compliance, not hype.
- Build a strong brand that’s hard to copy.
- Prioritize investor relationships and transparency.
- Embrace the entrepreneurial grind with focus and efficiency.
- Leverage media for credibility and reach.
Robert Herjavec has spent four decades watching technological waves reshape business, from early internet days to cloud adoption. Speaking with founders in 2025, he views artificial intelligence as the next irreversible tide.
1. Treat AI as Infrastructure, Not a Gadget
Herjavec argues that the winners will come from the unseen plumbing of the AI economy – data pipelines, security layers, and compliance automation. One investment example is Delve, a platform that automates SOC 2 and ISO 27001 audits in hours rather than weeks by applying large language models to security questionnaires. In a March 2025 interview he described closing a customer deal “15 hours later, audit-ready, deal closed” The VC Corner.
Key takeaway for founders:
– Build or integrate tools that tame messy enterprise data, because sophisticated models are useless without clean, governed inputs.
– Emphasize measurable business value instead of AI branding. Investors ask how the model drives revenue or reduces risk in quantifiable terms.
2. Branding Matters More Than Ever
Cheap generative tools allow competitors to copy features in weeks. Herjavec stresses that a distinctive story and voice protect margin when product parity is inevitable. Recent marketing research shows 71 percent of consumers expect personalized engagement and grow frustrated when they do not receive it Verge Marketing. Founders should therefore:
– Codify a core narrative that links product mission with founder backstory.
– Use AI content engines for scale while preserving a consistent tone guide created by humans.
– Invest in communities where customers exchange authentic experiences; social proof is harder to replicate than code.
3. Sell the Human Before the Product
- Maintain a concise, metrics-driven update email for current and potential investors each month.
- Schedule at least one in-person or high-fidelity video meeting per quarter to read body language and reinforce trust.
- Share failures along with wins; transparent post-mortems demonstrate coachability.
4. Master the Grind
During a 2024 appearance at Venture Atlanta, Herjavec called entrepreneurship “a marathon run at sprint speed” and reminded founders that long hours and rejection remain constants even in an AI-enabled world Venture Atlanta. Actionable advice:
– Block weekly “maker time” for product and customer calls, insulating it from fundraising distractions.
– Use AI scheduling and summarization tools to cut administrative overhead, redirecting energy toward revenue activities.
5. Media as a Force Multiplier
Credibility still depends on third-party validation. Herjavec recommends pursuing niche podcasts, trade journals, and regional news before chasing national press. A single quotable clip can circulate across social platforms and investor briefings for months. Combine traditional coverage with owned channels such as LinkedIn articles that showcase domain insight.
Quick Reference Checklist
- Identify the data or security bottleneck your product removes.
- Draft a founder origin story that cannot be cloned by ChatGPT.
- Build an investor update template with KPIs and honest commentary.
- Protect two three-hour blocks each week for deep work.
- Pitch a small industry podcast this month and repurpose the content across newsletters and slide decks.
Q1: Why does Herjavec insist that “artificial intelligence is not optional” for founders in 2025?
Answer:
He sees AI as the new electricity – invisible but powering everything. Herjavec warns that startups treating AI as a side experiment will simply be outrun by competitors who bake it into daily operations from customer support to supply-chain decisions. His own portfolio at Herjavec Ventures shows the pattern: companies like Delve that automate compliance audits in 15 hours instead of weeks, or healthcare data platforms that prep legacy records for future AI models. Bottom line: skip AI and you are not just slower – you are structurally obsolete.
Q2: If AI makes copying easier, how can a startup’s brand still defend itself?
Answer:
Herjavec argues that storytelling becomes the moat. While generative tools can duplicate your logo overnight, they cannot replicate the founder’s lived narrative, the customer community rituals, or the values baked into hiring decisions. Research from 2024-2025 confirms that 76 % of consumers now punish brands that feel generic; at the same time, AI-powered personalization engines let tiny teams deliver Madison-Avenue-level relevance without the million-dollar budget. His advice: open-source the product if you must, but keep the origin myth, the voice, and the human relationships proprietary.
Q3: Where is the biggest AI upside right now – consumer apps or something else?
Answer:
Herjavec repeats it like a drumbeat: “The biggest AI opportunity is infrastructure.” Consumer-facing chatbots are saturating; the real 10x returns lie in the picks-and-shovels layer – secure data pipes, compliance automation, chips, energy, observability. At the 2025 HIMSS conference he spelled it out: hospitals will pay more for a platform that cleans and labels 30-year-old patient files than for another symptom-checker app. Founders who own the invisible scaffolding win twice – recurring revenue today and acquisition offers tomorrow from giants that need reliable groundwork.
Q4: How can solo founders sell themselves first when investors are drowning in AI pitch decks?
Answer:
Herjavec’s rule hasn’t changed since his first company: trust precedes term sheets. In 2025 that means:
– Send monthly investor updates even before fundraising – automation tools make this zero-cost
– Reference an investor’s recent AI ethics post in your cold email; Qubit Capital data shows personalized outreach earns 2.5x replies
– Offer face-to-face coffee chats; Praetura Ventures finds they triple close rates because body language beats any deck
He closes every talk with the same line: “People fund people, not algorithms” – so show them you are the human they can bet on when the code breaks at 3 a.m.
Q5: What daily habit separates founders who ride the AI wave from those who drown?
Answer:
Relentless adaptability beats perfect planning. Herjavec keeps a “48-hour pivot log”: every two days he asks his teams what customer signal or new model release should change the roadmap now. His investment track record supports it: portfolio companies running quarterly re-orgs grow 1.8x faster than peers stuck in annual planning cycles. Pair that with old-school media discipline – weekly LinkedIn posts, podcast guest slots, even terrestrial-radio interviews – and you create both iteration speed and public accountability, the twin engines that keep a startup surfing instead of sinking when the next AI swell arrives.
