20-somethings are ditching entry-level jobs to become their own bosses

Young Americans are starting businesses faster than any other age group, and many say AI helped them do it. A Gusto survey of more than 1,000 people who started businesses in 2025 found over 70% of Gen Z founders used AI to build their companies, more than other generations.

Babson College's yearly survey found at least 23% of Americans aged 18 to 34 were running a business or side hustle last year, up from 19% in 2021. Among 18- to 24-year-olds the rate has more than doubled from a decade ago. The article says AI is disproportionately shaking up the entry-level jobs many of them once saw as career launchpads.

The founders profiled describe mixed economics. One catering owner brought in over $100,000 in eight months but said much went back into costs, and he earned about $60,000 a year in his corporate job. The accounts are individual stories and self-reported survey answers, not measured proof that AI caused the rise.

Jai Bhatia, 21, and Aryan Vij, 24, co-founded Turnstone, an app that runs AI teammates users can give work to. They declined job offers a month before graduating from UC Berkeley, received $500,000 from Y Combinator, and now employ two engineers and a marketing staffer from their San Francisco apartment. Bhatia said he did not want to be replaced by AI in three years.

Hugo Stack, 27, searched unsuccessfully for an entry-level finance job before enrolling in law school in September 2025. He is now on leave building Mecone, a perpetual futures trading startup that completed an Andreessen Horowitz accelerator. Investor Sheena Jindal said she has seen cases where raising $2 million is easier than landing an entry-level job.

Justus Shaw, 25, spent roughly $7,000 to start a coffee-cart catering business with about six rotating staff. It made over $100,000 in revenue in eight months, but he said the business must earn much more for him to match his former $60,000 corporate salary. Babson professor Donna Kelley said the logic of gaining work experience before starting a business is starting to change.