Artisan的'停止雇佣人类'广告牌赌注：利用愤怒为AI销售代表造势

做的是什么生意

Artisan builds AI sales agents — led by Ava, an AI SDR — that research prospects and write outbound sales emails for B2B companies, with plans to expand into more 'AI employee' roles.

启动资金：$12M raised in September 2024 after Y Combinator's winter 2024 class; $25M Series A led by Glade Brook Capital (April 2025).

起因

Jaspar Carmichael-Jack, a 23-year-old from Surrey with a long history of side hustles, came up with the idea for AI 'employees' in Tulum after ChatGPT launched. He joined Y Combinator's winter 2024 class with co-founder Sam Stallings, raised $12M in September 2024, and launched Ava, an AI sales development representative that writes cold outreach for B2B companies.

经过

To break out of a crowded AI SDR market, Artisan ran a deliberately trollish campaign. A TechCrunch Disrupt booth and a Highway 101 billboard reading 'Stop Hiring Humans' drew almost nothing, so the team anonymously mocked its own ads on Reddit, then blitzed 50 bus shelters across San Francisco. The backlash arrived: thousands of death threats, coverage everywhere, and Carmichael-Jack fleeing the city for Miami and London. Amid the hate, marketing managers and investors started calling; within months Artisan closed a $25M Series A led by Glade Brook Capital. By April 2025 it reported 250 customers, $5M ARR, and 35 human employees — hiring 22 more.

结果

Still running and expanding: after Ava came planned agents Aaron (inbound), Aria (meetings) and Blake (recruiting), and the founder says the slogan was 'mostly just for attention' — he does not actually believe AI replaces people.

可借鉴之处

制造的愤怒是一种廉价的分发渠道——但前提是公司能在故意引发的反弹中生存下来，并将注意力转化为销售。