Building a business, using AI, and making money online sounds simple until your first idea fails. This episode breaks down what happens next and how one operator rebuilt fast.

John Murphy (https://www.friqlabs.com/) sold his high ticket dropshipping business, tried launching a cold plunge brand in Italy, and watched it fail. Instead of overthinking the next move, he pivoted and built a new business in under two weeks using AI by solving a real problem he kept seeing.

The idea came from helping investigate a $4000 fraud order. That turned into a service business focused on fraud detection for ecommerce stores.

Ben and Jon break down the full process. Why the cold plunge business failed. What he learned after selling his first company. And how he used AI to build systems, workflows, and a working service without being technical.

Topics covered:

• why the cold plunge business failed in Italy

• the mistake of building without demand

• how taxes and bureaucracy slowed everything down

• the moment he spotted a real opportunity

• the $4000 fraud problem and how it turned into a business

• building a tool using AI without being technical

• the exact tech stack using Shopify, Make, and Airtable

• how AI helped build the system step by step

• launching a service business in under two weeks

• early traction and customer results

• pricing mistakes and scaling challenges

He did not start with a perfect idea. He started with a problem and moved fast.

This is what actually using AI to build a business looks like.

Business is simple. People are lazy.

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Timestamps:

00:18 — Details of John's business exit

03:16 — Launching a cold plunge brand

06:03 — Navigating bureaucracy in Italy

13:14 — Transitioning into fraud detection

15:52 — Explaining how Ekata software works

21:38 — Building a custom fraud risk agency

25:02 — Technical breakdown of the AI-built workflow

32:55 — Using AI to develop "superpowers"

38:04 — Calculating pricing for high-ticket services

48:43 — Introduction to FRIQ Labs

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Topics: ai business, build a business with ai, ecommerce, service business, startup ideas, online business

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