I've had this conversation about ai consulting is the new snake oil. here's spot the frauds. with at least 50 founders. Here's the distilled version.
The AI gold rush has brought out the charlatans. They promise the world and deliver a hefty invoice. As someone who's been in this game for a decade, I'm giving you my insider's guide to spotting the fakes.
The Counterintuitive Truth
Here's what surprised me most about ai consulting is the new snake oil. here's spot the frauds.: the best practitioners do less, not more.
When I was building MovieLaLa, we tried to do everything at once. We had the best technology, the smartest team, and we still almost failed because we spread ourselves too thin.
The lesson I took from that experience, and from watching hundreds of other companies, is that you need to move fast and break things. It sounds simple. It's incredibly hard to execute.
The Framework That Actually Works
I'm going to share the exact framework I use when evaluating ai consulting is the new snake oil. here's spot the frauds.. It's not complicated, but it requires discipline.
Step 1: timing is everything in this game This is where most people go wrong. They skip this step entirely and jump straight to execution. Don't do that.
Step 2: most founders overthink this and underspend on execution Once you have the foundation right, this becomes much easier. I've watched founders struggle with this for months when the answer was staring them in the face.
Step 3: Iterate relentlessly Nothing works perfectly the first time. The companies in my portfolio that nail ai consulting is the new snake oil. here's spot the frauds. are the ones that treat it as an ongoing process, not a one-time project.
Why Most Approaches Fail
Let me be direct: about 70% of the approaches I see to ai consulting is the new snake oil. here's spot the frauds. are fundamentally flawed. Not slightly off. Fundamentally flawed.
The root cause is usually one of three things:
- Copying what big companies do without understanding why they do it. What works for Google doesn't work for a 10-person startup.
- Over-engineering the solution when a simple approach would work better. I've seen teams spend six months building something that could have been done in two weeks.
- Ignoring the human element. Technology is the easy part. Getting people to actually use it is where the real challenge lives.
The AI Angle
I can't talk about ai consulting is the new snake oil. here's spot the frauds. in 2026 without mentioning AI. As someone who's invested in Anthropic, OpenAI, Scale AI, and Hugging Face, I have a front-row seat to how AI is transforming this space.
The short version: AI makes good practitioners better and bad practitioners worse. It's an amplifier, not a replacement.
I've seen companies use AI to 10x their ai consulting is the new snake oil. here's spot the frauds. capabilities. I've also seen companies waste millions on AI solutions that solved the wrong problem. The difference comes down to understanding what you're actually trying to achieve.
This connects to broader themes around corporate AI adoption, business intelligence AI, AI strategy that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
What's Next
The world of ai consulting is the new snake oil. here's spot the frauds. is moving fast. What worked last year might not work next year. That's both the challenge and the opportunity.
My advice: stay curious, stay humble, and stay close to the people who are actually doing the work. Read less thought leadership and do more experiments. Talk to fewer consultants and more practitioners.
And if you're a founder building in this space, remember that the best time to get ai consulting is the new snake oil. here's spot the frauds. right is before you need to. Don't wait for a crisis to force your hand.
I'll keep sharing what I learn. This stuff matters too much to keep to myself.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the most common pushback you get on this?
People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.
Do all experts agree with this view?
No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.
How has this view evolved over time?
My thinking on most topics has changed significantly over the years. Early in my career, I held many conventional views that experience proved wrong. I try to update my beliefs when the evidence changes.
What experience informs this perspective?
This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 200+ startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.