Podcast Summary: The Side Hustle Show
Episode 700: From $9 to $350K — How to Build and Sell an AI Headshot Business
Date: October 6, 2025
Host: Nick Loper
Guest: Tanya van Gastel, Founder, Multiverse AI Headshot Generator
Episode Overview
This milestone episode dives deep into how Tanya van Gastel turned Multiverse AI, an AI-powered headshot generator, from a crowded side project into a six-figure business—and eventually sold the company after generating $350,000 in revenue. Tanya shares actionable marketing, pricing, and growth strategies, with a heavy focus on leveraging SEO and affiliates, the evolving AI landscape, and preparing a digital business for acquisition.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Entering and Thriving in a Crowded Market
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Not First, Still Early:
Although Multiverse AI entered a space with about ten competitors, perceptions of market saturation were misleading. Most potential users weren't even aware of AI headshots, leaving ample room for competition.- “So easy to put yourself down and be like, oh, but, you know, you’re only like, the 10th or the 11th or whatever. But still, there are so many potential people out there..."
—Tanya, [01:55]
- “So easy to put yourself down and be like, oh, but, you know, you’re only like, the 10th or the 11th or whatever. But still, there are so many potential people out there..."
-
You Don’t Have to Be #1:
Tanya debunks the myth that success requires being the top player—making $10K per month is possible without dominating the whole market.- “You don’t actually need to be the number one to make a really good living for yourself...”
—Tanya, [03:40]
- “You don’t actually need to be the number one to make a really good living for yourself...”
-
Strategic Niching, Especially B2B:
Focusing on strictly professional headshots (not casual or dating images) and pivoting to B2B unlocked bigger deals and allowed premium pricing.- “Our first huge client bought $4,000 of headshots for their internal teams... That was a huge wake-up call...”
—Tanya, [04:14]
- “Our first huge client bought $4,000 of headshots for their internal teams... That was a huge wake-up call...”
2. Building the Product with Minimal Technical Skills
- Non-Technical Founders Welcome:
Tanya comes from a marketing/PR, not technical, background. Technological barriers have dropped substantially, allowing either a technical cofounder or today's no-code tools to build similar services.- “...You can build a lot of things as a non-technical person these days, but ideally you keep it super niche, super clear value proposition.”
—Tanya, [07:00]
- “...You can build a lot of things as a non-technical person these days, but ideally you keep it super niche, super clear value proposition.”
3. Early-Stage Bootstrap Marketing
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Grassroots Growth on Reddit:
Tanya hustled to get traction on Reddit—despite frequent bans for promotional posts, early sales came from engaging users in relevant threads.- Example tactic: Search Reddit for “headshot AI”, join threads, and post as founder.
- “That was such a magical moment of oh my God, like I’m talking to strangers on the Internet and it’s actually working.”
—Tanya, [08:23] - Note that these tactics are less effective today due to stricter moderation.
-
Reddit Marketing Hacks:
Advanced users can use Ahrefs/Semrush to analyze which Reddit posts rank for valuable keywords and target those for comments or outreach.- “On these databanks, you can see which posts of Reddit get the most traffic...”
—Tanya, [11:35]
- “On these databanks, you can see which posts of Reddit get the most traffic...”
-
Formulating Viral Posts:
Use AI to mimic the format of the most upvoted posts in your target subreddit to get better traction.- “Take a screenshot of that, put it in GPT and ask it to create a couple of posts in the same style, but with your own project ideas.”
—Tanya, [09:52]
- “Take a screenshot of that, put it in GPT and ask it to create a couple of posts in the same style, but with your own project ideas.”
4. Primary Marketing Engines: SEO & Affiliates
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SEO Powerhouse:
Tanya’s listicles ranking for “best AI headshot generator” keywords drove major user growth and attracted media coverage.- “...for about six months maybe we were number one article for best AI headshot generator. And that was based on a listicle that I had written...”
—Tanya, [25:28]
- “...for about six months maybe we were number one article for best AI headshot generator. And that was based on a listicle that I had written...”
-
Affiliate Marketing Leverage:
A robust affiliate program (paying out 30%) incentivized bloggers to write reviews, comparisons, and listicles that funneled high-conversion traffic.- “Our best paid affiliate writer was making about $10,000 a month in just sales... driving $30,000 of revenue to our business...”
—Tanya, [16:04] - Tech: Used Rewardful for affiliate tracking and payments ([20:01]).
- “Our best paid affiliate writer was making about $10,000 a month in just sales... driving $30,000 of revenue to our business...”
-
Proactive Affiliate Recruitment:
Monitored who ranked for key terms and reached out to be included in their lists, sometimes negotiating paid placements for top positions.- “Sometimes if they rank really well, they would respond back to us with a fee... for like one month or two months...”
—Tanya, [17:49]
- “Sometimes if they rank really well, they would respond back to us with a fee... for like one month or two months...”
-
Minimal Success with Influencers/YouTubers:
Influencer partnerships were often too expensive and didn’t convert well unless the creators were already focused on SEO content.
5. Pricing & Margins
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Started Low, Grew with Confidence:
Launched at $9 and eventually increased to $29 (with similar conversion rates). Higher prices brought better customers and improved margins.- “We kind of creeped our way up to 29, and we saw absolutely no change in our conversion rate.”
—Tanya, [22:31]
- “We kind of creeped our way up to 29, and we saw absolutely no change in our conversion rate.”
-
Cost Structure:
Initial costs: ~$2 per headshot (plus Stripe fees); eventually costs rose only slightly, while price tripled.- “Near the end... looking around $4 or $5 in terms of cost, and then everything else was margin.”
—Tanya, [24:11]
- “Near the end... looking around $4 or $5 in terms of cost, and then everything else was margin.”
-
Pricing Signals Quality:
Charging too little can hurt perceptions of value, particularly with corporate clients.- “When you’re pricing yourself too low, a certain client won’t even pay attention because they don’t think that a product that is $9 can actually be good value.”
—Tanya, [25:23]
- “When you’re pricing yourself too low, a certain client won’t even pay attention because they don’t think that a product that is $9 can actually be good value.”
6. Social Proof, Virality, and Word of Mouth
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Before & After Magic:
Visual transformations were vital social proof and word-of-mouth drivers, especially on LinkedIn.- “Befores and afters are the bread and butter of the AI headshot industry.”
—Tanya, [34:19]
- “Befores and afters are the bread and butter of the AI headshot industry.”
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Gamifying with a Quiz:
Created a viral quiz (“AI or Not?”) challenging users to distinguish AI images from real ones—few could score above 5/10.- “Nobody passed this entire quiz without at least getting one wrong.”
—Tanya, [35:30]
- “Nobody passed this entire quiz without at least getting one wrong.”
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Incentivizing Sharing:
Users who shared results could claim 50 extra headshots, processed manually for simplicity.- “...if you shared your results, we’d give you an additional 50 headshots free of charge.”
—Tanya, [37:06]
- “...if you shared your results, we’d give you an additional 50 headshots free of charge.”
7. From B2C to B2B: Landing Big Clients
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Pitching to Remote Teams:
Positioning the service as ideal for remote teams needing matching, professional headshots opened the door to bulk sales.- “Our product was perfect for remote teams... AI headshots for remote teams, that is a perfect solution...”
—Tanya, [45:53]
- “Our product was perfect for remote teams... AI headshots for remote teams, that is a perfect solution...”
-
SEO-Fueled B2B Inbounds:
Direct outreach (cold-emailing) had low ROI; focused content on keywords like “team headshots for remote teams” brought decision makers inbound. -
Networking and Gifting:
Giving away a handful of team headshots cultivated referrals and LinkedIn buzz.
8. Media Mentions and PR
- PR for Trust, Not Traffic:
Mentions in major outlets (Rolling Stone, Forbes) legitimized the product and improved conversions (social proof), though they produced little direct sales.- “If you’re like a journalist and you’re doing research... That’s how we got into Rolling Stone…”
—Tanya, [25:28] - “Very close to zero sales from media company itself…”
—Tanya, [26:56]
- “If you’re like a journalist and you’re doing research... That’s how we got into Rolling Stone…”
9. Selling the Business: Timing, Positioning, and Lessons
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Why Sell?
With new competitors (e.g., ChatGPT’s image generation) looming and cofounders ready to move on, the team decided it was time to exit.- “Within a very fast-changing field such as AI photography, you never know what’s going to shift in the industry and make it very difficult for you to continue selling your product.”
—Tanya, [38:23]
- “Within a very fast-changing field such as AI photography, you never know what’s going to shift in the industry and make it very difficult for you to continue selling your product.”
-
Marketplace Surprises:
Listed on Flippa, Multiverse AI attracted a buyer from e-commerce (not SaaS or AI), who valued the huge margins and digital nature over their physical inventory business.- “We ended up selling to an e-commerce player... wanted to move away from selling physical products.”
—Tanya, [41:04]
- “We ended up selling to an e-commerce player... wanted to move away from selling physical products.”
-
Key for Buyers:
Even for a business with primarily one-time purchases, a strong, recurring inbound traffic pipeline (via SEO and affiliates) made the proposition attractive. -
Preparation Advice:
Tanya recommends founders learn the financial and narrative aspects of their business early—understand your margins, growth drivers, and story.
10. The New Frontier: GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
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The Future of “SEO”:
ChatGPT and other LLMs are surfacing answers based on training data and mentions, not just website rankings.- “GEO is really about how can you get ChatGPT to recommend your business and not your competitors.”
—Tanya, [47:33]
- “GEO is really about how can you get ChatGPT to recommend your business and not your competitors.”
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Optimizing for LLMs:
- Get cited/mentioned in major datasets (Reddit, press, FAQ-type blog posts).
- Ensure your features/benefits/questions are explicitly written, as LLMs are less likely to “reason” from indirect information.
- “You basically want to make training data for your own business...”
—Tanya, [50:32]
11. Notable Quotes & Moments
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On Side Hustle Mindset:
“Success is just failure to failure without losing any kind of enthusiasm.”
—Tanya, [52:57] -
On Productizing a Trend:
“You can get really far building a product that makes, like, $10,000 a month, and that is absolutely not impossible.”
—Tanya, [03:40] -
On SEO/Affiliate Synergy:
“Our biggest two drivers were really about SEO and affiliate SEO… The biggest hacks that I have thought of for really effectively doing Reddit marketing.”
—Tanya, [13:43]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- [01:55] — Competing in a crowded market, market awareness
- [03:40] — Mindset: You don’t have to be #1; B2B value
- [08:23] — Early growth tactics: Reddit
- [11:06, 13:43] — Advanced Reddit marketing & affiliate strategies
- [16:04, 17:49] — Affiliates & SEO; behind-the-scenes on listicles
- [22:26] — Pricing evolution, signaling value
- [34:19] — The power of before/after images and viral quizzes
- [38:23] — Deciding to sell, AI market disruption
- [41:04] — Finding unexpected buyers, marketplace surprises
- [47:33] — GEO: Optimizing for AI engines, not just Google
Actionable Takeaways
- Don’t fear competition: There’s more market than you think if you carve out a sharp niche and execute.
- Start with monetization and distribution: Build simple, sellable products and focus on SEO/affiliates for scalable traffic.
- Embrace and incentivize word of mouth: Find your version of “before/after” proof for virality.
- Prepare your narrative and finances early: It makes selling or scaling the business much smoother.
- Adapt to the new AI-powered search reality: Begin optimizing your mentions and content for LLMs, not just Google.
Follow Tanya & Resources
- YouTube: Founder Tanya
- LinkedIn: Tanya van Gastel
- New Project: Ranking on AI
“Don’t give up. Success is just failure to failure without losing any kind of enthusiasm.”
—Tanya van Gastel, [52:57]
For listeners and entrepreneurs at all stages, Tanya’s journey offers practical strategies (and warnings) for building and scaling a digital business in a fast-changing landscape—plus a look ahead at the rise of GEO as the future of visibility.