As AI threatens to wipe out jobs, the American dream—stable employment, a clear ladder to climb, and a company to grow old with—is quietly dying. More people are ditching the 9-to-5 to build something of their own. And Zoom is putting $150,000 behind the movement.
The $26 billion video conferencing giant is giving away $30,000 each to five solo business owners as part of its first-ever Zoom Solopreneur 50 rankings, shared exclusively with Fortune. No strings attached.
The first-of-its-kind list, which showcases the top 50 solo entrepreneurs in the U.S., was selected by an independent jury of business leaders and academics from nearly 3,000 applications across 48 states and over 400 cities.
“This program reflects where work is going—and the people already building there,” Zoom CMO Kim Storin told Fortune.
“This isn’t about building billion-dollar companies. It’s about building sustainable, profitable businesses that support a life. That’s a modern version of the American Dream—where ownership, independence, and control are all enabled by technology.”
33 million people have ditched traditional career paths
The timing is deliberate. As AI continues to reshape the workforce and hollow out traditional career paths, a new class of solo operators is quietly thriving. There are more than 33 million self-employed Americans, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with 82% of small businesses operating without a single employee. That’s precisely what sets solopreneurs apart from entrepreneurs. No team. No office. No cofounder. And Zoom wants to be the company that backs them.
“The Solopreneur 50 is our way of recognizing that shift early,” Storin says. “It highlights a new class of builders who are redefining what a company looks like and proving that ambition today is shaped more by focus and capability than by size.”
“For decades, scale meant headcount,” she adds. “That equation is breaking.” Now, she says, one person with the right tools can outperform entire teams built the old way—because the barriers that once kept solo operators small have largely disappeared. Zoom, naturally, counts itself among the tools making that possible.
And the breakdown of who applied for the grant further highlights that you no longer need to know how to code to build a thriving business. Just 5% of the founders were in the technology and SaaS sector.
In fact, services and consulting made up the biggest slice of solopreneurs at 20%—suggesting the most common path to going solo is simply monetizing expertise you already have. Close behind are founders in health, wellness, and social impact, pointing to strong purpose-driven motivations among those striking out alone.
As Zoom noted in its report, “the democratization of AI tools means technical skills are no longer prerequisites for building scalable businesses—a fundamental shift in who can participate in the innovation economy.” The proof is in the winners themselves, whose industries span everything from philanthropy to cake designing.
Meet the five solopreneurs splitting $150,000
To make it onto the list, candidates were evaluated on five criteria: the originality of their idea; evidence of real growth and sustainability; their impact on customers or communities; how authentically the business reflected the founder’s values; and their reach and influence in their field.
“What stood out was ambition combined with precision,” Storin says. “The best solopreneurs aren’t trying to do more; they’re ruthlessly focused on what only they can do, and they offload everything else to technology.”
As well as receiving cash to reinvest directly into their businesses, the 5 winners will gain access to Zoom mentorship, technology resources, and partnerships.
Cierra Gross, founder of Worklution Inc, is using her $30,000 to grow Wrk Receipts—a workplace documentation tool already used by over 22,000 employees.
“As a solo entrepreneur who is completely bootstrapped, I’m building without a large team or safety net, so this recognition affirms that the work I’m doing is not only needed, but impactful,” she tells Fortune. “It also creates more visibility for the mission behind my work, which is to provide people with information and tools they need to advance their careers and improve their lives.
Michael Odokara-Okigbo is putting his grant toward scaling NKENNEAi, his AI-driven platform for African language translation—working to make the continent’s languages more accessible and celebrated on a global stage.
Derek McCracken spent nearly a decade teaching agriculture in Ohio before launching The Owl’s Nest to give fellow educators ready-to-use classroom resources that actually inspire students. He’s using the $30,000 to bring in more teachers as contractors and expand his curriculum offering nationwide.
Dana Snyder of Positive Equation—which helps nonprofits attract supporters to their cause and build sustainable recurring revenue—is investing her grant into the visibility of the Monthly Giving Builder. “When more nonprofits have the tools to grow recurring giving programs, they can build the sustainable infrastructure they need to support their communities,” she says. “More monthly supporters means more generosity in the world, and that’s how I know I’ve done my job.”
And Angela Morrison of Cakes by Angela Morrison rounds out the five—a reminder that solopreneurship has no industry requirements, no tech prerequisites, and no ceiling.
And for anyone thinking of getting started, Snyder says there’s never been a better time.
“Nine years ago, solopreneurship felt lonely and isolating,” Snyder adds. “Today, the support and communities for female entrepreneurs are incredible. Add in AI and technology advancements, and building something global entirely on your own is limited only by your imagination and curiosity.”
