Minimal AI

What do they actually do

Minimal AI provides an AI “support agent” for e‑commerce brands. Teams connect Minimal to their store, helpdesk, and logistics tools so the agent can answer customer tickets with live order, shipping, and subscription context. The workflow is built around simple setup, conversational training (no code/rules), and human‑in‑the‑loop review that can progress to automation on ticket types where accuracy proves high. The product advertises 60+ integrations and multilingual/tone controls, and it’s used by brands like Boombrush, Plnktn, Dutchies, Cloudpillo, and MyWheels (site; case studies; YC profile).

Customers typically start with the agent drafting replies that humans edit, then move ticket classes to partial or full automation once results are reliable. Case studies report material automation and time savings (e.g., 65–75% automation for some customers), with results grounded in live order and logistics data via integrations (case studies; homepage).

Minimal’s pricing signals a focus on small to mid‑market D2C teams, with an example plan at €489/month covering up to 1,000 billable tickets (then €0.48 per extra ticket) (pricing). The company states 45+ brands use their agents today (YC profile).

Who are their target customer(s)

• Support manager at a fast‑growing D2C brand: Ticket volume is rising faster than headcount. They need to cut handling time and keep response quality high without hiring ahead of demand (YC profile; pricing; Plnktn case study).
• Founder or small CX team at a bootstrapped shop: A few people handle all messages and need fast, editable drafts and time saved per ticket so the team can scale without burnout (Boombrush case; Plnktn case).
• Support ops lead at a subscription/logistics‑heavy merchant: Repetitive, fixable tickets still require manual system changes. They need agents that read (and eventually safely write) order/shipment/subscription data to resolve issues end‑to‑end (homepage; Boombrush case).
• Helpdesk admin on Shopify + Gorgias (or similar): Generic bots miss live order context and cause back‑and‑forth. They need tight integrations so answers use real order/shipping data and reduce follow‑ups (homepage; Dutchies case).
• CX lead at an international brand: They must support multiple languages and enforce brand tone. They need correct multilingual replies with consistent voice rules (homepage; Boombrush case).

How would they acquire their first 10, 50, and 100 customers

• First 10: Leverage YC and founder networks for paid pilots, convert early case‑study partners, and run white‑glove installs for a few Shopify + Gorgias merchants to showcase live order‑aware replies; time‑box pricing and publish outcomes as proof (YC; pricing; case studies).
• First 50: Package the pilot into a fixed 2–4 week program with a repeatable demo script, ROI one‑pagers, and a basic calculator; layer targeted outreach (LinkedIn, marketplaces, partner webinars) and list in app/helpdesk marketplaces while collecting reviews and referrals (case studies; homepage).
• First 100: Add self‑serve onboarding and a low‑commitment trial for smaller teams, formalize partner/reseller programs and verticalized landing pages, invest in SEO/PPC and ABM for higher‑value accounts, and scale SDR/CS motions with standardized enablement and renewal/expansion playbooks (pricing; case studies).

What is the rough total addressable market

Top-down context:

Customer service/contact‑center software is a large market; estimates put contact center software at about $52B in 2024, providing a broad ceiling for related CX/automation spend (Fortune Business Insights).

Bottom-up calculation:

Using Shopify as a proxy (~2.42M active stores, Q4 2024) and Minimal’s example plan (€489/mo ≈ €5.9k/yr), scenarios range from ~€142M ARR at 1% adoption of Shopify stores to ~€710M at 5%; expanding to other platforms (≈3× Shopify) at 5% yields ~€2.1B ARR (Storeleads; Minimal pricing).

Assumptions:

• Adoption rate among modern e‑commerce stores of 1–5% for paid AI support agents.
• Shopify represents ~1/3 of modern stores (×3 multiplier for all platforms).
• Mid‑market ARPU proxied by €489/mo (€5,868/yr) plan.

Who are some of their notable competitors

• Gorgias: E‑commerce helpdesk with deep Shopify actions, macros/rules, and built‑in AI for suggested replies/automations. Competes when brands want a single helpdesk+automation stack; Minimal is an external agent trained conversationally across existing tools (helpdesk overview).
• Zendesk: Broad ticketing/messaging platform bundling bots, Copilot, and AI agents across channels. Strong for teams wanting AI inside a full service platform; Minimal focuses on e‑commerce‑specific agents and live order/logistics context with human‑in‑the‑loop training (Answer Bot).
• Intercom: Messaging‑first platform; Fin/Resolution Bot automates chat, suggests articles, and drives self‑service. Overlaps when teams prioritize chat‑first flows; Minimal emphasizes helpdesk ticket automation with live order data and conversational training (Resolution Bot).
• Ada: Enterprise no‑code AI agents and playbooks across chat/voice/email with strong multilingual features. Competes on configurable enterprise deployments; Minimal targets D2C/SMB e‑commerce with simpler conversational training and deep e‑commerce integrations (integrations).