Fredrik and Morten met as what most people would call ordinary small business owners. We answered our own phones, chased our own invoices, and sent appointment reminders one at a time from our personal cells. For years, that was just what running a business looked like.
Separately, we both hit the same wall and found the same way through it: stop doing by hand what software can do for you. We started connecting the tools we already used, booking, CRM, email, reviews, payments, and layering AI on top to handle the repetitive work. Those systems became the engine behind multiple multi-million dollar businesses. Not by working more hours, but by making the predictable work run without us.
"Why doesn't anyone teach this stuff? It's not hard, someone just needs to explain it like you're talking to a normal person."
That was the gap. Most AI automation content is written for developers, tech companies, or enterprise businesses. It assumes you know what an API is. It uses terms like "webhook," "endpoint," and "pipeline" without explaining them. It gives examples about software companies, not plumbers.
So we built Main Street AI together, as equal 50/50 partners. The rule from day one: every tutorial must be followable by someone who only knows email and Facebook. Every example must be from a real small business, a plumber, dentist, salon owner, or restaurant manager. Every tool recommendation must be honest, tested, and practical.
We published our first tutorials in 2023. Today we have 28,000+ readers across 40 countries, 250+ tutorials covering 12 industries, and two founders who still think like operators because we have run the businesses we write about.
The mission is simple: take the technology that's saving big companies millions of dollars and make it accessible to the plumber, dentist, restaurant owner, and contractor who just wants to save 10 hours a week and get home for dinner.