# About Hanzo AI — the history

> Hanzo began as Crowdstart, a marketing platform. It incorporated as Hanzo AI in 2016, went through Techstars the next year, and now builds the AI cloud. Every pivot, and what came out of it.

Company history

# History ofHanzo AI.

Hanzo began as Crowdstart, a marketing platform. It incorporated as Hanzo AI in 2016, went through Techstars the next year, and now builds the AI cloud.

[Read the timeline](#timeline)[The Zen of Hanzo](https://hanzo.ai/zen)

## Our Story

Hanzo AI, Inc. began as Crowdstart, a crowd-powered marketing platform built under Verus Media in the mid-2010s. It took the Hanzo name in 2016 and joined the first Techstars Kansas City cohort the following year.

The work kept moving down the stack. Marketing tools led to the data behind them, then to blockchain and tokenized crowdfunding, and then to the developer tools we needed ourselves — Hanzo Dev, the coding agent, and Hanzo Base, the backend it writes against. Both are open source.

Today Hanzo builds the AI cloud: Enso, our frontier model; the open-weight Zen family, co-designed with the Zoo Labs Foundation; and the services an application actually needs — databases, identity, secrets, storage, search. Most of it is open source, and the same code that runs our cloud runs on your own hardware. Enso is the exception, and it stays on Hanzo Cloud.

## The timeline

Every pivot, and what came out of it. The through-line is building the tools we needed ourselves, then giving them away.

2014-2016

### Origins: Verus Media & Crowdstart

Verus Media launched Crowdstart, which used crowd data and AI to run product launches and crowdfunding campaigns.

“Record-breaking product launches and significant crowdfunding success.”

[Learn about our platform](https://hanzo.ai/platform)

1

2016

### Reimagining as Hanzo

The company formally incorporated as Hanzo AI, Inc., focusing on AI-powered marketing and development platforms.

“Helped launch some of the most successful crowdsales in history.”

[View Hanzo AI](https://hanzo.ai/ai)

2

2017

### Techstars Acceleration

Selected for the inaugural Techstars Kansas City accelerator cohort, sharpening focus on e-commerce SaaS.

“23 beta users and $42M in client sales by Demo Day.”

[Explore Commerce](https://hanzo.ai/commerce)

3

2018-2020

### AI Marketing & Blockchain

Pivoted to AI marketing platform and blockchain technology, supporting tokenized crowdfunding.

“Co-founded the first SEC-approved crowdfunding token offering.”

[See our analytics](https://hanzo.ai/analytics)

4

2021-2023

### Product Innovation

Launched Hanzo Dev, a code editor and app builder that turns a plain-language task into running software.

“Open-sourced Hanzo Base, a powerful backend framework.”

[Try Hanzo Dev](https://hanzo.ai/dev)

5

2024-Present

### Strategic Partnerships

Partnered with Personas Social Inc. to grow Keek's user base with Hanzo's AI.

“Driven over $1B in revenues to clients using AI-powered marketing.”

[Meet Hanzo Bot](https://hanzo.ai/bot)

6

## The Zen of Hanzo

The principles the company argues from when a decision is close.

### Enable the Underdog

Enable others to win. Democratize technology so small businesses and startups can compete with industry giants.

### Data-Driven Everything

Let data be your guide. Embrace analytics and AI as the foundation of decision-making.

### Open Innovation

Be open, share often. Openness accelerates growth—both for the company and its community.

### Adaptability

Pivot with purpose. There is no failure, only feedback. Move quickly and strike in new directions when opportunity calls.

### Customer-Centric Growth

Coach clients like a sensei. Treat each client as a long-term partner and guide them to success.

### First Principles Thinking

See the invisible, do the impossible. Boil problems down to their essence and solve them in fundamentally better ways.

[Explore The Full Zen Manifesto](https://hanzo.ai/philosophy)

Principles in Practice

## The Sensei Method

The Zen of Hanzo is what we believe. The Sensei Method is what an engagement looks like — Sensei Group sits with your team and works the problem alongside them.

### Identify First-Principle Goals

Drill down to the fundamental objectives that drive real value.

### Rapid Prototyping

Build quickly, test assumptions, and iterate with purpose.

### Data-Driven Decisions

Measure impact, analyze patterns, and let insights guide strategy.

### Sensei Mentorship

Work directly with expert "senseis" to implement and refine your approach.

[Visit Sensei Group](https://sensei.group)

Sensei MethodStrategy → Execution

### The Impact of Sensei

Through the Sensei Method and Sensei Group, we've helped clients generate over $1 billion in revenue and take more than a hundred products to market.

$1B+Client Revenue

100+Product Launches

10+Years Experience