Author: Jay , QuantumBit
The creator of Clawdbot, which has gone viral online, is actually a billionaire?!
I initially thought he was another AI entrepreneur who dropped out of school, but after checking online, I found out that this guy had already started a business fifteen years ago and is probably forty years old this year.
Moreover, their first venture took off immediately.
He started his business in 2011 and cashed out in 2021, making a hefty profit of 100 million euros (approximately 830 million RMB).
Logically speaking, the script after achieving financial freedom should be: swinging golf during the day and enjoying red wine and lobster at night.
Guess what?
After only four years of leisurely life, this guy couldn't sit still anymore. He was itching to start coding full-time again and ventured into AI entrepreneurship.
In less than a year, they created Clawdbot.
An open-source AI assistant that operates 24/7 will proactively reach out and report to users like a personal secretary.
An agent can do anything it can do, such as filling out forms, sending emails, and controlling browsers...
"The real Jarvis".
The phenomenal AI product that went viral online also helped Cook boost Mac mini sales.
Netizens exclaimed: Absolutely the GOAT.
Next, let's take a look at the legendary life of Clawdbot's creator, the "father of Jarvis".
First half: An iOS engineer who started his own business
The expert's name is Peter Steinberger (let's call him Peter from now on). He is Austrian and graduated from Vienna University of Technology with a bachelor's degree in Computer and Information Science.
In fact, Peter was already a seasoned iOS developer while still in school. During his studies, he provided technical consulting and one-on-one training for several well-known iOS projects.
In fact, the first Mac/iOS development course at his alma mater was launched with Peter's involvement and promotion.
In 2010, Peter received an order that would change his life thanks to his skills.
The client wanted to create a magazine-style app based on PDF format, and Peter spent eight weeks developing a complete iOS version for them.
At first, he didn't think it was a big deal.
But not long after, a colleague suddenly asked him, "Can I use this engine too?"
Peter suddenly realized that this was not a simple matter.
At that time, the first-generation iPad had just been released, and applications were shifting more and more experiences to the digital world, and paper documents were likely one of the first things to be restructured.
Once documents are digitized, additional functions such as electronic signatures, document viewing, editing, annotation, and collaboration must be added.
Companies that want to do these things themselves face very high technical barriers.
So in 2011, Peter launched a Solo project—PSPDFKit.
The name is also straightforward: P comes from Peter; PDF refers to PDF files; Kit represents SDK toolkit.
The project progressed exceptionally quickly. Peter set up a website with an online store in almost a day and posted a message on Twitter. Several licenses were sold in the first week.
However, he did not intend to start his business full-time at that time.
In fact, Peter had already accepted a programmer job in Silicon Valley. However, the work visa application process for the United States was exceptionally slow, taking a full nine months.
But it was precisely during these nine months that he unexpectedly experienced a "downtime." He stopped taking on other part-time jobs and devoted all his time to refining PSPDFKit.
Who would have thought that this side hustle would progress so smoothly...
It was profitable almost from day one. By the time Peter actually joined the Silicon Valley company, the revenue generated by PSPDFKit had already exceeded his salary.
Four months later, Peter returned to his hometown, went all-in on PSPDFKit, began to officially expand the team, and brought in two co-founders.
As it turns out, he did indeed catch the right trend:
Document processing tools, even those with features like "previewing cloud files," were extremely difficult to develop at the time. Yet, they were things that businesses had no choice but to implement.
Now that PSPDFKit has laid out this foundation, businesses only need to pay a subscription fee to directly access the SDK and API.
Peter's business naturally flourished.
By 2021, PSPDFKit had become the de facto standard in the document processing field. Its clients included well-known companies such as Apple, Adobe, Lufthansa, Dropbox, and Disney, and its services indirectly covered 150 countries, reaching nearly 1 billion consumers.
Peter's life also took a turn for the better that year.
In October 2021, renowned firm Insight Partners announced an investment in PSPDFKit. Peter chose this point to cash out, selling most of his shares for approximately €100 million.
Peter's second half
But the story has only just begun...
Peter, having achieved financial freedom, felt an unprecedented emptiness.
When I sold my stake in PSPDFKit, my heart was breaking.
PSPDFKit was the culmination of Peter's 13 years of hard work. But he was simply too exhausted and had to take a break, and the emergence of Insight Partners provided a valuable opportunity.
After retiring, Peter indulged in revelry and pleasure, and even moved to another country to live.
But all of this only made him feel like a walking corpse.
To fill the void in his heart, he tried various forms of psychotherapy and even came across ayahuasca—a traditional hallucinogenic drink originating from South America.
Four years passed in the blink of an eye.
Until one day, Peter suddenly realized that changing cities or countries could not bring true happiness; the meaning of life might never be found.
Because of the true meaning—
I need to create it myself.
One day, Peter had a new idea that he hadn't had in a long time, so he sat down at the computer and started writing code.
At that moment, I realized that my spark had returned.
He suddenly realized that putting his ideas into practice and writing code had always been the happiest thing in his life.
So, in June 2025, Peter announced his comeback on his blog.
On LinkedIn, his latest identity is the founder of Amantus Machina, dedicated to developing the next generation of hyper-personalized AI agents.
Six months later, Clawbot became a viral sensation online, becoming the first truly viral AI product of 2026.
While listening to a podcast the other day, the founder of Lovart mentioned a point:
In the mobile internet era, the head effect is too strong. Many outstanding entrepreneurs of the previous generation had no chance to fully realize their potential before the window of opportunity closed.
Many people are eager to cheer each other on.
Now, technology is opening up an unprecedentedly huge window. The emergence of AI has finally given us the opportunity to completely remake all products.
For many entrepreneurs of the previous generation, this was like a ticket that was many years overdue.
This was also what Peter was thinking:
We're back... it's time to get serious.
