Greg Isenberg’s Step-By-Step Blueprint To Building A Successful AI Business

Summary

The transcript from the 'Next Wave' podcast features a discussion with Greg Eisenberg on building a successful AI business. Eisenberg challenges the notion that AI companies lack a competitive edge and offers a step-by-step guide, or 'playbook,' for starting an AI company. He emphasizes the importance of leveraging platforms like Open AI and Chat GPT, comparing them to Google's early strategy of directing users to relevant internet pages. The conversation explores the concept of 'unbundling' in business, where focusing on specific use cases within a broader platform can create opportunities. Eisenberg also highlights the significance of community building and personal branding in the AI space. The discussion touches on the future of agencies, the democratization of content creation, and the increasing accessibility of tools that can elevate individual skills. The podcast concludes with thoughts on the potential for AI to revolutionize various industries, including entertainment and media, and the importance of distribution in content success.

Takeaways

• 🚀 **Building AI Companies**: The discussion emphasizes that despite the narrative that AI companies lack a unique value proposition, there are strategies to build successful AI businesses by leveraging frameworks like unbundling and focusing on specific use cases.
• 🌐 **Leverage Open AI**: Greg Eisenberg argues against the idea that using platforms like Open AI or chat GPT diminishes a company's value, comparing it to Google's approach of curating and directing users to the most relevant information.
• 📚 **PDF.ai Example**: The transcript shares a story of a company that focused on PDFs and didn't see revenue drop despite the introduction of similar features in chat GPT, highlighting the importance of specialization and community focus.
• 💡 **Innovation and Community**: The importance of continuous innovation and engaging with a community is stressed as a way to maintain a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
• 👥 **Personal Brand and Trust**: The value of a personal brand and community trust is highlighted as a key differentiator for companies, especially when faced with competition from AI clones or large incumbents.
• 🎯 **Identifying Niches**: The concept of identifying and focusing on micro-niches within broader AI applications is presented as a strategic approach to building a loyal customer base.
• 📈 **Rapid Growth through AI Tools**: The case study of Boring Marketing demonstrates how AI tools can be used to achieve rapid business growth and profitability without external funding.
• 🛠️ **AI Tools Over Saturation**: The discussion points out the current saturation in the AI tools market, with many companies offering similar products, emphasizing the need for differentiation and innovation.
• 🌟 **Taste and Creativity**: It is suggested that taste and creativity will become increasingly important in the age of AI, as these qualities cannot be easily replicated and will set companies apart.
• 📊 **Distribution and Leverage**: The transcript discusses the importance of distribution and building leverage through social proof and community support as a way to succeed in the creative industries, even when creation tools are democratized.
• ⚙️ **ACP Funnel**: Greg introduces the ACP (Audience, Community, Product) funnel as a framework for starting businesses, which involves building an audience, fostering a community, and then creating a product to serve that community.

Q & A

What is Greg Eisenberg's perspective on the moat around AI companies?

Greg Eisenberg disagrees with the notion that AI companies lack a moat, or competitive advantage. He believes this perception is incorrect because, like Google, many companies can create substantial value by being a 'thin wrapper' around extensive data or services, effectively pointing users to the solutions they need within a broad information landscape.

What does Greg suggest is the key to building successful AI businesses?

Greg suggests focusing on community-first approaches and leveraging existing AI tools to address specific use cases without needing to develop everything from scratch. He emphasizes the importance of identifying unique market needs and building around those areas, using AI as a tool to enhance and specialize the services offered.

Can you explain the 'unbundling' concept that Greg mentioned in relation to AI and startups?

Unbundling refers to the process of breaking down a broad service into its individual components to better serve specific needs. Greg uses the example of Craigslist, where general services were broken down into specialized platforms like Indeed for jobs and Tinder for dating. He suggests that AI startups can similarly focus on specific functionalities and use cases to carve out niche markets.

How did Greg use the example of PDF tools to illustrate his point about AI startups?

Greg used the example of a PDF tool company to explain how AI can be utilized in specific applications. Even when AI advancements like ChatGPT introduced features that could undermine such tools, companies with a clear, targeted business strategy focusing on specific customer needs, like PDF for lawyers or accountants, continued to thrive due to their specialized service.

What role does community play in the AI business strategy according to Greg?

Greg emphasizes the importance of building a community around a business as a unique advantage. By engaging with a community that trusts and supports the business, companies can maintain a competitive edge, foster loyalty, and ensure continued business even in a market where technological capabilities might be easily replicable.

What did Greg say about the impact of personal branding in AI businesses?

Greg notes that personal branding is crucial in the AI industry as it helps build trust and recognition. Personal branding can give businesses a springboard to launch new products and gain early traction, demonstrating that a strong individual brand can accelerate the growth and acceptance of new AI ventures.

How does Greg view the future of agency business models in the context of advancing AI technology?

Greg believes that while low to mid-level agency services might be commoditized due to AI, high-level and innovative agencies will still thrive. The need for 'taste' and unique creative input, which AI cannot replicate, will continue to be highly valued and sought after in the marketplace.

What strategy did Greg describe for starting a successful AI company?

Greg described starting with a character or personal brand to build a following, then addressing specific demands within that audience by utilizing AI tools strategically to enhance services or products. He advocates for using AI to assist in providing specialized services rather than relying on AI to be the sole product.

How did Greg's personal experience with his Twitter-based project contribute to his AI business strategy?

Greg leveraged his personal brand to quickly build a following for his project, demonstrating the effectiveness of using established social capital to accelerate the growth of new ventures. His experience underscores the importance of community and personal engagement in successfully launching and scaling AI-driven businesses.

What potential does Greg see in the integration of AI with other major trends and technologies?

Greg sees significant potential in integrating AI with other emerging trends such as virtual reality, robotics, and advanced manufacturing. He believes that these integrations will drive major innovations and transformations across various industries, enabling new business models and capabilities that were previously unimaginable.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Starting an AI Company: The Playbook

The first paragraph introduces the topic of building a successful AI business amidst the narrative that AI companies lack a sustainable competitive edge. Greg Eisenberg shares his perspective on the value of using platforms like OpenAI and Chat GPT, comparing them to Google's business model of directing users to relevant internet pages. He emphasizes the importance of focusing on specific use cases and building a community around them, rather than trying to be everything to everyone.

05:03

💡 The Power of Community and Branding in AI

The second paragraph delves into the concept of 'unbundling' in business, drawing parallels with Craigslist's evolution into specialized platforms like Indeed.com and Tinder. It discusses the potential for revenue growth through a focused approach on specific AI applications. The conversation highlights the significance of community building and personal branding in the AI industry, suggesting that these elements can provide a competitive edge in a market where similar products can be easily duplicated.

10:04

🌐 Navigating the Duplicate Button Era in AI

The third paragraph addresses the challenges and opportunities presented by the ease of duplicating AI tools and products. It discusses the importance of continuous innovation and the role of personal branding in distinguishing companies in a competitive landscape. The speakers share insights on how to curate and maintain a community around AI tools and the necessity for companies to constantly evolve and innovate to stay relevant.

15:07

📈 Building a Profitable AI Business: The Boring Marketing Example

The fourth paragraph presents the case study of Boring Marketing, an AI-powered business that achieved significant cash flow without external funding. It outlines the strategy of starting with a Twitter account to build an audience, then a community through Discord, and finally creating a product that addresses the community's needs. The success of Boring Marketing is attributed to the integration of AI tools into SEO services, leveraging the community's feedback for product development.

20:07

🎬 The Future of Creative Industries with AI

The fifth paragraph explores the impact of AI on creative fields like film and art. It argues against the narrative that AI is a threat to creative professions, instead suggesting that AI tools can empower creators by raising the quality bar and enabling personalization. The speakers discuss the potential for individuals to create high-quality content with AI, emphasizing the importance of distribution and the creator's unique voice in standing out in a saturated market.

25:09

🌟 AI and the Democratization of Content Creation

The sixth paragraph continues the discussion on AI's role in content creation, focusing on the opportunities for personalizing media for different geographies, languages, and cultures. It highlights the potential for AI to enhance the work of talented individuals and the importance of distribution networks in the success of creative projects. The speakers also touch on the broader technological trends, including AI, virtual reality, and robotics, suggesting that these innovations open up new avenues for creative expression and business opportunities.

30:09

🤖 The ACP Framework for Building AI Businesses

The seventh paragraph introduces the ACP (Audience, Community, Product) framework as a strategy for building successful AI businesses. The speakers discuss their experience with starting businesses using this framework, emphasizing the importance of building an audience through social media, creating a community through platforms like Discord, and then developing a product to meet the community's needs. They also mention the potential for AI to transform traditional industries and the shift in focus towards solving big problems that require significant capital investment.

35:11

📚 Wrapping Up: Insights and Future Outlook

The eighth and final paragraph wraps up the discussion by appreciating the insights shared by the guest. It reflects on the importance of the ACP framework and the potential for AI to democratize information and empower individuals to solve easy problems effectively. The conversation concludes on a positive note, highlighting the excitement for the future of AI and its applications across various industries.

Keywords

💡AI Company

An AI company is a business entity that specializes in artificial intelligence technologies, products, or services. In the context of the video, the discussion revolves around the challenges and strategies for starting and growing an AI company, particularly in a competitive landscape where many companies are leveraging similar AI technologies.

💡Moat (Business Strategy)

A moat in business refers to a company's sustainable competitive advantage that protects it from competitors. The script discusses the misconception that AI companies lack a moat, arguing that innovative strategies and frameworks can create value and competitive advantages, even when using widely available AI resources.

💡Chat GPT

Chat GPT, or Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer, is a type of AI model designed for natural language processing tasks. The video uses Chat GPT as an example of a foundational AI technology that many businesses build upon. It's compared to Google in terms of its role as an aggregator of vast amounts of data.

💡Unbundling

Unbundling, in a business context, refers to the process of breaking down a product or service into its constituent parts and offering them separately. The script mentions the unbundling of chat GPT and how it presents opportunities for startups to focus on specific use cases, thereby creating niche products.

💡Community-First Approach

A community-first approach emphasizes building a loyal customer base and user community around a product or service before developing or expanding the product. The video suggests that this approach can be particularly effective for AI startups, as it allows them to understand and cater to the needs of a specific user base.

💡Thin Wrapper

A 'thin wrapper' in the context of the video refers to a business model where a company provides a minimally modified interface or service built on top of a larger, existing platform. The discussion addresses the misconception that such a model lacks value, contrasting it with successful companies like Google.

💡Personal Brand

A personal brand is the unique identity that an individual builds in their professional life. The video highlights the importance of personal branding in the age of AI, where being recognized and trusted by a community can give an entrepreneur or company a competitive edge.

💡Innovation Agency

An innovation agency is a type of consulting firm that helps other businesses integrate innovative technologies and strategies into their operations. The script discusses the role of such agencies in working with companies to adopt AI-first approaches and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market.

💡AI Tools

AI tools refer to software applications that utilize artificial intelligence to perform tasks, such as content creation, data analysis, or automation. The video talks about the proliferation of AI tools and the challenges of distinguishing between them, emphasizing the need for innovation and differentiation.

💡Distribution in Media

In the context of media and entertainment, distribution refers to the means by which content reaches its audience. The script suggests that with the democratization of content creation through AI, the ability to distribute content effectively will become a critical factor for success in the industry.

💡ACP Funnel

The ACP Funnel is a business framework that stands for Audience, Community, Product. It's a strategy for building a business by first creating an audience, then fostering a community, and finally launching a product. The video provides an example of how this framework was used successfully with the business 'Boring Marketing'.

Highlights

Greg Eisenberg provides a step-by-step roadmap for building a successful AI business in the current market.

Eisenberg challenges the narrative that AI companies lack a competitive edge (moat) by comparing them to Google's business model.

The concept of 'unbundling' in the AI industry is explored, suggesting opportunities to specialize within broader AI platforms.

A case study is presented where a business using AI tools achieved significant cash flow without external funding.

The importance of community building and leveraging personal branding in the age of AI is emphasized.

Eisenberg discusses the potential for AI to democratize and level the playing field for creative industries like film and music.

The idea that AI tools can enhance the work of professionals with good taste and creativity, rather than replace them.

The significance of distribution and building a personal brand as key factors for success in the saturated AI market.

The potential for AI to enable personalized media content tailored to different geographies, languages, and cultures.

Eisenberg shares the successful strategy of starting with an audience, building a community, and then creating a product (ACP funnel).

The discussion on how AI can augment human capabilities, giving creators 'superpowers' to produce higher quality work.

The future of talent agencies using AI to pitch talent to studios by integrating their faces into video concepts.

The impact of AI on the traditional pathways to success in industries like film, suggesting new direct routes to discovery and production deals.

The ACP funnel strategy is detailed as a replicable framework for starting businesses in the AI space.

Eisenberg's perspective on preferring to work on 'easy problems' in AI, leveraging existing technologies to create value.

The potential shift in venture capital focus towards companies tackling very large, capital-intensive problems due to advancements in AI.

Y Combinator's interest in moonshot ideas and the changing landscape of investment opportunities in the tech industry.

Transcripts

so I'll give you the Playbook of if I

was starting an AI company here's how I

would do it how do you decide what

companies to either invest in or build

with this whole narrative that these AI

companies don't have a mo I think it's

wrong we started a business that is

going to do $2 to $3 million of free

cash flow without raising one cent from

anyone else and it was all using this

framework hey welcome to the next wave

podcast my name is Matt wolf I'm here

with my co-host Nathan Lans and we've

got an excellent show for you today so

in the AI World you've probably heard a

lot that AI businesses have no mo it's

really really difficult to create a new

business in the world of AI when

everybody can create similar businesses

well on today's show we've got Greg

Eisenberg and Greg has a completely

different idea about how this is all

going to play out in fact he gave us a

stepbystep roadmap A playbook on how you

can build a successful business in this

current world of AI so let's go ahead

and just dive in with Greg

Now Greg Eisenberg thanks for joining us

here today the dream comeing true this

is going to be fun I mean right now

we're in this this era where AI is sort

of taking over all of the news cycles

and everything has AI baked into it even

all the products that don't seem like

they need AI have ai baked into them and

you're doing some amazing stuff with AI

so it just it seems like a good fit for

you to be one of our first early guests

on this show and and talk about where

all of this is headed the interesting

thing about AI is everyone from your

Barber to Jeff Bezos is interested in AI

yeah I recently got a haircut and my

barber just kept asking me about

different AI tools that he was using he

wanted my feedback on it and what Nathan

and I actually have in common is I think

I tweeted something about Ai and he

tweeted something about Ai and then

within 24 hours Jeff Bezos both followed

us on Twitter and then Matt also got

followed off of that yeah we're an

exclusive Jeff Bezos follows us club now

yeah yeah so we we got to finally

message him and actually get him to come

on or do something with all of us so

that's right so Greg how do you see the

holding company concept how do you

decide what companies to either invest

in or build with this whole narrative

that these AI companies don't have a mo

knowing that almost any company out

there can use some of these existing

resources to build the same software

you're building how is the approach to

what companies to invest in or build so

there's this narrative that if you're

building on top of open AI chat GPT

you're this rapper that you have no mo

and therefore you haven't built any

value and I think it's wrong I think

it's wrong because if you think of chat

GPT and open AI what is it it's

basically an amalgamation of the

craziest amount of worldwide data in one

place it's it's it's incredible it's

like a trillion times

The Great Library in Alexandria maybe

even more and I think that what people

don't get is you know what's another

little startup that is a thin wrapper

around the world's information it's

Google Google doesn't create any of the

content they are a rapper around the

internet but they Point people to Pages

within the internet and it's the

greatest business model of all time you

know even even today you know it's

trillion dollar company if you look at

their financial statements a huge chunk

of their business still comes from

Google search I also think that there's

this great unbundling of chat gbt that

is happening now what unbundling is

there's a great quote I think Jim

Barksdale said it there's two ways to

make money you're either unbundling or

you're bundling and what that means is

what does unbundling mean unbundling

means you know if you look at Craigslist

Craigslist was a Marketplace for

everything you had the ability to post a

job that became

indeed.com you had the ability to you

know find a mate that became you know

Tinder and and what match is doing

basically on the internet you can't

really be everything to everyone so

there's going to be a huge opportunity

to look at what are the different use

cases on the horizontal platforms like

chat GPT and what open AI is doing and

basically think about how can I apply a

Community First approach create what you

might call is a thin rapper but what I

call is this is dope I don't have to

rebuild everything from scratch and and

just focus on a particular use case now

I want to give one quick example to that

I forget the name of the founder

pdf. and when chat GPT introduced this

idea around you can now talk with a PDF

basically everyone basically assumed

that this guy's quote unquote thin

rapper was going to go to zero and what

he noticed is that Revenue actually

didn't really go down a lot more people

now knew about chat gbt there was news

about it they knew that you can use PDFs

and he had a purpose-built

business focused on it so I think you're

going to see more of like the PDF aai

stories than you are going to see other

stories yeah I've always thought the uh

critique on like the thin rapper thing

was kind of like I don't know

like it doesn't make a lot of sense to

me like like almost every company on the

internet relying on something I mean at

one level or not like even everybody's

riing on the internet you're right you

know where I think the community

approach that you're doing makes a lot

of sense it's probably a really unique

Advantage is that with the new AI tools

and especially let's say GPT 5 comes out

and it's even way more impressive than

gp4 we're going to get to a point where

you're going to be able to look at a a

SAS website and say hey gp5 go build

that for me make my own version for me

that might be like a year away and if

you have a brand and a community people

who trust you like you I think they'll

keep doing business with you whereas if

you're just like a soulless company that

doesn't have that I think you're at a

great disadvantage in this next wave

yeah I want to expand on that because I

don't think a lot of people are talking

about like the marketing Community angle

to these products yeah for the longest

time people were saying that energy

drinks were actually a saturated market

and then out of nowhere what's like the

best performing stock of the last 12

months or one of the best is Celsius

Holdings and you know it's like a $15

billion company it's a energy drink that

they're they originally targeted women

because in their research and insight

they noticed that if you look at like

Monster Energy and all these you know

energy drinks it was very like male

dominated now what's the difference from

a formula perspective of a monster

versus like a bang or whatever like

probably not that different same with

beer you know what's the difference

between you know a Miller Light and a

Kors light now a lot of people listening

are going to be like no I'm a Miller I'm

a Miller a Miller girl or a Miller guy

or I'm a Coors Light guy but that's

identity playing into it you you've in

your identity you're like I'm that type

of person and I think you're going to

see that identity based consumption

model happened with AI startups too like

I'm not I'm a Gemini person I'm not a

chat GPT person was it pdf. a what what

would be some like advice you would give

to that company as as far as like

building a community around it how do

you build a community around a tool that

essentially just uh helps you understand

PDFs better yeah well I think the the

issue with pdf. a is it's niche not what

I call Super Niche so step one is your

horizont you have no Niche your chat gbt

step two is your Niche you're you've

picked like PDF as your category and

then step three is Micro Niche which is

like your PDF for lawyers your PDF for

accountants what I would be doing is be

focusing on the community piece if I was

him what are the different communities

that need PDFs the most and trying to

retrofit for those people because those

people like accountants or lawyers for

example will have a set of pain points

that are going to be different than me

or you just because we're we're

different and also they just might just

trust you more if it's called Legal PDF

as well which is like the the beer

example they might just trust you

because they like the name which also is

a thing that not many people talk about

in startups which is names actually pay

a m and you know this Nathan um yeah Mr

lore but names actually play a bigger

role in in how people actually connect

with products than people like to think

yeah totally I think you're right like

especially like in the age of AI That's

going to matter more and more like

having a name and a brand that people

trust and they feel connected to so they

keep going back and doing business with

that company versus the random company

that just you know sprouted up out of

nowhere and just copied you with AI you

you bring up a good point around if if

everyone could basically press the

duplicate button yeah like how do we

think about building companies in that

in that world and it's a really good

I've thought about it a lot and I think

that you know the good side of it by the

way is that it's going to be really easy

to spin things up and you could see a

viral tweet and then be like wow this is

really cool and you can be living in

like Sri Lanka and you could be 14 years

old and you can press the duplicate

button and then you can like you know

pay for X blue and you you show up and

you reply and you get a million

downloads like your life could could

change overnight yeah the downside of

the of that coin is that competition is

going to

100x like the amount of software that's

going to be created is going to be 10 to

100x minimum yeah just like you saw that

in content land with tools like Tik Tok

you know I was an adviser to Tik Tok for

a few years and it was crazy seeing the

amount of content you know just I mean

you see it I'm sure you've seen played

with Tik Tok like there's the amount of

content on all these platforms Tik Tok

YouTube you know Instagram you give

people easier tools to create things

they're going to create things so that's

what's going to happen I'd love to talk

about you guys like how would you

navigate this world where everyone's

given the duplicate button well I mean

Greg that's that's a big reason like I

thought you'd be a great guest on the

show honestly is because like I think

your approach is right on like you're

building a personal brand I think in the

age of AI that's really important you're

an actual person people like you and you

can leverage that across various

companies that you build so I think that

that approach is right on the community

aspect having people involved in the

actual product so like you and and and

they feel engaged and actually you

adjust the product based on feedback and

and talking with them I think is huge

and also you've got the Innovation

agency as well right that's another one

we're like yeah in this new age like

companies have to be thinking about oh I

don't just have this one product and

people are going to use the same product

for a hundred years somebody may come

and copy it and they and they you know I

think that I have a better brand but

maybe all of a sudden they're cool

everybody switches over you know and so

you have to be you have to continue

innovating and trying new things I I

think the companies that are really

going to be the big companies in the

next you know 100 years are the ones

that build Innovation into their company

and they're constantly innovating and

spinning out new projects I I run this

site called Future tools which you know

it curates all of the latest AI tools

that um that come out there's a

submission form on the site where people

submit their tools to me I review them

with a team of a couple extra people and

this the tools that I think are cool

make it onto the site so I'm truly

trying to curate now the problem that I

tend to have is that every single day 13

of the exact same tool pops onto the

site right almost every single day I'm

like this I see a tool that's like here

is your AI copywriter use this to write

your sales copy for your business here's

an AI blog writer every single day

there's like 11 of those submitted to

the point where I can't even tell the

difference and a lot of times it's like

a completely different company but I

swear I've seen that site that UI that

that page before and so um you know from

the perspective I'm in where I'm seeing

all these tools being submitted to me it

feels like uh this this AI world has

kind of gotten to a place where

everybody is just kind of already

cloning everything else oh that tool

worked let's clone it somebody else

clones it somebody else clones it it

gets to a point where you know the the

the first movers the the the ones that

put out the product first are still the

ones that people talk about but then

there's just like a whole bunch of junk

that followed behind it so I do think

that being an early mover is important

but then I also think about the the sort

of big incumbents right you've got the

the Googles the Adobes the microsofts

companies like that and you know I feel

like we might be moving into this world

where whenever something works really

really well as a small SAS company one

of those big companies is either just

going to acquire it or build it in and

then wipe out pretty much everybody else

that was doing that already I mean we

were talking even before we hit record

about uh the new open AI video model

it's like when that gets released to the

public in a single day that's already

better than Runway than Pika than

animate diffusion all of that stuff

there's already a better option out

there so now you know what what do we do

with those now so I'll give I'll give

you and folks listening The Playbook of

if I was starting an AI company here's

how I would do it and I'll use an

example that we've done and it has

worked like I can finally say it's

worked we started a business an AI

powered business that is going to do2

to3 million of free cash flow without

raising one cent from anyone else and it

was all using this framework so the

business is called boring marketing.com

we started off as a Twitter account

literally anyone could sign up for a

Twitter account it's free more less and

we called it at boring marketer and we

created a character behind this idea

around you know people talk about boring

businesses but not that many people talk

about boring marketing you start step

one is you you build a character you you

start with a character that people are

going to connect with or maybe you are

that character like maybe like for me

like I like being that character you

know or or Nathan likes being that

character so we just started like

talking about boring ways to grow your

internet business people kept asking us

about seo seo seo and then we looked at

the market and we realized ized that

there was an opportunity to create AI

assisted tools to do SEO so we started

using those AI tools on our own products

that's another benefit of having a

holding company you can basically you

have this portfolio of companies that

could dog food your product the good

news of it is we knew that people wanted

it because they were telling us that

they wanted it we built this community

of about 10,000 people and then we took

that those AI tools we wrapped it around

a service agency to to help people

Implement and create content and and

people started seeing results it started

driving W of mouth so now all of a

sudden like fast forward like that you

know it hit a seven figure run rate

within four or five months and now it's

it's it's a really profitable engine and

and now we're moving towards like by the

time this is out like boring ads.com

will be out well brand is attached to a

lot of this like is is is the that sort

of quick run rate is it because you sort

of had a springboard with your own

personal brand or do you think it's due

to the the merits of the productss like

I'm just going on boring marketer right

now the Twitter account you know 100 200

300 likes per tweet and this is boring

SEO stuff right like what what the cool

thing about having you know one personal

brand with a few thousand people you can

kind of like give seed Capital kind of

like you know Social Capital to another

account and be like hey like just

started boring at boring marketer check

it out yeah that gets the first two or 3

thousand followers and then from that

you try to get it to a point where it's

like you know it starts off as a baby

and then gets to a toddler and then a

child and then now it's like an adult so

I think how helpful was it for me to be

behind it initially helpful but do I

think it like you know my take on

Twitter specifically is anyone can get

to 10,000 followers if you just set up

tweet notifications and write thoughtful

replies so you could have done that you

could have started at boring marketer it

probably would have taken you four

months to get there I was able to do it

in four days but I don't think that

should be a stopping point for people

who want to do something like this I

wanted to talk about like the agency

business model I know that was one of

the the notes that we had Nathan that we

wanted to dive into do like agencies

still exist several years down the road

I mean if if we can if you know chat GPT

becomes are our consultant and we can

prompt any website into existence in a

year or two from now I think low to

mid-level agencies get commoditized to

basically nothing or very little so

you're right in a world where you can

just prompt something to create a

website or a landing page or you know a

marketing video like of course you know

that's tough and I think there's

millions of people who work in that

space that are that's tough like it is a

tough place to be you know do I think

that you know McKenzie is going anywhere

or Bane or IDE or you know we have a an

innovation agency where we work with

Fortune 500s and and some fast growing

startups with like Jasper Ai and people

like that do I think we're going

anywhere on on the Innovation side

absolutely not people forget that you

need taste yeah like taste is going to

be the most sought after a skill set for

the next you know at least 10 years

whereas and this is somewhat

controversial I think engineering was

the most sought-after skill set of the

last 10 years and I'm a I could say that

as like I studied computer science like

I'm a trained engineer you know but I

think that if you're able to if you have

good taste and you know how to prompt

and you know how to come up with you

know great ideas I'll give you an

example like we we came up with a really

big idea for a Fortune 100 company to

shift their entire business if you're

the a CEO of that company you're not

just going to like prompt an idea

generator to do that you're going to

want to Outsource that thinking to

someone that you can trust and that's

where taste comes in right like so I

think that yeah get taste on yeah you

got another sort of example along the

same lines is right I've got a YouTube

channel um all of my thumbnails for my

YouTube channel are created with AI I've

got like an AI model with my face

trained into it you know I I use mid

Journey for background I actually still

have a thumbnail designer on my team he

uses AI for me because he knows what

thumbnails look better than I do right

so he can actually use these tools Dolly

the stable diffusion mid journey and I

mean I can create amazing images with

those he creates really amazing

thumbnails pulls them all together and

still has a much better design eye than

I have so I still hire somebody to use

AI for me to make the thumbnails yeah

yeah I think one thing there though is

like you know a lot of grunt work I

think will be kind of replaced with this

so right it's like like you're the guy

who's making the thumbnails he has great

taste but if was somebody who was doing

something just very repetitive without a

lot of thought put into it or you know

requiring taste a lot of that is going

to get automated away yeah and I think

in a lot of ways too it you know what

you were saying it sort of levels the

playing field as well so yes there's

going to be like non-skilled people that

might struggle a little bit but those

people in that sort of middle class

realm they also have these tools at

their disp

to sort of take them to the next level

if you want to learn how to code it's

easier than ever right now to learn how

to code if you want to learn how to be

really good at graphic design it's

easier than ever to learn how to be

really good at graphic design so I feel

like the people that are sort of in that

middle lower end I know this is like a

buzzword but it sort of democratized the

information to to get you there right

like now it's a lot easier to go from

zero to one with the tools that are

available out there I think those people

are out of Crossroads like they can

either see the knowledge and see the

tools and be like I'll get to you later

or they can get their hands dirty I'm

kind of convinced this stuff's going to

get you know 20 to 50% better every year

for the next five years so that's that's

coming soon that this is going to be

able to help you plan out your life and

like an action plan of things you could

be doing to make your life better so I

think that's going to be such an unlock

for so many people there there's this

sort of narrative going on we were

talking about the you know AI video

generator like open AI just came out

with theirs and there's this narrative

that I just absolutely hate that I see

all over Twitter that's like oh it's the

end for directors oh it's the end for

filmmakers look what you can do now and

I I can't stand that narrative I don't

like The Narrative of anytime somebody

goes on Twitter and makes a blanket

statement of this AI is killing this

industry what I feel right now is that

it levels the playing field but it also

sort of raises the playing field it

makes everybody that is sort of making

videos making art sort of uplevel their

game because now what used to be

something people thought was really good

now anybody can do it so the people that

were good at that now need to up their

game and get even better at that thing

because pretty much everybody can do the

original thing and so I feel like that

is kind of what we're what we're seeing

right now especially with like AI video

and AI image creation is just this this

leveling the playing field for what used

to be considered good but also raising

the bar for what is really amazing now

and I feel like it gives creatives like

the the video creators the art creators

superpowers right like if you're really

really good at Art and now you have ai

at your disposal to make art even better

you're still going to be ahead of the

game of the person who just learned AI

art so yeah let's let's talk about that

so Sora which is the model I think

you're you're talking about is really

interesting cuz you can essentially

prompt it to create let's just say I

wanted to create an animation film and

right now I think it's only up to one

minute one minute of film but I'm I'm

sure in the future you'll be get access

to 90 minutes and I wanted to create a

film that essentially was like a Disney

a Disney film but with my own script

like that is in the realm of possibility

in the future so if anyone could be a

Walt Disney basically and you you you

can make that assumption if you have

good ideas right if going back to the T

thing you know you have good taste and

you can write well and you have the

skills to do that then what is mispriced

the mispriced piece is the distribution

the only place that you can't compete

with Disney is in distribution they're

in tens of thousands of movie theaters

or hundreds of thousands of movie

theaters across the world they are on

Netflix like they've done these deals

they're taking out Super Bowl ads stuff

like that right so that's where I think

that people are mispricing creators and

they're Mis pricing distribution in

general so if I'm listening to this and

if I'm me too like and I'm you like the

thing to do is two things one is you

build a distribution Lane so you do

everything you can to build as much

distribution and credibility and Trust

as possible and then the other lane is

playing is the best way to describe it

like you play with the tools and you

play to learn but you have to pick you

can't just be like I'm gonna be the

video person and the audio person and

then the writer person and then you have

to like pick a lane also right like you

have to decide like oh my dream is to

build is to be the next Walt Disney for

example I spent a little bit of time in

Hollywood so for like about a year and a

half I was partner with Barry Osborne I

think Greg maybe I told you a little bit

about this but we you know l.com

originally the reason I bought the fancy

domain is because I was I was partnering

with the producer of Lord the ring I was

like we're going to make this new kind

of movie studio together and it was this

crazy dream of mine and so I got to

spend time on the set of Mulan out in

New Zealand you know Disney set and got

to meet all these crazy people out in

Hollywood New Zealand and but one thing

you realize is it's so hard to break

into that industry right and like you

really have to know people and things

like that and it does feel like with

this new technology like so many more

people are going to get discovered

because they can they can show they can

show their Concepts to Netflix or

whoever right like right now the people

who pitch Netflix they're coming in with

storyboards and things like that and a

team and and that's a big part of what

sells sells it is like the storyboard

and like the concept and the research

around it and before people you had to

have a whole team to do that and now

like somebody who has good taste they

could have those ideas produce the

storyboards or a short video concept

Maybe not maybe that's that's not gonna

be the final film but they could produce

a one minute or 90minut video and say

hey here's not the final film but here

you get the the gist of it here's the

gist of this idea I have help me make it

and I think a lot of people like Netflix

will write checks like large checks to

come in and produce those films and

that's gonna be exciting for so many

people so you think that like AI video

is the new storyboard instead of making

a storyboard here's just a mock of the

video I think there's so many

opportunities around that I think I

think you're going to see like talent

agencies too where they'll like you know

they'll they'll pitch the studios with

their talent like just put our talent

face into the concept like here's how

this you know this guy that we have girl

this how they would look in this role

and then you just show it you know

there's like so many areas of

entertainment that's going to get

changed from this yeah I also think that

the leverage that you're going to have

with the Netflix's of the world is going

to be oh I've got 50,000 or 100,000

followers yeah and I've already posted

this IG clip or whatever and I got

20,000 shares and they're loving it and

they're they're banging on the door and

they want more of it yeah so I think

that's why I always go back to the

distribution piece because like I think

that that if everyone has the ability to

create essentially these Disney style

like levels of films and storyboards

like it's going to be you have to have

some point of Leverage yeah I mean when

you look at like the the music industry

and even like the the book industry

right among authors when you go to get

like a publishing deal for books or if

you go to get like a you know a music

production deal from these these music

studios that's kind of the thing they're

looking at these days is how big of a

following do you have right it's a of a

lot easier to get a book publishing deal

if you have a million subscribers on

YouTube and you know 1.5 million

followers on X you know it sounds like

that might be the future of video as

well if if the sort of creation of video

is completely democratized and anybody

can make them that's sort of the the

next level is what sort of distribution

do you bring to the table on your

existing platforms that's a I think

that's a really interesting way to look

at it if I'm interpreting what you're

saying right yes I mean you saw that a

little bit with music you know 10 15 20

years ago even when YouTube came out

like Justin Bieber was a YouTube Creator

you know we didn't call him that but he

posted videos on YouTube he was found by

scooter braa on YouTube and then he

became Justin Bieber one of the biggest

acts in the world musical acts in the

world from YouTube we don't have that

really with movies for example like the

way you become big in movies is you go

on a more traditional path like you go

to us C and study film and then you get

an internship at you know you know XYZ

you know I don't even know because I

don't know the film business but I know

all I know from what I hear is that it's

it's a very linear path and you get like

here's like you have to like check the

boxes what this does is there's only two

boxes to check do you know the tools and

do you have distribution is what I'm

saying yeah and you can use the tools to

get distribution too is a beautiful

thing right like you could be somebody

in Quebec whatever like in a small town

who who starts producing films or or AI

art or whatever on Twitter and get an

audience and then go out and try to take

the next level and and actually you know

partner with some big company to

actually make it absolutely I also think

this is kind of a a a little bit of a

different topic but I think there's a

huge opportunity to create content for

different

geographies and languages and cultures

yes I'm interested to see how AI plays a

role in that so that like you're not

just Li dubbing different videos for

example like what if in France you're

wearing like a beret or something and

you know in and and then the video in

the US maybe you're not wearing a beret

right you're you're wearing a baseball

cap or something like that just like

what are these little nuances things

that you can add to the content so that

it feels more oh this is for me this is

for people like me and I think that's

really interesting and I think that the

greater Trend to that is all media will

be

personalized I think that's the really

cool part about where we are in like the

cycle and the this AI world it's like

it's not just an AI world it's like

there's a lot of ma massive Trends

happening right now like AI uh virtual

reality yeah robotics is just starting

as well and Robotics is just starting I

saw YC came up with there like here's

the things that were really interested I

don't know if you saw that yeah I saw it

yesterday yeah it's like you know a

applying machine learning the robotics

using machine learning to stimulate the

physical world new defense technology

bring manufacturing back to America new

space companies climate Tech yeah

commercial open source companies spatial

Computing new enterprise resource

planning software developer tools

inspired by existing internal tools

explainable AI llms for manual back

office processes and Legacy Enterprises

AI to build Enterprise software stable

coin finance a way to end Cancer

Foundation model model for biological

systems the managed service organization

model for healthcare eliminating

middlemen in healthare better Enterprise

grew and finally small fine tune models

as an alternative to Giant generic ones

there's a lot of stuff going on and and

and people were saying that part of that

whole list was oh you know it's an end

of the trend with sass or something like

this I think YC's like seeing the

writing on the wall that're like

dramatic changes are coming like

dramatic changes and so yeah we should

be looking for more moonshots big things

and and and now the technology is making

it possible but also from a you know

probably from their perspective from a

in in investment stand Standing like the

companies that they would have invested

in before a lot of those now probably be

built with like one or two people and

they're not going to need as much

Capital you know and Greg you talk a lot

about this kind of stuff but so I think

they're looking like okay yeah you the

the investors in VCS are probably going

to focus more and more on the companies

that are really going to need a lot of

capital right people that are trying to

solve cancer people are trying to build

Robotics and things like This and like

new time you know simulating the world

with AI like like very ambitious things

that are going to require lots of

capital because the other ones just like

God like in a year or two and especially

you know I've been hearing from friends

in San Francisco and a lot of them are

like connected to the whole YC kind of

network really positive things about

gp5 I assume you know since you know Sam

alman's connection to YC a lot of those

people know ideas of what's coming and

so they're probably realizing like yeah

in a year or two from now a lot of those

simple SAS tools if you don't have great

distribution or a brand they're not

going to make a whole lot of sense and

so I think that's part of the list too

is that like personally I'm happy that

people are working on those hard

problems but I personally prefer working

on easy problems the one to in or or

whatever versus zero to one yeah yeah I

think it's like I'm a thin rapper guy

you know and I've i' I'm I did the whole

Silicon Valley thing I lived nine years

there I've been a part of companies that

have raised billions of dollars like I

could say I did it but man am I glad to

be on the other side yeah and and and

and creating thin rappers with deep

communities like that should be the

title of this this something like that

it's like thin rappers and deep

communities like that's the strategy for

you want to win in AI like that's

literally the strategy but before we do

wrap up I do want to ask about you

probably need a robot could you quickly

explain that to me because I was asking

Nathan about it and you know I figure

the the best person to ask about it and

get the explanation from is from Greg

himself so can you tell me a little bit

about what that is I start all

businesses with this framework in mind

we call it the ACP funnel audience

Community product so like I was talking

about with boring marketing we started

with the Twitter account we did the same

thing with you probably need a robot

this is like over a year ago yeah over a

year ago AI obviously wasn't as big as

what it is today and we created a

Twitter account where we just share

productivity tips with like we use this

tool and here's what we learned and then

we opened up a Discord and then we got

like 20,000 people to join the Discord

uh maybe more

25,000 and we saw that there was demand

and then we of those people we turned it

into a newsletter and then every week we

would give people like deep Dives around

here's how we're using AI this week so

less not not like AI news or anything

like that but just like here here's

here's things that we're learning and to

make it more productive in your business

career and it's it's evolved to other

things too like we we created like a

deal pass which is very popular where

you get access like

40 eight bucks and like you get you know

discounts on like all the major AI tools

or a lot of them like my mind and drippy

AI a framer and barely. a Apollo so a

lot of things like that and so we've

been able to monetize really well

through this like audience Community

product and then we also you know

because we run a lot of agencies we also

do helping companies like transform

their businesses to be AI first the the

reason I wanted to sh yeah I just want

to share that structure because I think

that that same structure ACP could be

helpful for other people Nathan any

anything else you want to you want to

ask or add before we we wrap this up see

yeah I really appreciate you coming here

and it's it's been awesome thank you for

your time and I'm excited to see where

this goes and you're doing great

appreciate it

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