Riding the AI Storm: My Startup’s Wild 2-Year Journey Through Innovation and Chaos! (IV/IV)
4 min readDec 9, 2023
Lesson learnt as a startup founder
Finally, I’d like to share some thoughts from my two years of entrepreneurship. The article is already lengthy, so I’ll save some musings for the future.
- Founders with tech background vs. business background: The key lies in whether technology can bring a 9x improvement in experience. I remember last year, everyone was buzzing about the metaverse and virtual beings, so we branded ourselves as an AI character company. We showcased not-so-smart AI virtual beings to brands, educating them that virtual endorsements don’t solve user pain points. It’s sales and customer service that really count. I pitched to over 50 clients without a single deal. A major reason was that the large models back then weren’t impressive enough for marketing scenarios. Without reaching a technological tipping point, demand doesn’t exist. Many tech entrepreneurs are accused of looking for a nail for their hammer, but it’s often because the technology isn’t good enough yet. To change user habits, you need to offer a 9x better experience than what’s currently available. This is a metaphor, but the point is that a quantitative change reaching a threshold can lead to a qualitative transformation. The same goes for large models; once they reach a critical parameter, AGI could emerge. Look at how character.ai and ChatGPT were launched — even the management didn’t know what users would do with them, but the technology was so impressive that users discovered and shared many uses. So, the monetization path from immature to just mature to fully mature technology is completely different. In the AI era, once technology matures, progress will explode.
- What is your moat: The essence of technological iteration is lowering the barrier to innovation. AI has weakened the differentiation in general data and UI design and significantly reduced development costs. When innovation barriers lower, capital becomes a very effective barrier. However, human attention is always scarce and limited, and human laziness is ever-increasing. So, switching costs still exist. Brand, memory, connections — these will form stronger barriers.
- Timing, Location, and People, with Timing Being Foremost: OpenAI’s prowess has surprised everyone. Competition and innovation in the AI era will accelerate. Previously, a key advantage for entrepreneurs was having a vision beyond the giants. But now, it’s hard to predict the moment of technological breakthrough or market readiness. We only know that uncertainty will increase, and changes will come faster. Timing becomes even more crucial because being too early or too late is definitely not ideal, like AR/VR, which is still not mature. The best approach is to keep building strength, survive, look further, maintain organizational resilience, and wait for your ‘right time.’
- Choose your comfort zone and don’t overstretch: While employees should constantly challenge themselves, first-time entrepreneurs are better off sticking to their comfort zones, doing things that require 70% effort. Don’t aim too high and rely solely on dreams and confidence. Unless you’re ‘to VC’ — which is fine, as painting a rosy picture is within the capabilities of founders like Elizabeth Holmes. The fear is wanting to bake a big cake and actually make it happen, but being out of your depth. This leads to two problems: 1/ Small companies should hire less, and the boss ends up doing a lot, consuming much time; 2/ Many unforeseen things only become apparent once you’re deeply involved, so you end up spending the remaining 30% of your energy on something way beyond your capabilities, making it unsustainable.
- Focus on Constants: I really like a quote from Jeff Bezos, which I often mention — people frequently ask me what will change in 10 years, but hardly anyone asks what won’t change. In today’s rapidly changing market, especially in a field like AI, focusing on what won’t change is key to success. For example, users will become increasingly lazy, demanding, and attention-scarce; supply will grow, links will shorten, time and cognitive gaps will narrow, and interactions will become more natural, personalized, and immersive. Another constant is the innovator’s dilemma: incumbents often miss opportunities to disrupt themselves to maintain their interests and ecosystem, especially existing customer relationships. ‘Marketing Warfare’ also mentioned: defeating competitors isn’t about exploiting their weaknesses, but understanding the downsides of their strengths, as weaknesses are easier to fix than strengths. Combining these two points should reveal many opportunities for entrepreneurial teams.
More about me:
- Product homepage: https://mindos.com
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Mind-OS
- Twitter: @KissonL
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kisson-songqi-lin-49309516/
- Email: k@mindverse.ai
