For companies with jaw-dropping technology, it's easy to chase 'wow moments' and PR instead of solving real problems. Synthesia instills a core value of 'utility over novelty,' obsessing over delivering value for enterprise customers rather than getting lost in the novelty of their own tech.
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Don't feel pressured to label every AI-powered enhancement as an "AI feature." For example, using AI to generate CSS for a new dark mode is simply a better way to build. The focus should be on the user benefit (dark mode), not the underlying technology, making AI an invisible, powerful tool.
Instead of fearing competitors who copy their product, Synthesia's founder sees them as a net positive. The increased competition generates more market iterations and signals, helping them discover the most valuable use cases for the new technology faster than they could alone, while also sharpening their focus.
Synthesia initially targeted Hollywood with AI dubbing—a "vitamin" for experts. They found a much larger, "house-on-fire" problem by building a platform for the billions of people who couldn't create video at all, democratizing the medium instead of just improving it for existing professionals.
Simply offering the latest model is no longer a competitive advantage. True value is created in the system built around the model—the system prompts, tools, and overall scaffolding. This 'harness' is what optimizes a model's performance for specific tasks and delivers a superior user experience.
Moonshot AI overcomes customer skepticism in its AI recommendations by focusing on quantifiable outcomes. Instead of explaining the technology, they demonstrate value by showing clients the direct increase in revenue from the AI's optimizations. Tangible financial results become the ultimate trust-builder.
Focusing on AI for cost savings yields incremental gains. The transformative value comes from rethinking entire workflows to drive top-line growth. This is achieved by either delivering a service much faster or by expanding a high-touch service to a vastly larger audience ("do more").
The true enterprise value of AI lies not in consuming third-party models, but in building internal capabilities to diffuse intelligence throughout the organization. This means creating proprietary "AI factories" rather than just using external tools and admiring others' success.
Moonshot AI's CEO effectively sells his product by "vision casting"—framing it not as an e-commerce tool but as a partner that enables businesses to thrive. This focus on the ultimate outcome, rather than product features, resonates deeply with customers and powerfully articulates the value of a complex AI solution.
The founders, not being PhD AI researchers, knew they couldn't rely on being acqui-hired by a tech giant. This perceived weakness became a strength, forcing them to relentlessly focus on finding customers and building a sustainable business from day one, unlike many research-led AI startups of that era.