This chapter explores the balance between team goals and market dynamics in the fast-paced AI industry, focusing on leadership strategies like leveraging AI research, fostering internal communication, and filtering information. It emphasizes the importance of clarity in company focus, expertise in specific areas, and qualifying clients based on alignment with company values to drive successful enterprise product development and sales.
May Habib is the co-founder and CEO of Writer, a full-stack generative AI platform built for enterprises. The model is trained on a customer’s own data to create content that is consistent with their brand style and voice. Writer recently raised $100M at a valuation of around $500M. Prior to Writer, May co-founded Qordoba, an AI writing assistant.
—
In today’s episode, we discuss:
- Advice for AI founders in 2024
- Why it’s difficult to scale AI products for enterprise
- The secret to finding champions
- Signs of a healthy co-founder relationship
- The future of agentic AI
—
Referenced:
—
Where to find May Habib:
—
Where to find Todd Jackson:
—
Where to find First Round Capital:
—
Timestamps:
(00:00) Introduction
(02:34) Writer’s origin story
(06:30) Building a full-stack generative AI platform for enterprise
(11:56) The #1 challenge building Writer
(15:41) Writer’s approach to finding champion customers
(20:29) How Writer is winning the enterprise space
(27:11) Signs Writer found product-market-fit
(29:26) Scaling LLMs for specific use cases
(31:53) Writer’s goals for 2024
(33:57) Advice for 0 to 1 founders
(35:53) Creating a culture of “connect, challenge, and own”