She went from IC PM to CEO of $550M AI company Descript in 3 years
The Growth Podcast
Building an AI Toolbar of 'Killer Apps'
Laura outlines selecting six initial AI tools, rationale, and a rolling backlog for future tech.
Today’s Episode
Laura Burkhauser started as an IC PM at Descript, the $550M AI video editing platform.
Three years later, she’s CEO.
She shipped AI features that worked.
In today’s episode, you’ll hear the exact features Laura built, the eval framework she used, and her complete IC → CEO path.
This might be the most actionable career episode you listen to all year.
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Check out the conversation on Apple, Spotify and YouTube.
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Key Takeaways1. Map your user journey BEFORE picking AI features. DeScript identified pain points (retakes, eye contact, rambling), then asked "what just became possible with LLMs?" Build that intersection.2. Build prepackaged buttons, not blank chat boxes. Each DeScript AI tool is a carefully crafted prompt behind a single button that delivers reliable results every time.3. Use human evals on production data before shipping. Test on real customer data, ask "would I use this as a customer?" If yes, ship. If no, don't.4. The ultimate metric is export rate. If users apply your AI feature then remove it before exporting, it didn't meet their quality bar.5. Switch from buttons to chat when you hit 30+ parameters. When users wanted topic selection, speaker choice, and platform optimization, chat became better than buttons.6. Match your eval data to actual use case. DeScript failed with Studio Sound because they tested on terrible audio (vacuuming, jackhammers) when real users had laptop microphones. Different models handle different quality levels.7. Test agents with real customer language early. Don't use toy data or employee terminology. Mix sophistication levels—some advanced at video and AI, some complete beginners—to understand how real people prompt.8. Launch AI agents to new users first. Video editing is hard and many people quit. DeScript tested Underlord on activation and it won, so new users got it first before existing users.9. Choose breadth over depth for product-wide agents. DeScript chose breadth—Underlord works across all features because "we're not a point solution." Requires more context, tool coverage, and evals but serves the product vision.10. Earn founder trust by getting command, not by being strategic. Use the product extensively. Talk to customers constantly. When you speak, people think "Smart" and invite you to more rooms. Ship features before focusing on strategy.
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Where to Find Laura Burkhauser
* Company
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