Matthieu Rouif, CEO of Photoroom, shares insights on creating a standout AI product. He discusses early startup successes, the creation of Photoroom using AI and machine learning, and the evolution of image segmentation algorithms. The podcast explores leveraging open source tools for AI features, API integration for photo editing services, and the success and expansion of the company in Paris.
44:13
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
question_answer ANECDOTE
PhotoRoom's Origin Story
Matthieu Rouif's frustration removing backgrounds on Photoshop inspired PhotoRoom's inception.
He realized photo editing should be simpler using AI to automate non-creative editing tasks.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Start With One Unique Feature
Focus on a unique, high-demand feature to stand out in crowded markets.
Build depth around that feature to unlock broader product possibilities and user value.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Discovery Through User Interviews
PhotoRoom's team interviewed users directly in McDonald's to learn photo editing habits and user needs.
They discovered marketplace sellers needing white background removal early on, which proved product-market fit.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
What makes AI truly useful and impactful for users? That’s the question that drives Matthieu Rouif, CEO and co-founder of Photoroom, the AI-first photo editing app for mobile. This week on Generative Now, Lightspeed Partner and host Michael Mignano talks to Matthieu Rouif about what he learned from his previous ventures in app development, how Photoroom found product market fit early, and how Photoroom went from a feature to a product with more than 150 million downloads and 30 million monthly active users.
Matthieu started working on photo apps decades ago while studying at Polytechnique in France and Stanford in the United States. Matthieu created the first mobile apps for ski resorts and co-founded the HeyCrowd app to make surveys more social. He later was a product leader for Replay Video Editor (Awarded ‘Best App of the Year’ by Apple and Google). While working as a Product Manager at GoPro, he became frustrated with the time-consuming process of manually removing backgrounds in Photoshop and realized that there was a demand for a better solution on the App Store. This led Matthieu to study machine learning, and he met with Eliot Andres, a machine learning expert, and together they created the first version of Photoroom in just two weeks.
Episode Chapters
00:00) Introduction to Matthieu Rouif & Photoroom (01:57) Matthieu Rouif's Entrepreneurial Journey (04:44) Early Startup Successes and Lessons Learned (10:30) The Creation of PhotoRoom: Bridging AI and Usability (16:45) Finding Product-Market Fit & The Power of User Feedback (19:40) Scaling PhotoRoom Amidst COVID-19 (21:05) Unlocking User-Centric AI with Open Source (23:30) Evolving Beyond Background Removal (30:19) Wider Application of the APIs and Success Stories with Barbie and Netflix (37:12) Building a Remote Team Culture & “No DM” Policy (40:37) Landscape of AI Innovation in Paris
The content here does not constitute tax, legal, business or investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, should not be construed as advocating the purchase or sale of any security or investment or a recommendation of any company, and is not an offer, or solicitation of an offer, for the purchase or sale of any security or investment product. For more details please see lsvp.com/legal.
Generative Now | AI Builders on Creating the Future