Cem Kansu (Duolingo) Analyzes the Implications of OpenAI's DevDay and Airbnb's Release Strategy
Nov 14, 2023
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Cem Kansu, VP of Product at Duolingo, analyzes OpenAI's DevDay and Airbnb's release strategy. They discuss Duolingo's expansion into math and music, the implications of OpenAI's GPT store, and the challenges of customization and monetization in the GPT ecosystem.
OpenAI's GPT store offers users the ability to create custom AI models through natural language prompting, opening up possibilities for innovative applications.
Product leaders must carefully evaluate the strategic fit of incorporating GPT technology into their products, considering user engagement, competition from the GPT app store, and leveraging vertical expertise.
Airbnb's release strategy involves two major releases each year, creating marketing moments to drive adoption and engage hosts and guests.
Finding a balance between creating marketing moments and iterative development is crucial, with a hybrid model potentially combining speed and flexibility with impactful releases.
Deep dives
The Power of Custom GPTs and the GPT Store
OpenAI's announcement of custom GPTs and the GPT Store has sparked excitement and curiosity. With the ability to create custom versions of chat GPT through natural language prompting, users can now build their own GPTs for specific purposes. The GPT Store offers distribution and monetization opportunities for creators. While details on monetization are scarce, this move positions OpenAI as a consumer destination and app store. However, questions remain about the activation, engagement, and habit-building potential of these GPTs, as well as the size of the marketplace opportunity. Product leaders must carefully consider whether and how to incorporate GPTs into their existing products, weighing the benefits of joining the wild west against potential cannibalization or distraction.
Exploring the Possibilities and Challenges
The launch of GPTs has opened up possibilities for creative and innovative applications. However, challenges arise in terms of prompting capability, access to resources, and the interaction experience. Building engaging and habit-forming GPT-powered products remains a key challenge. The success of the GPT app store will depend on user adoption and developers' ability to leverage the unique features of GPTs while focusing on solving real user problems. The broader ecosystem around GPTs, including enterprise solutions and developer APIs, adds complexity to the decision-making process for product leaders. Taking a measured approach and carefully evaluating the fit with their existing products is crucial to make the most of this emerging technology.
The Accidental Consumer Success
OpenAI's journey from aiming to be a developer and enterprise-focused company to becoming a consumer destination is a testament to the accidental consumer success of GPT technology. The company's embrace of this consumer-facing role highlights their commitment to improving GPT and creating an app store ecosystem. While questions remain regarding user engagement, monetization, and the ability to navigate the app store landscape, OpenAI's strategic move positions them as a key player in the AI-powered consumer market. The Wild West nature of the GPTs app store presents opportunities and challenges for both OpenAI and product leaders in various industries.
Strategy Considerations for Product Leaders
Product leaders must carefully evaluate the strategic fit of incorporating GPT technology into their products. Key considerations include the ability of GPTs to solve specific user problems, the level of engagement and habit-building potential, the impact on existing product offerings, and the potential for competition from the GPT app store. Assessing whether GPTs can enhance the scaffolding around the core problem being addressed is crucial in determining the value proposition and differentiation of the product. Product leaders should not solely focus on adding features to GPT but rather explore how the unique insights and expertise within their vertical can be leveraged for successful and engaging user experiences.
Airbnb's Release Strategy and Customer Feedback
Airbnb has adopted a release strategy that involves two major releases each year, with a focus on addressing customer feedback and improving the user experience. These releases bundle a few significant changes and are accompanied by a strong marketing narrative. The goal is to create a marketing moment that drives adoption and engages hosts and guests in the platform. This strategy allows Airbnb to align the entire company around their roadmap and simplify planning. While it may seem counterintuitive, this approach enables them to address core issues, prune back undesirable behaviors, and push the ecosystem in a healthier direction.
The Benefits and Challenges of Airbnb's Release Strategy
One benefit of Airbnb's release strategy is that it enables them to tell compelling stories and create marketing moments that drive adoption. By releasing a small number of significant changes, they can highlight the improvements and address pain points for hosts and guests. However, this approach also has its challenges. It requires a strong internal taste to guide decision-making and ensure consistency across releases. Additionally, it may limit the flexibility to A/B test features and iterate based on user feedback. Despite these challenges, Airbnb's release strategy allows them to take big swings and make meaningful changes to their platform.
Finding a Balance Between Marketing Moments and Iterative Development
The discussion around Airbnb's release strategy raises questions about finding a balance between creating marketing moments and iterative development. While the strategy has proven effective for Airbnb, it may not be suitable for every company. A hybrid model could be a potential solution, where some features are released as soon as they are ready to maximize speed and flexibility, while other transformative changes are timed to create marketing moments. This approach allows for continuous improvement, A/B testing, and user feedback, while still leveraging the benefits of impactful releases to drive adoption and engagement.
Cem Kansu on OpenAI's DevDay and Airbnb's Strategy
Join us with Cem Kansu, VP of Product at Duolingo, as we discuss Duolingo's expansion into math and music (starts immediately), OpenAI's DevDay (starts at 21:15), and Airbnb's bi-annual product announcement (starts at 1:03:05).
We’re covering the highlights from our OpenAI discussion below, but join us at UnsolicitedFeedback.co for full episode summaries.
OpenAI's GPT Store: A New Frontier or a Wild West? 🤠
OpenAI's recent announcement of their GPT store has sent ripples through the tech world. But what does this mean for product and growth professionals? Let's dive in.
🤖 Custom GPTs: A New Era of User Experience 🤖
OpenAI's GPT store allows users to create custom versions of ChatGPT through natural language prompting. This means creating AI models that can advise startup founders, act as math tutors, or even generate content for language learning apps. The possibilities are endless, but we’re skeptical that the first version is a complete success. Why? 1️⃣ Text-based chat functionalities seem limited in a world dominated by engaging graphics accross devices. 2️⃣ The process to get started is still somewhat cumbersome and time-consuming. Is it worth the effort?
🛍️ The GPT Store: A Double-Edged Sword? 🛍️
The GPT store is designed to provide distribution and monetization for creators of GPTs. It's like the app store for AI models. But building a successful app store is no small feat. It requires a robust system for rankings, promotions, search, discovery, and more. Not to mention, handling the back office, fraud protection, and chargebacks. It's a massive undertaking, and one that could distract from OpenAI's core competencies. We also question if GPT has sufficient active users to justify an app store. Successful app stores like Apple and Android have constant active audiences thanks to their devices.
🎯 User Activation: The Key to Success 🎯
One of the biggest challenges with horizontal products like ChatGPT is user activation. Users often struggle to understand what they can do with the product. By creating a GPT store, OpenAI is essentially offloading this activation problem to user-generated solutions. This could potentially drive more traffic and engagement to the platform. But will it be enough to sustain the marketplace?
⚾ A Swing and a Miss, but with Many More At-Bats ⚾
Our hottest take: We're lukewarm on these releases in their current form, but excited for what they could become and respect OpenAI for the swing. We can't remember the last time a DevDay was this highly anticipated. By releasing and iterating, OpenAI shows they essentially have unlimited at-bats, so why not swing?
It's clear these new features will unlock new possibilities, but it's likely that the first wave won't have the biggest impact. We're deep in the wild wild west, so we're anticipating some truly crazy initial uses of the custom GPT feature. But, the second wave of movement here is the one we're excited to watch. Are you ready to play? 🎲
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