Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders (ETL) Grant Lee (Gamma) - Finding Early-Stage Energy
13 snips
Oct 22, 2025 
Grant Lee, CEO and co-founder of Gamma, shares insights on building an AI-driven presentation tool that resonates with 50 million users. He discusses the importance of finding energizing projects and the challenges faced during Gamma's inception. Grant emphasizes evaluating co-founder fit, leveraging efficiency gains in markets, and the role of storytelling in outperforming competitors. He also explores the future of multimodal communication and the significance of passion and experimentation in sustaining startup success.
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Pitch Rejection Sparked Growth Focus
- Grant pitched Gamma from a small flat in London during the pandemic and once an investor hung up calling it "the worst idea I've ever heard."
- That rejection pushed the team to prioritize growth and think deeply about distribution from day one.
Underserved Users Beat Incumbent Features
- Target underserved user needs rather than competing feature-for-feature with incumbents.
- Laser-focus on one value proposition and nail it before expanding.
Prototype Became The Pitch Deck
- Grant and two co-founders prototyped Gamma nights and weekends for four to five months and used that prototype as their pitch deck.
- Building the prototype helped them test team chemistry and commit before full-time fundraising.
