Startup Field Guide by Unusual Ventures: The Product Market Fit Podcast

Writer’s product-market fit journey: May Habib on taking on ChatGPT Enterprise

Oct 16, 2023

Discover the journey of Writer, an enterprise-grade generative AI platform, from its origin story to addressing security and compliance in AI models. Hear about the importance of enterprise AI and the next horizon for Gen AI. Join CEO May Habib as she shares her insights on building a culture of curiosity at Writer.

31:05

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May Habib

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Quick takeaways

Writer's product-market fit journey originated from a focus on AI writing assistance to addressing broader content quality problems.

Emphasizing enterprise readiness and data security, Writer differentiates itself in the market and ensures stringent compliance measures.

Deep dives

Evolution from Cordoba to Writer

Writer's origin started with Cordoba in 2015, focusing on accelerating localization and translation using machine learning. This experience led to the development of Writer, targeting a content quality problem faced by various teams. Utilizing transformer technology, specifically GPT-3, Writer enhanced its generative capabilities without significantly altering its go-to-market strategy.

The 18-Month Window Between Chate GPT and Palmyra

01:20

Introduction

3min

Evolution of Product Vision and Enterprise Strategy

15min

Approach to Controlling Hallucinations in a Generative AI Platform

4min

Navigating Enterprise Focus in Product Strategy

6min

CEO Journey: Embracing Curiosity, Relentless Belief, and Impactful Work

3min

Full episode transcript: https://www.unusual.vc/post/writers-product-market-fit-journey

Started in 2020, Writer is an enterprise-grade generative AI platform for larger, security-conscious companies. Writer has over 150 customers, including teams at UnitedHealthcare, Uber and Accenture. Last valued at over $500M, Writer makes it easy for enterprises to build internal apps that generate a variety of content from sales enablement to blog posts.

In this episode, Sandhya Hegde joins Writer’s co-founder and CEO May Habib to discuss the company’s path to product-market fit.

Join us as we discuss:

1: 30 The origin story behind the founding of Writer

5:11 The early product vision for Writer

10:02 The transformation of the enterprise AI buyer

14:49 Security and compliance in AI models

17:27 Writer’s approach to addressing hallucinations

21:35 Why May and the Writer team had deep conviction in Enterprise AI

24:43 The next big horizon for Gen AI and Writer

27:50 May Habib’s journey as a CEO

29:18 Building a culture of curiosity at Writer

Sandhya Hegde is a General Partner at Unusual Ventures, leading investments in modern SaaS companies with a focus on AI. Previously an early executive at Amplitude, Sandhya is a product-led growth (PLG) coach and mentor. She can be reached at sandhya@unusual.vc and

May Habib is the CEO and co-founder of Writer, a generative AI platform for the enterprise. Before Writer, she co-founded Qordoba.

Unusual Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm designed from the ground up to give a distinct advantage to founders building the next generation of software companies. Unusual has invested in category-defining companies like Webflow, Arctic Wolf Networks, Carta, Robinhood, and Harness. Learn more about us at https://www.unusual.vc/.
Further reading from Unusual Ventures:

Build conviction in an early stage startup

Understanding the enterprise buyer

LLMs in security