AI Unlocks "Impossible" Consumer Startups, Reshaping Media and Music

Resources

Resources & Recommendations

Books

• "Startups = Growth" by Paul Graham - This essay was a significant inspiration for Anchor's survival, emphasizing the critical role of consistent week-over-week growth for startups.

People Mentioned

• Mike Magnano (Partner at Lightspeed Ventures, Co-founder of Obo Labs, Founder of Anchor) - Discussed his experiences founding Anchor, investing in consumer startups, and co-founding Obo Labs.
• Nir Zickerman (Co-founder of Anchor) - Mike Magnano's co-founder at Anchor, who shared the initial vision for a social audio platform.
• Mike (CEO of Suno) - Mentioned as the CEO of Suno, with insights into the company's vision for democratizing music creation.
• Eugene (Founder of Replika) - Referenced for her insights on hiring growth talent for consumer startups, particularly that such talent is often found in Eastern Europe.
• Sam (Sam Altman) - Published a blog post hinting at the creation and distribution/monetization of name and likeness in AI-generated content.
• Gary - Mentioned in the context of personalized AI content, where the AI would know what Gary wants to see.
• Nikita (Working on X) - Credited for changing up the feed and creating the web view on X.
• Dave (David Lieb) (Founder of Chartable, Nori) - Founder of Chartable (sold to Spotify) and Nori, a company in the current YC batch leveraging Apple Health data with LLMs.
• Dennis Crowley (Founder of Foursquare) - Launched a new product that uses AI and geolocation in conjunction with AirPods to provide personalized recommendations.
• Sameer Shah (Friend of Mike Magnano) - Co-host of the "Out of Office" podcast.
• Anthony Bourdain (Host of "Parts Unknown") - His show "Parts Unknown" was cited as an inspiration for the "Out of Office" podcast's format.
• Jerry Seinfeld (Host of "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee") - His show "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" was cited as an inspiration for the "Out of Office" podcast's format.

Organizations & Institutions

• Lightspeed Ventures - Mike Magnano's venture capital firm, where he invests in consumer and tech companies.
• Y Combinator (YC) - The startup accelerator program that hosts the podcast; mentioned in the context of consumer startups in their batch.
• OpenAI - The AI research lab that created ChatGPT and Sora; mentioned regarding the GPT Store and AI capabilities.
• Kaiser - The healthcare provider whose online portal allowed access to medical records.

Tools & Software

• Anchor - A podcast platform founded by Mike Magnano, acquired by Spotify, designed to simplify podcast creation.
• Aviary - A photo editing technology company for mobile phones that Mike Magnano and Nir Zickerman worked on before Anchor.
• Suno - An AI-powered music creation tool that allows anyone to make music.
• ChatGPT - An AI chatbot used for various tasks, including analyzing medical records and for its general capabilities.
• Claude - An AI chatbot mentioned as a tool Mike used for a personal project involving medical records.
• Replika - An AI companion app mentioned in the context of consumer startups and distribution.
• Sora - OpenAI's text-to-video AI model, discussed as a potential "end of social media" and its capabilities/challenges.
• XAI - Elon Musk's AI company, mentioned in the context of competing in the AI space.
• Meta - Mentioned in the context of struggling to capture the "vibe" of AI innovation.
• Chartable - A company founded by David Lieb, sold to Spotify.
• Doctronic - A company invested in by Lightspeed, focused on AI-powered medical triage.
• Nori - A company in the current YC batch that uses Apple Health data with LLMs.
• Memzero - A startup trying to be a "memory layer" within existing systems.
• Foursquare - A location-based social networking service.
• Swarm - A mobile app by Foursquare that allows users to share their location with friends.
• Obo Labs (ovo.fi) - Mike Magnano's new AI-powered learning platform that creates personalized courses and study materials.
• Gmail - Mentioned as a mail app, a category that Lightspeed recently invested in due to new AI opportunities.
• Chrome - A web browser, mentioned in the context of the browser market.
• Safari - A web browser, mentioned in the context of the browser market.

Websites & Online Resources

• Product Hunt - A website where new products are launched and discovered.
• App Store - Apple's digital distribution platform for mobile apps.
• Spotify - A popular audio streaming platform.
• Apple Podcasts - Apple's platform for podcasts.
• YouTube - A video-sharing platform.
• Instagram - A photo and video-sharing social networking service.
• X (formerly Twitter) - A social media platform, mentioned as a place for early adopters and for its changing feed.
• TikTok - A short-form video hosting service, discussed as a powerful distribution channel.
• GPT Store (OpenAI) - A marketplace for custom versions of ChatGPT.
• Apple Health - Apple's health data platform.
• Wikipedia - An online encyclopedia.
• Obo Labs (ovo.fi) - The website for Mike Magnano's new AI-powered learning platform.

Other Resources

• Serial - A popular podcast mentioned as an early influence on Mike Magnano's interest in podcasting.
• Grantland - A sports and pop culture website (and associated podcast content) mentioned as an early influence on Mike Magnano's interest in podcasting.
• RSS Feeds - A web feed format used to publish frequently updated works, such as blog entries and podcasts.
• Opus 4 / Opus - An AI model mentioned for its "bigger model energy."
• "Out of Office" - A new podcast launched by Mike Magnano and Sameer Shah.