Don't forget to jargon check your AI

Equity

TechCrunch

News, Business, Entrepreneurship, Business News, Technology

4.2 • 372 Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week on Equity, Alex was joined by Nathan Baschez, the CEO and founder of Lex, an AI-infused online writing tool that recently raised capital. Together, we're talking through a few key topics that have been top of mind in recent months: How many AI-powered, or AI-using writing tools can the market support? How far into the generative AI moment we are, and how much we should anticipate in the form of technology improvements? And then we discussed the nuts and bolts aspects of pricing an AI-powered service and other financial matters related to building a service today that leans on artificial intelligence. The last question is far from idle. Recall that back in 2020 there was conversation amongst venture players about the economics of AI startups, with the perspective at the time indicating that while the cohort might have more difficult early economics, that their numbers (gross margins, really) would improve over time. But what about when a startup is using, say, an OpenAI API for its core AI work? Will similar efficiencies bloom? Equity is back into its regular groove now that Disrupt is behind us — more to come! And before we go: Check out the UpFlip Podcast where you get to unravel how great businesses are built, how they are run behind the scenes and how their success can be replicated. We think you'll love episode 79 where they featured this guest who transformed his passion for gardening into a $7.3 million-a-year venture. You can find the podcast on Youtube or where ever you listen to podcasts. For episode transcripts and more, head to Equity’s Simplecast website. Equity drops at 7 a.m. PT every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. TechCrunch also has a great show on crypto, a show that interviews founders and more! Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome back to Equity, a podcast about the business of startups
0:16.0	where we unpack the numbers and the nuance behind the headlines.
0:18.9	My name is Alex and this is our interview show where we sit down with the guest
0:22.4	think about their work and unpack the rest.
0:25.0	Today we are talking to Nathan Bachez about the ins and outs of startups using modern AI tools in their software projects.
0:31.0	You may have heard about Nathan, he's the co-founder and CEO of Lex,
0:34.8	an AI-powered writing tool spun out of subscription media company Every, and he previously
0:39.5	worked at both Gimlet Media and Substack, where he was the VP of product.
0:43.4	Nathan, welcome to the show, it's so great to have a fellow technology and media dork on the
0:48.0	pod.
0:49.0	Thank you for having me.
0:50.0	It's honestly, I feel like it's a danger for everyone listening that we're both our interests
0:53.4	are still aligned we could go on along a long one here we could go on a long
0:56.7	one here and probably just completely off the rails and right into the ditch exactly
0:59.8	but we're gonna keep this relatively focused on AI and how founders should think about use of
1:06.1	AI and their products and what you've learned so far. But to set the stage a little bit, you and
1:10.6	I caught up a couple weeks ago, I want to say now time flies because Lex raised 2.75 million led by True Ventures that was last month
1:19.2	So I'm really curious, you know we talked beforehand beforehand, then the news came out, how his response
1:23.6	been?
1:24.6	It's been awesome, honestly.
1:25.6	I wasn't sure exactly what to expect because when we, like the sort of first version of Lex
1:30.4	launched almost a year ago now, The environment around AI was totally different. It wasn't
	...

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