Mailwrite.ai: Building a sustainable business with generative AI

In this insightful episode of our generative AI podcast season 3, serial entrepreneur Henri discusses his journey and the pivotal role of business models in shaping successful ventures in the era of generative AI. Beginning with the inception of his AI-powered publishing house, Henri details how perfect timing and CODE facilitated the realization of his dream of writing books with AI. He provides a deep dive into the founding journey of Mailwrite, a company inspired by ChatGPT for writing customer emails. The episode intricately traces the path from initial API exploration to roadmap building, stumbling blocks, eventual launch, and the formidable challenges that led to a fresh start. The episode pivots to the crucial subject of crafting effective business models in the context of generative AI. Henri compares ChatGPT to a gatekeeper, using companies like Amazon and Google as illustrations. In a thought-provoking segment, he brings up the challenges of constructing moats, instituting network effects, and blitzscaling, weighing the necessity of defending such strategies. The open-source vs. closed-source debate is broached as a strategy to stave off competition from ChatGPT. The narrative moves on to the dichotomy between expectations and the actual capabilities of creative AI. Henri stresses that AI should be viewed as a smart assistant only, not a world-changing creator. Despite AI's ability to synthesize data and demonstrate creativity, it lacks the deep understanding of customer needs and a level of novelty originating from lived experiences, revolutionary ideas, or paradigm shifts. He suggests that AI companies' competitive edge lies in niche expertise fields and edge cases.  In the closing segment, the focus shifts to understanding customers and their use cases, the necessity of a robust business model, and the proactive initiative to exploit APIs to develop products. Henri also lays out the next steps, encompassing the accumulation of relevant resources such as books and tools. Throughout the episode, Henri underscores various methods and tools, like hypothesis-driven business model design, the Business Model Canvas, the Four Box Model, and the Business Model Navigator. He also poses strategic and tactical questions around experimenting with different business models in the market, defending against competition through network effects and gatekeepers, user acquisition, economic viability, alternative business models, and anticipating potential future disruptions. Henri also elucidates the opportunities for startups to monetize relationships through B2B, B2C, or two-sided relationships. The episode emphasizes the necessity of speed, scale, and deep customer understanding, along with the concept of user-based moats. It further explores pricing strategies for B2B models, including API costs and code. In conclusion, this episode offers profound insights into the importance of business models, along with the challenges and opportunities associated with building companies in the era of generative AI.