Why most consumer AI will fail
Most consumer AI products are built like work tools and sold like toys. Neither is what people actually want in their lives.
Cezar Grigore.
I’m a father. I’m a builder. I enjoy learning things, I’m passionate about education, I want to change the world, I’m a believer in people and humanity, I believe everyone should get a fair chance, and I want to be better every day.
I failed a lot. I spent my first 10 years building startups that didn’t get anywhere. I did YC in 2016 at 23. I thought I’d conquered the world and that it would all be a smooth ride from then on. I watched my peers grow businesses into the tens of billions. I failed, and I was depressed for a couple of years.
I grew up in Romania in the 90s. It was a very poor country. I came from a normal Romanian family, which by Western standards would have been a very poor family.
We eventually managed to bootstrap two businesses to $4m in combined revenue. It finally feels like I’ve built something that succeeded, even if in a modest way. And now I feel like I can go back to trying to build bigger things, things that can have a real impact on the world.
I’m doing too much. I’m trying too many things. It’s not what anyone recommends, but it’s me. I love building stuff I’m passionate about. And I’m finally working on two projects that I, personally, am truly passionate about. I think it’s the first time that’s happened in my 15 years of entrepreneurship.
This is my personal space, where I write things down for myself. If you find any of this stuff useful too, it would fill my heart with joy.
01Thoughts
Thoughts
We spent over a year getting Muse to something a normal person would actually use. Not an entrepreneur, not someone who lives in their email. A teacher, a plumber, a doctor. Three or four versions to get there, most of it squeezed around Social Cat and Clip, and Oscar arriving in the middle of it. Finding the name took months on its own.
This week Meta shipped an assistant called Muse. Ours is done. Not legally, maybe. Practically: nobody is going to find us standing behind that.
A year of product survives a week like this. A name doesn't.
I increasingly think the best consumer products aren't those that give you more things to do. They're the ones that quietly remove things you used to have to think about.
02Muse
Muse
Most AI tools are built for work. Muse is for the other part of your life. A trip you’re planning, a house you’re dreaming about, a marathon you’ve talked yourself into. Each one gets a space, and everything you save lands where it belongs.
Send it a reel, a screenshot, a link, a half-formed thought. Then ask it anything. It keeps the context, so you never have to explain yourself twice.
03Scrolio
Scrolio
You’re going to scroll anyway. Scrolio is an attempt to make those five minutes worth something. Short true stories built around what you’re curious about. Read one in a minute, go deeper when you want more, leave with something worth repeating at dinner.
It’s the app I wanted on my own phone: the pull of a feed, pointed at things that are actually interesting.
05Clip
Clip
Clip is Social Cat’s sibling for video. Brands need a steady supply of ads that feel like a person made them, not an agency, and creators who can do that well are rarer than you’d think. Clip vets them hard, then matches them with brands who need what they make.
Clear pricing, no agency layer, and a bar for quality that keeps most applicants out.
04Social Cat
Social Cat↗
Social Cat connects brands with small creators on Instagram and TikTok. The idea is simple. A creator with ten thousand followers who actually listen can do more for a brand than a celebrity with ten million, at a fraction of the cost.
Brands post campaigns, creators apply, content gets made and licensed, all in one place. It’s where most of what we know about building a company comes from.