How AI Transforms Video for 200K Creators | Victor Riparbelli on Synthesia
Timestamps are as accurate as they can be but may be slightly off. We encourage you to listen to the full context.
Podcast Summary
In this episode of GRYT, host Juven from Kleiner Perkins sits down with partner Josh and Victor Riparbelli, CEO and co-founder of Synthesia, the AI video company that's transforming how we create and consume video content. (00:00) The conversation explores the evolution from synthetic media to generative AI, delving into Victor's entrepreneurial journey from raising the first million dollars to building what's now a unicorn company valued at over a billion dollars. (42:00) The discussion highlights the fundamental shift happening in communication, where video and audio are becoming the preferred mediums over text, and how Synthesia is pioneering this transformation in the enterprise space. (33:00) Key themes include the challenges of category creation, the importance of customer obsession over technological novelty, and how competition can actually strengthen a company's focus and execution.
- Main Theme: The transformation of enterprise communication from text-based to video-first, powered by AI avatars and the democratization of video creation technology
Speakers
Victor Riparbelli
CEO and co-founder of Synthesia, the AI video communications platform. Victor started the company in 2017 after being inspired by breakthrough research in neural networks for video generation. Despite not having a PhD in AI research, he successfully navigated multiple funding rounds and built Synthesia into a unicorn company valued at over $1 billion. He's known for his customer-obsessed approach and ability to sequence ambitious technological visions into practical business solutions.
Josh (Partner at Kleiner Perkins)
Partner at Kleiner Perkins who led Synthesia's Series B investment round in 2021. Josh brings a competitive background (he has a twin brother) and focuses on operational excellence and helping portfolio companies achieve escape velocity in their markets. He's known for his responsiveness and systematic approach to evaluating both technology and market opportunities.
Key Takeaways
Prioritize Utility Over Novelty in Technology Development
Victor emphasizes the importance of focusing on solving real customer problems rather than just building impressive technology. (53:42) He describes their internal mantra of "utility over novelty," which means being obsessed with driving value for customers rather than creating wow moments that don't translate to business utility. This approach helped Synthesia avoid the trap that many AI companies fall into of building impressive demos that don't solve actual problems. The key insight is that customers don't care about AI being cool - they care about getting their job done better. Victor gives the example of working with an Italian cement mixing company whose employees couldn't care less about AI or LLMs; they just want tools that help them work more effectively.
Democratization Creates Bigger Markets Than Enhancement
The breakthrough insight for Synthesia came when they shifted from trying to improve existing video production workflows to enabling people who couldn't make videos at all. (23:44) Victor explains that there are billions of people desperate to make video content who aren't doing it today because they don't know how to operate cameras or lack budgets for production teams. For these customers, a solution that's "a thousand times more affordable and a thousand times easier to use than a camera" is valuable, even if the quality is slightly lower than traditional video production. This democratization approach proved far more scalable than trying to be a vitamin for existing video producers. The lesson applies broadly: new technologies often find their biggest markets by enabling new users rather than marginally improving existing workflows.
Competition Sharpens Focus and Accelerates Growth
Rather than being threatened by increased competition in the AI video space, Victor views it as beneficial for forcing better strategic decisions. (13:54) He explains that when you're the only game in town, it's easy to build a general-purpose platform trying to serve everyone. But competition forces you to take positions and figure out what specific customers really want. This has helped Synthesia focus more clearly on enterprise customers while other companies pursue different segments. Josh adds that competition has actually made them perform better by keeping them on their toes and providing more market signals through other companies' iterations with customers. The key takeaway is that competition, while challenging, can be a catalyst for organizational excellence and strategic clarity.
Sequence Ambitious Visions Through Practical Steps
Victor's approach to building Synthesia involved understanding that while the ultimate vision was to enable Hollywood-quality film creation on a laptop, they needed to find intermediate products that were buildable with limited resources and had willing buyers. (21:50) Their first product was AI video dubbing, which was highly manual and service-driven but proved there was market demand. This sequencing approach is crucial for deep tech companies with grand visions - you can't go straight to the end goal but must find stepping stones that validate technology and market demand while building toward the larger vision. Victor emphasizes that this sequencing exercise requires both technological feasibility and commercial viability at each step, not just impressive demos.
Customer Obsession Must Balance with Technical Innovation
Victor argues that the most successful companies combine deep technical capabilities with intense customer focus, which is rare to find in founding teams. (56:03) He contrasts companies that are purely research-driven (which often get acquired for talent) with those that are customer-obsessed but lack technological differentiation. The sweet spot is building genuinely advanced technology while being relentlessly focused on solving real customer problems. This meant spending years talking to thousands of potential customers to understand their video creation needs rather than just optimizing algorithms in isolation. The practical application is ensuring that technical roadmaps are driven by customer value rather than just what's technically interesting to build.
Statistics & Facts
- Synthesia raised over $1 billion in funding and became one of only seven European unicorns in the AI space. (52:02) This statistic highlights both the company's exceptional growth and the rarity of achieving unicorn status as a European AI company.
- The platform works in 140 different languages and starts at $30 per month, scaling up to enterprise pricing. (10:08) This demonstrates the global reach and accessibility of their AI video platform.
- Victor and his co-founder were rejected by approximately 100 investors during their initial fundraising efforts. (45:13) This statistic emphasizes the difficulty of raising capital for novel AI technologies before the current generative AI boom.