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cover of episode Nir Zicherman: Looking Back at Anchor and the Future of Oboe

Nir Zicherman: Looking Back at Anchor and the Future of Oboe

2025/1/9
logo of podcast Generative Now | AI Builders on Creating the Future

Generative Now | AI Builders on Creating the Future

AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
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M
Michael McDonough
N
Nir Zicherman
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Michael McDonough: 我和Nir共同创立了Anchor,现在又一起创立了Oboe,一个AI学习平台,旨在让人类更聪明。我们回顾了Anchor的早期发展历程,反思了一些早期决策,以及我们做错和做对的事情。最后,我们还回答了大家通过Twitter提出的关于Oboe的一些问题。 在Anchor的早期,我们对音频的未来抱有很高的期望,认为音频将会成为互联网上独立存在的一种内容形式。然而,事实证明,音频和视频已经融合,人们可以根据自己的喜好选择不同的内容消费方式。 关于Oboe,我们致力于构建一个比以往任何学习平台都更有效、更个性化的学习平台,利用AI技术来实现这一点。我们认为,大型语言模型(LLM)虽然强大,但无法长期保持有效的学习效果,因此Oboe采用了独特的架构,能够随着用户交互的增加而提升教学效果,并个性化地适应用户的学习方式和偏好。 在创业过程中,我们也学到了很多经验教训,例如,第一次创业时,我们过于关注细节,浪费了大量的时间和精力。第二次创业,我们更加注重效率,更好地授权和委派任务,并更有效地迭代产品。 我们还讨论了增长营销的转变,以及如何适应当今的市场环境。我们认为,如今的增长营销更注重有机增长,即通过高质量的产品和内容来吸引用户。 最后,我们还探讨了混合办公模式的优势,以及如何平衡线上和线下工作,提高工作效率。 Nir Zicherman: 在内容创作,特别是播客制作中,持续性比任何事情都重要。Oboe致力于构建最个性化和高效的学习方式,目标是将人类导师的有效性和个性化学习体验通过技术手段民主化。大型语言模型(LLM)无法长期保持有效的、高质量的学习效果,因为其基于概率模型的架构会随着时间的推移而降低质量。Oboe与LLM不同,它旨在随着用户交互的增加而提升教学效果,个性化地适应用户的学习方式和偏好。 第二次创业更容易,因为对哪些事情重要以及值得投入时间有了更清晰的认识,并且能够更好地授权和委派任务。第二次创业更容易迭代产品,因为你已经知道你的假设很可能会出错,并能够更有效地进行测试和改进。 市场似乎正在远离最小可行产品(MVP)的理念,转向发布更完整、更成熟的产品。Oboe采取了一种与众不同的方法,专注于构建一个高质量、功能强大的核心产品,而不是一开始就追求广泛的功能覆盖。Oboe的创新在于其底层架构和内容,而不是用户界面和用户体验。 Anchor的早期版本应该整合视频功能,因为音频和视频的融合是未来的趋势。Anchor早期错误地低估了现有分发渠道(如播客平台)的重要性,而专注于创造新的音频格式。Anchor的经历表明,社交音频的成功需要依托于现有的分发渠道,而不是创造全新的格式。创造全新的内容格式,而不是依赖现有分发渠道,也可能获得成功,例如TikTok和Snapchat。 Oboe采用混合办公模式,将线上和线下工作结合起来,提高工作效率。决定出售Anchor的原因是Spotify的愿景与Anchor的愿景高度一致,并且Spotify拥有强大的分发能力。如今的增长营销与Anchor时代大相径庭,很难再依赖免费的分发渠道来实现增长。如今的增长营销更注重有机增长,即通过高质量的产品和内容来吸引用户。Oboe致力于通过AI技术改进学习方式,并结合传统学习方法,提高学习效率和知识保留率。Oboe未来的目标是超越教育的范畴,成为一个更广泛的学习平台,帮助人们理解和学习任何事物,无论是在线上还是线下。

Deep Dive

Chapters
This chapter reflects on the early days of Anchor, a podcasting platform co-founded by Michael Mignano and Nir Zicherman. They discuss the challenges and insights gained during the process, highlighting the importance of consistency and the difficulties of delegating responsibilities as first-time founders. The discussion also touches upon the evolution of product development and the changing relevance of MVPs.
  • Importance of consistency in content creation
  • Challenges of delegating responsibilities as first-time founders
  • Evolution of product development
  • Changing relevance of MVPs

Shownotes Transcript

Nearly a decade after launching Anchor, cofounders Michael Mignano and Nir Zicherman have a new venture: Oboe. Oboe’s mission is to make humanity smarter through AI-powered tutors. The duo delves deep into their entrepreneurial journey, starting from the early days of Anchor to their latest venture, Oboe, where Nir is the CEO. They discuss the trials and errors of building Anchor, their vision for Oboe, and why AI-driven learning could revolutionize education. Additionally, they touch upon the evolution of social audio, challenges in growth marketing today, and answer questions from X.

Episode Chapters

(00:00) Introduction (00:36) Reflecting on Anchor's Early Days (02:08) Podcasting Challenges and Insights (03:11) Introducing Oboe: The New Venture (05:03) The Limitations of LLMs in Education (09:40) Lessons from Being a Second-Time Founder (13:04) The Evolution of Product Development (17:36) Are MVPs relevant anymore? (24:56) Reflecting on Social Audio and Anchor (28:32) The Early Days of Anchor (29:33) The Bet on Podcasting (30:27) Distribution Challenges (31:29) What if Anchor Had Pivoted to Video? (34:14) The Future of Audio and Video (37:30) Hybrid Work Model (43:26) Acquisition by Spotify (52:27) The Future of Learning with AI (57:26) Closing Thoughts

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