How to Build a Profitable Product from Day 1 | Smith.ai Aaron Lee

Aaron Lee, CEO and founder of Smith.AI, offers valuable insights for aspiring entrepreneurs in this video. Smith.AI is a startup that specializes in providing AI receptionist services for small and medium-sized businesses. Aaron's entrepreneurial journey began with the successful exit of his first venture, Red Beacon, a marketplace connecting homeowners with home professionals, which was acquired by Home Depot. Following three years as the CTO at Home Depot, Aaron identified gaps in the market and launched Smith.AI to address the needs he had encountered firsthand. In the video, Aaron shares strategies for effectively translating customer feedback into a new business venture and discusses methods for determining optimal pricing strategies for products and services.
00:44 From Google Engineer to Startup Founder
02:22 Starting a Comapany during Financial Crisis
05:07 What I Learned at Home Depot as CTO
06:15 Turning Customer Feedback into a New Startup
08:18 Motivation of Improving a Product
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Subtitles for this video were created using [XL8.ai](xl8.ai/) machine translation.

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[@sriramananthakrishnan138]

Aaron, if you're reading this, I really appreciate you taking the time out to do this, I love how you explained product market fit in demand-supply chain based verticals in a way that is easily digestible by folks on the engineering side like me.

[@eleken.agency]

The idea of iterative approach is gold. In our line of work as a SaaS design agency, I see two types of startups. First, there are those who do user testing maybe once, when their prototypes are all set. And then, there are those who really dive deep, coming from the industry, constantly going back and forth with potential users to showcase each idea, each iteration, letting them choose. That must be a longer and uncomfortable process (that sometimes leads to the results not-so-perfect from the design perspective). But it's the second type who tends to have a brighter future in the startup scene.

[@kuntakinte5421]

Thank you so much. Every video, every founder, every contributor, passes so much valuable information. Thank you guys

[@owendavies8227]

Wow, it's not every day that you hear from a founder that can consistently make a profit. Thank you for setting aside your time. I'm sure you could have done something that benifitted yourself instead, but I am flattered that you decided to be generous to people like me. Is there any way I could hear more from you?

[@nat.serrano]

This guy is IMPRESSIVE. He knows his shit (simply). Clear thought process.

[@kafenaded]

TRUE

[@drtydsh]

always a good way to start my morning, thanks!

[@brightfuture5201]

Awesome guy and very clear thinking.

[@setoelkahfi]

02:06 Golden!

[@natlopanda]

Great video Aaron :D

[@kafenaded]

damn this video is a gold nugget

[@NanheeByrnesPhD]

I would love to hear how yours is different from the numerous competitors like Angies. When remodeling my bathroom, a douzen different middleman internet companies contacted me. Given that your product is something anyone can easily come up with(not a sign of disruptive tech), what is your growth strategy?

[@aaronlee1]

I am assuming you were referring to Redbeacon, product experience + distribution is key, and that's why The Home Depot is a critical part of it, they have both sides of the market (home owners/renters + Pros) + 2000+ stores and the brand names.

[@xiongbenjamin]

11:07 “Dis eeso chip!” 😂 can’t get more Asian than that

[@rezaaldiansyahm]

- 3 to 6 months is the time you need to develop your product without getting direct feedback from customers, anything more than that and you may regret it.

[@nonefvnfvnjnjnjevjenjvonej3384]

More happy make believe stories on how to be an entrepreneur... These stories are absolutely false. The real secret here is having the network and resources of an early google engineer and jumping on the ai bandwagon which is much easier when you have nothing to lose. I am tired of channel after channel talk about false things, which do not matter and try to spin it off as the real secrets of success. They are not.

[@mohali4338]

The title is a clickbait. A prototype in 3-6 months makes no money

[@stupidgameprizes]

Stopped listening after it shows that he is one of the early Google engineers ($$$$$).

[@elizabethgraham255]

Why don't make money?

[@asitisfilms3499]

Everyone just want profits from day 0. No one actually cares about doing something good, for decent profit margins plus something good for the world. There is no balance anymore. If you conceive and idea and your thought is to extract max profit right away, you're the reason why the world is a mess! 😢

[@stupidgameprizes]

Stopped listening after it shows that he is one of the early Google engineers ($$$$$).

[@Nutrisof]

"How to Build a Profitable Product from Day 1" 10:34 minutes saved. You welcome.