el producto #439 🚀
Building AI-native companies, ChatGPT for Business updates, Perplexity Labs, Klarna Card, Writing good strategy, A roadmap from PM to CPO, Claude Research & more
Hi friends 👋
Happy weekend, and welcome to a new edition of el producto
🎰 The week in figures
$3B: Anthropic hit $3B in annualized revenue; that’s up from $2B back in March and $1B in December 2024
$900M: Anysphere, maker of AI coding assistant Cursor, raised $900M at a $9.9B valuation with revenue surpassing $500M ARR
$500M: GitHub’s Copilot generated $500M in revenue last year, new reports unveil
$300M: Abridge AI, the AI solutions for healthcare unicorn is raising $300M in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, increasing its valuation to $5.3B
📰 What’s going on
OpenAI announced a bunch of new workplace products for ChatGPT for Business. This includes:
“Connectors” that plug tools like Outlook and Google Drive into ChatGPT
Deep research enhancements that plug in external apps like Hubspot or Outlook
A new “record mode” that records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings
A federal judge just ordered OpenAI to preserve ALL user conversations indefinitely. That includes the ones you deleted, those “temporary” chats that were supposed to vanish, sharing business secrets through OpenAI's API, everything
Bing's free video creator: Microsoft's new tool, powered by OpenAI's Sora, lets users craft five-second videos for free using prompts, with videos stored for 90 days
Perplexity has launched a new feature called “Labs” that lets you transform research into multi-page apps. Their CEO says it brings together deep web browsing, code execution, and chart/image creation in one place. Here’s a sample Lab it created, and here’s an example of a mini app clone of Splitwise it created in one shot. The company is also rumored to be exploring a potential partnership with Samsung that could see it come pre-installed on their devices
Google Drive has revealed some new Gemini-powered features, including a new “Catch me up” shortcut that lets you review recent edits that have been made in Google Docs
Google has also doubled down on the success of NotebookLM and this week announced that users can now publish and share their Notebooks
Alphabet’s Wing drone delivery company is quietly accelerating. The BigTech subsidiary announced this week that it is working to expand its partnership with Walmart from 2 cities to 7, and the number of stores that it can draw from to 100 in the coming quarters. The companies claim that they’re already executing thousands of weekly deliveries, and Wing also recently announced a new deal with DoorDash
WhatsApp is finally letting users create an account and login with a username rather than just a telephone number. Anyone who has worked on replacing login methods on large products knows this can be a difficult job, and this could mark the first step away from WhatsApp being a phone-centric app, especially given the recent iPad app launch
Claude now has a Research mode (similar to ChatGPT’s Deep Research), which are both basically agents that research the web for you
Anthropic announced new Claude Gov models designed exclusively for U.S. national security customers, with enhanced capabilities for classified materials and defense contexts
Meta is reported to be planning to release a tool that will allow advertisers to use AI end to end to create ad campaigns for the first time. The new tool would allow teams to upload an image of their product along with budgetary goals and AI handles the rest
Meta shared more details about their highly anticipated Aria Gen 2 smart glasses with enhanced computer vision and contextual AI
iOS 19 will be announced next week, and should debut with a significant design overhaul inspired by Vision Pro, an AI health coach, improved battery, and reverse wireless charging
TikTok introduced a new artists platform to aid musicians in connecting with fans and promoting music; a shift towards music discovery
Klarna launched the Klarna Card, a new debit product combined with access to built-in flexible payment options, powered by Visa Flexible Credential and issued by WebBank. The Klarna Card will allow consumers to pay immediately or pay later when needed, online or in-store
AI startup Genspark has launched what it calls “Your AI Secretary” which can manage your Gmail, Calendar, Drive and Notion. In a demo released on their YouTube channel, they show how it’s possible to batch reply to a bunch of product manager interview candidates in one go, with a personalized response for each one
📚 Good reads
Building an AI-native company. Casey Winters breaks down why onboarding everyone, even non-engineers, like an engineer is a game-changer in AI-native companies. By giving all team members access to tools, codebases, and AI, productivity soars as barriers dissolve. SuperMe is leading the charge by encouraging everyone to leverage coding as a multiplier of efficiency and innovation while ensuring safety via API layers. Sarah Tavel shared a similar perspective just a few days ago
The agentic web and original sin. Ben Thompson offers a straightforward narrative on the future of the agentic web, stating that agents will become the new interface to access services. This will completely shift how software is experienced, overcoming what he calls the “original sin” of the internet: adopting advertising as the primary monetisation (and distribution) approach
The Product career: from backlog manager to Chief Product Officer. David Pereira shares his unfiltered journey from a glorified backlog manager to a C-level Product leader, emboldened by relentless curiosity and self-improvement. By embracing risks, sharing lessons, and prioritizing outcomes over promotions, he grew into a respected global voice in product management. This piece is a heartfelt roadmap for PMs who envision breaking free from the feature factory and achieving meaningful impact
Why AI startups are blowing past revenue milestones, by Elena Verna. AI-centric startups are outpacing traditional SaaS by revolutionary leaps, with quicker monetization and structural designs for hyper-growth. Unlike legacy SaaS, AI companies prioritize agility, usage-based models, and instant value-through interactions. Forget outdated playbooks—these disruptors redefine speed and scale for the 21st century
Writing a good, clear strategy. In this insightful article, Helge Tennø breaks down the essence of crafting a straightforward strategy. He emphasizes focusing on clear objectives, aligning business and customer needs, and simple, behavior-driven frameworks that help teams achieve results even in fast-paced, resource-limited environments. Perfect for newcomers at more strategic positions, or those looking for a refresher
AI eats the world. Ben Evans shares his annual presentation, this time full of interesting and inspiring insights into the fast-evolving world of AI
[Video] Microsoft released a free, one-hour “AI Agents for Beginners” course, broken into ten 5-minute lessons. The course guides you through building “agents” using frameworks like Semantic Kernel (for production agents) and Autogen (for multi-agent experiments), often with free models via GitHub
That’s a wrap for this week! 🌟
I’d love to hear your thoughts—what stood out to you, and how are you thinking about integrating these insights into your Product strategy? Reply to the email or drop a comment on Substack to share your take. And if you found this valuable, forward it to a fellow PM, Product enthusiast, startup founder or entrepreneur who’d enjoy the read
See you next week! 👋
Angel