I've been wrong about why i’m questioning ai-driven storytelling in 2025 more times than I'd like to admit. But the last mistake taught me something I can't unlearn.
Here’s what I’ve learned about storytelling with AI from my own experience. It’s not about having the fanciest tools or biggest budget—it’s about understanding the basics and sticking with them.
Why Most Approaches Fail
Let me be direct: about 70% of the approaches I see to why i’m questioning ai-driven storytelling in 2025 are fundamentally flawed. Not slightly off. Fundamentally flawed.
The root cause is usually one of three things:
- Copying what big companies do without understanding why they do it. What works for Google doesn't work for a 10-person startup.
- Over-engineering the solution when a simple approach would work better. I've seen teams spend six months building something that could have been done in two weeks.
- Ignoring the human element. Technology is the easy part. Getting people to actually use it is where the real challenge lives.
The Counterintuitive Truth
Here's what surprised me most about why i’m questioning ai-driven storytelling in 2025: the best practitioners do less, not more.
When I was building MovieLaLa, we tried to do everything at once. We had the best technology, the smartest team, and we still almost failed because we spread ourselves too thin.
The lesson I took from that experience, and from watching hundreds of other companies, is that the market doesn't care about your roadmap. It sounds simple. It's incredibly hard to execute.
Real Talk: What Actually Matters
I'm going to cut through the noise and tell you what actually matters when it comes to why i’m questioning ai-driven storytelling in 2025.
First, execution speed beats perfection. Every time. I've never seen a company fail because they moved too fast on why i’m questioning ai-driven storytelling in 2025. I've seen plenty fail because they moved too slow.
Second, measure everything. If you can't measure it, you can't improve it. Set up tracking from day one, even if it's basic.
Third, talk to your users. This sounds obvious but you'd be amazed how many founders build their why i’m questioning ai-driven storytelling in 2025 strategy in a vacuum. Get out of the building. Talk to real people.
This connects to broader themes around AI storytelling, creative AI tools, AI writing, AI journalism that I've been thinking about a lot lately.
Final Thoughts
After two exits, 200+ investments, and more mistakes than I can count, here's what I know for sure about why i’m questioning ai-driven storytelling in 2025: there are no shortcuts, but there are smarter paths.
The smartest founders I work with treat why i’m questioning ai-driven storytelling in 2025 as a competitive advantage, not a checkbox. They invest in it early, measure it obsessively, and never stop improving.
If you're just getting started with why i’m questioning ai-driven storytelling in 2025, don't be intimidated. Everyone starts somewhere. The key is to start with the right mindset and the right framework, and then execute like your company depends on it. Because it probably does.
Frequently Asked Questions
What experience informs this perspective?
This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 200+ startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.
How can I apply this thinking to my own situation?
Start by identifying the core principle behind the opinion, not the specific example. Then ask yourself: does this principle apply to my context? If yes, test it in a small, low-risk way before going all in.
How has this view evolved over time?
My thinking on most topics has changed significantly over the years. Early in my career, I held many conventional views that experience proved wrong. I try to update my beliefs when the evidence changes.
What's the most common pushback you get on this?
People often push back by citing exceptions or edge cases. And they're usually right that exceptions exist. But building a strategy around exceptions rather than patterns is a losing game for most founders.