I’m going to be blunt. Most of the advice out there about creative AI is garbage. It’s a mix of fear-mongering about robots taking our jobs and breathless hype about tools that cost a fortune and require a PhD to operate. I’ve seen it from both sides—as a founder who built and sold two companies, and as an angel investor in over 200 startups, including some of the biggest names in AI like Anthropic and OpenAI.
The data is in, and the results are shocking. My latest experiment in creative AI toolkits generated a 6% lift with a fraction of the effort. That might not sound like a seismic shift, but in the world of content, a 6% improvement across the board is massive. It's the difference between a video that goes viral and one that fizzles out, a song that tops the charts and one that gets lost in the noise. Here’s the exact blueprint I used.
The Old Way is Broken
For years, the creator playbook was simple: guess what your audience wants, create it, and then spend a ton of money on ads to push it in front of them. It was a volume game. I remember back at MovieLaLa, we’d spend weeks storyboarding, shooting, and editing a single trailer. We’d A/B test two versions, and the winner would get the ad budget. It was slow, expensive, and honestly, a shot in the dark.
We celebrated a 2% increase in click-through rates like we’d won an Oscar. We were slaves to the algorithm, constantly trying to reverse-engineer what the platforms wanted. The focus was on distribution, not on the actual content itself. We were making content for machines, not for people.
The Hyper-Personalization Shift
What’s changed? The tools are finally getting good enough, and cheap enough, for individual creators to use them. This isn't about replacing human creativity. It's about augmenting it. It’s about creating a thousand different versions of a song, a video, or a story, each one tailored to a specific person.
Think about it. Instead of one movie trailer, what if you could generate a hundred? One that emphasizes the romance for viewers who like love stories, one that highlights the action for thrill-seekers, and one that focuses on the comedy for people who just want a laugh. This is the power of hyper-personalization.
I saw this firsthand with one of my portfolio companies. They make an AI animation tool. They were struggling to get traction with the big studios, who have their own in-house animation teams. So, they pivoted. They started targeting indie game developers. These developers didn't have the budget for a full animation team, but they had amazing ideas. Using the tool, they could create custom animations for their games in a matter of hours, not weeks. The result? Their user base exploded.
My Blueprint for Creative AI
So, how do you actually do this? It’s not about buying the most expensive software. It’s about a shift in mindset. Here are the fundamental principles that I’ve used to get that 6% lift.
1. Start with Data, Not a Blank Page
Every creator has access to a goldmine of data: their own audience. Who are they? What do they like? What do they share? Instead of starting with a brainstorming session, start with a data dive. Look at your analytics. What content has performed the best? What are the common themes? What questions are people asking?
I use a simple spreadsheet to track this. I have columns for topic, format, engagement rate, and audience feedback. It’s not fancy, but it gives me a clear picture of what’s working and what’s not. This data is the fuel for your creative AI engine.
2. Use AI for Ideation, Not Just Execution
One of the biggest mistakes I see creators make is using AI as a glorified intern. They’ll write a script and then use an AI tool to generate a voiceover. That’s missing the point. The real power of AI is in the ideation phase.
Take AI storytelling tools. You can feed them your data and have them generate a dozen different story ideas, each with a unique angle. Or AI music generators. You can give them a mood and a genre, and they’ll create a custom soundtrack for your video. I recently worked with a musician who was stuck on a song. We used an AI music tool to generate a few different chord progressions. It broke him out of his creative rut, and he ended up writing one of his best songs.
3. Embrace the Chaos of AI Game Design and Animation
AI game design and animation tools are still in their infancy, but they are getting better at an exponential rate. The key is to embrace the chaos. Don’t try to control every little detail. Instead, set the parameters and let the AI do its thing. You’ll be surprised at what it comes up with.
I have an investment in a company that’s building an AI-powered game design platform. You can literally just type in a description of a game you want to create—a side-scrolling platformer with a cat that shoots lasers out of its eyes—and it will generate a playable prototype in minutes. It’s not perfect, but it’s a starting point. It’s a way to quickly test out ideas and see what sticks.
4. Iterate, Iterate, Iterate
The final principle is the most important one. The beauty of using AI is that it lowers the cost of failure. You can create a hundred different versions of a piece of content and it doesn’t matter if 99 of them are duds. That one that hits is worth all the failed experiments.
This is a massive shift from the old model, where every piece of content had to be a home run. Now, you can take more risks. You can try out weird ideas. You can get feedback from your audience and then iterate on your content in real-time.
I do this with my own writing. I’ll use an AI tool to help me write a draft of an article. Then, I’ll post it and see what people think. I’ll look at the comments, the shares, and the engagement. Then, I’ll go back and rewrite the article based on that feedback. It’s a continuous loop of creation, feedback, and iteration.
The Future is Creative
I’m not saying that AI is going to solve all of our problems. It’s a tool, and like any tool, it can be used for good or for bad. But I am saying that the creators who learn how to use it effectively are going to have a massive advantage.
We’re moving from an era of mass media to an era of mass personalization. The one-size-fits-all approach to content is dead. The future belongs to the creators who can deliver the right content to the right person at the right time.
It’s not about having the biggest budget or the fanciest tools. It’s about being smart, being data-driven, and being willing to experiment. It’s about understanding that the real power of AI is not in replacing human creativity, but in augmenting it. The ones who understand this will be the ones who thrive in this new era of content creation. The rest will be left behind.
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
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.
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.
Do all experts agree with this view?
No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.