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OpenAI Welcomes Sarah Friar (CFO) and Kevin Weil (CPO)

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Re: OpenAI Welcomes Sarah Friar (CFO) and Kevin Weil (CPO)

#2

Post by r_thambapillai »

really interesting to see them hire two folks from consumer-tech backgrounds, rather than B2B or developer tools. I wonder if that signals an increasing focus on ChatGPT as a consumer product rather than the API / Enterprise products? (Edit: Sarah actually has a background in both Enterprise and Consumer)

Re: OpenAI Welcomes Sarah Friar (CFO) and Kevin Weil (CPO)

#6

Post by ttul »

r_thambapillai wrote: post #2

really interesting to see them hire two folks from consumer-tech backgrounds, rather than B2B or developer tools. I wonder if that signals an increasing focus on ChatGPT as a consumer product rather than the API / Enterprise products? (Edit: Sarah actually has a background in both Enterprise and Consumer)

In my opinion, OpenAI is building a platform business [1]. OpenAI is primarily an innovation platform. It provides tools, models, and APIs that enable developers and businesses to create new applications and services, fostering a wide ecosystem of innovation where OpenAI’s technology is the beating heart, driving high-margin revenue. While it also sells API access, its main role aligns with enabling third-party innovation, similar to platforms like Microsoft and Google Android.

However, driving third-party innovation does not relieve OpenAI of the need to create consumer-facing applications like ChatGPT. If OpenAI was to remain exclusively a back-end API business, it would be leaving itself vulnerable to disintermediation as competition from other model providers like Meta enable swapping out the back end. I believe Kevin was brought in to make sure OpenAI has its own relevant front end innovation so that disintermediation is less of a threat.

[1] https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=56021

Re: OpenAI Welcomes Sarah Friar (CFO) and Kevin Weil (CPO)

#7

Post by babyyoda »

r_thambapillai wrote: post #2

really interesting to see them hire two folks from consumer-tech backgrounds, rather than B2B or developer tools. I wonder if that signals an increasing focus on ChatGPT as a consumer product rather than the API / Enterprise products? (Edit: Sarah actually has a background in both Enterprise and Consumer)

Thought the same when I read - and honestly I think the larger growth vector for OpenAI is their B2B and API potential. But good product leaders can span both, but curious none-the-less

Re: OpenAI Welcomes Sarah Friar (CFO) and Kevin Weil (CPO)

#8

Post by trybackprop »

It looks like Silicon Valley really values the experience of execs from Instagram:

OpenAI CPO: Kevin Weil, Instagram VP of Product 2016-2018 [1]

Anthropic CPO: Mike Krieger, Instagram Cofounder and CTO 2010-2018 [2]

OpenAI VP Consumer Product: Peter Deng, Instagram Head of Product 2013-2015 [3]

[1] https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinweil/

[2] https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikekrieger/

[3] https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterxdeng/

Re: OpenAI Welcomes Sarah Friar (CFO) and Kevin Weil (CPO)

#9

Post by crowcroft »

mupuff1234 wrote: post #5

But if you actually believe they'll be super AI in a year or two, why even bother with a product till then? Seems like the only focus should be getting there first. Unless of course you don't actually believe that.

I think even the most bullish e/acc AI fanatic is probably not 100% sure AGI will be developed in a year or two, and so even in the most optimistic case you would want to hedge your bets.
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