Startup Stories - Mixergy

Pepper is creating content for clients like Shopify, Adobe and Instacart. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of posts & videos. And this is content that leads to sales. In this interview, founder Anirudh Singla tell us how they do it by using AI and humans. Anirudh Singla is the founder and CEO of Pepper, a global content marketing platform that blends AI and human creativity to produce content at scale. What began as his side hustle on Upwork has grown into a company serving Fortune 500s —recently crossing $10M in annual recurring revenue. Pepper now operates across writing, design, video, and localization, helping brands drive measurable growth through AI-powered content systems. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Ethan Smith runs Graphite, the SEO & AEO company that helps brands like Webflow show up on Google’s page one and ChatGPT’s first answer. This is how he does it Ethan Smith is the founder and CEO of Graphite, a growth and SEO firm that’s now pioneering Answer Engine Optimization—helping brands rank inside AI-generated responses. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Coming into this interview I wasn’t even sure what “AI Transformation” was, let alone why so many companies pay for it. Here’s the deal: Tenex, the company founded by Alex Lieberman & Arman Hezarkhani, goes into companies hunting for ways to save or making them money using AI. Once they find that, it becomes a no brainer for companies to hire them to build it. But Tenex does more than AI Transformation. They also run a dev shop where their developers use AI to build super fast for clients. Alex Lieberman and Arman Hezarkhani are the co-founders of Tenex, a company blending high-performance engineering with AI transformation consulting. Their model aligns incentives around output rather than time, helping enterprises and startups build software faster and integrate AI across people, processes, and tools. Together, they’re building what they call the “McKinsey for AI”—a hybrid of dev shop, consultancy, and innovation lab helping companies thrive in the post-AI era. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

“Why did you launch yet another voice dictation app?” I asked Dan Shipper, founder of Every. I thought he’d tell me that there was some kind of research that showed people needed another one. Nah. It came down to his team’s taste and personal preference. They just wanted something different. So a single creator on the team built it. AI makes it easier for more people to create apps. So what’s the differentiator? From what I got in this interview — over and over — it’s the creator’s taste. Dan Shipper is the founder and CEO of Every, a hybrid media and software company creating AI-powered tools for productivity and creativity. The company publishes one of the most widely read newsletters on technology and builds products like Monologue (AI dictation), Spiral (AI ghostwriting), and Cora (AI email assistant). More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I’ve been talking with founders who used AI to build companies, but aren’t getting enough customers. I found the perfect person to show them how to grow. Neil Patel has been on the cutting edge of AI marketing. He’s going to show us what’s working for his customers and his company. At the end of the conversation, you’ll see the exact process his company, NP Digital, is using AI to scrape yellow pages, create custom offers, and get clients. Neil Patel is the co-founder of NP Digital, a global marketing agency serving clients such as Intuit, Canon, and Cartier. He’s also the creator of the SEO platform Ubersuggest and a leading authority on digital growth, named a top marketer by Forbes and The Wall Street Journal. Through his work, Neil helps businesses combine AI, data, and marketing strategy to drive measurable revenue. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

AI changed everything. During their time at Y Combinator, startups typically grew revenue weekly by 2-4%. Now? 10-20%! PER WEEK. YC President Garry Tan told me the reason is simple: AI transformed software from a “nice to have” into an urgent necessity. “Before it was like, ‘Yeah, I know I need to replace my software.’…Today it’s becoming, ‘Oh. I see a demo. It’s really impressive… I need it right now. When can you start?'” Garry Tan is President and CEO of Y Combinator, the world’s most successful startup accelerator. He previously co-founded Posterous, which was acquired by Twitter. Beyond the startup world, he’s a YouTuber with an eye for great design and understanding that three-act narratives aren’t just for movies. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

How can Read.ai keep growing when 1) there are loads of meeting note taking apps, and 2) platforms like Zoom keep adding note-taking features? That’s what I asked its founder David Shim David Shim is the founder and CEO of Read.ai, the fastest-growing AI meeting assistant with millions of users worldwide. Previously, he was CEO of Foursquare following its acquisition of his location analytics company, Placed, which had earlier been acquired by Snap. Today, David is building Read into the central hub where businesses capture, analyze, and act on every meeting, email, and message. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

I keep seeing AI agencies pop up everywhere, offering to AI-ify businesses. But what are they AI’ing? How are they doing it? Seems too general and unfocused to work. Still, they do. I wanted to understand how, so I interviewed Rob Howard, who teaches agency owners how to sell and deliver AI services. Rob Howard is the founder of Howard Development & Consulting (HDC.net) and the creator of Innovating with AI, a program that has helped over 1,000 people start and grow AI consulting businesses. With a background in software development and WordPress, Rob has built and shipped projects for clients for more than 20 years. Today, he’s focused on teaching others how to combine no-code tools, automation, and AI to create profitable, sustainable agencies. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Pavel Doležal built Keboola to $15 million per year. How he did it: 1. Start with consulting, so clients tell you what they need 2. Build software that makes companies’ chaotic data accessible. NO agents yet. 3. Create agents that take action. That’s the hardest part. At the end of this interview, Pavel tells you how YOU should start an AI company and about the three successful companies that followed his advice. Pavel Doležal is the co-founder and CEO of Keboola, a cloud-based data platform used by over 21,000 companies worldwide. Before Keboola, he helped build Atlas, one of Eastern Europe’s leading internet portals, and went on to found several data-focused companies. Today, Pavel leads a global team making it easier for businesses to integrate, analyze, and automate their data—with clients ranging from fast-growing startups to global enterprises. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint

Ever wish someone would text you every day to make sure you stuck to your goals? That’s exactly what Adam Gilbert built — first for fitness, now for business. He’s the founder of My Body Tutor and DoneDaily, two remote coaching services powered by daily accountability. I invited him to share how he turned simple check-ins into a multi-million dollar company. Adam Gilbert was a personal trainer who was frustrated by seeing clients not follow through on the diet and exercise programs they committed to. So he offered to be their accountability buddy by text. The service he created, My Body Tutor, was profitable from its first month and continues to generate millions 18 years later. His latest company, DoneDaily, offers a similar accountability and coaching program for entrepreneurs. More interviews -> https://mixergy.com/moreint Rate this interview -> https://mixergy.com/rateint