It's Everyone vs. Everyone: Navigating the New Strategic Arena - Unsolicited Feedback S3E5

In the span of two weeks, OpenAI launched an app platform with 800 million users, released Agent Kit with visual workflows and custom widgets, and dropped Sora—a social video app that instantly became the #1 and #2 app in the App Store. If you've been following our predictions about the next great distribution shift, this is the moment we've been waiting for. The "open" phase has officially begun. In this episode, Brian Balfour (Founder and CEO of Reforge) is joined by Ravi Mehta (former CPO at Tinder, product leader at Meta and TripAdvisor) and Adam Fishman (former Interim VP Product at Mozilla, previously at Patreon and Lyft) to break down what these launches really mean for product leaders. We discuss why this could be the "uh-oh moment" for Google and Apple, how OpenAI is using memory and context to build their moat, and the specific tactical steps you should be taking right now—before your competitors do. We also dive deep on Sora's surprising product design, why it feels more like Snapchat than TikTok, the dopamine mechanics of AI-generated content, and whether Meta is about to "Stories-ify" the whole thing. Get Your Product Team AI-Native This episode is brought to you by Reforge. Reforge provides the tools and training your team needs to become AI-native: Reforge Insights aggregates your scattered customer feedback into actionable intelligence. Reforge Research runs AI interviews and surveys so you can capture new insights at scale. Reforge Build lets you prototype AI features for your existing product in minutes. Reforge Launch gives you the feature management infrastructure you need for AI products. Key Topics: Why ChatGPT's app platform threatens Google Search and the iPhone home screen The distribution shift playbook and what Phase One means for startups vs. incumbents How to get early access and build on OpenAI's platform before it's too late Sora's design choices, creator-product fit, and the unsustainable economics of AI video Why there's no opting out of this wave—and how to catch it This is the strategically most intense environment we've ever seen. Don't miss this one.

What happens when the entire software industry gets repriced on the cost basis of AI? When AI procurement agents are pitting your product against five competitors in real-time speed trials? And when every project management tool builds the exact same agent platform? Welcome to Unsolicited Feedback, where we dig into the messy realities of building in the age of AI. Brian Balfour (Founder and CEO of Reforge) and Aaron White (Founder of Appy.ai, Former CTO at Vendr) are in the thick of building AI tools and their companies for the AI era. In this episode, they pull back the curtain on a massive shift happening right now: The entire industry is scrambling to shift from "all you can eat subscription" pricing to credit-based models that few consumers understand and the secondary effects. Brian and Aaron also tackle the launch of Notion’s Agent platform and how it feels like every project management tool from Jira to Glean to Notion to Monday has the exact same strategy.

Tech Twitter absolutely lost its mind this past week when Atlassian dropped $610 million in cold, hard cash to buy The Browser Company. And honestly? The memes were spectacular. While everyone was busy dunking on the deal, Brian and Fareed reverse-engineer the product thinking behind the deal. In this episode, we're breaking down two acquisitions that were not on our bingo cards. First up: Why Atlassian suddenly decided browsers are the future of enterprise software. Second, we dig into OpenAI's acquisition of Statsig. These two deals were the complete opposite of each other, which makes them interesting to compare.Grab your coffee, hit play, and let's turn these insights into your unfair advantage. Product team?  Check out our AI-native tools here:Reforge Insights:  https://reforge.com/insightsReforge Research:  https://reforge.com/researchReforge Build: https://reforge.com/build

It’s been weeks since GPT-5 launched—which is basically a decade in AI time. The hype fog has finally lifted, and that’s the perfect moment to ask: what really changed, what actually matters, what were the actual product strategy decision? In this episode, Brian Balfour and Fareed Mosavat dig into why OpenAI went all-in on a “one model to rule them all” consumer strategy, the quiet product moves aimed at the next billion users, and the weird tension between how they marketed GPT-5 and what the product strategy actually says. We also go straight to the money: the “gym-membership” economics of AI, why flat pricing turns into a house of cards, and how usage-based, hybrid, and outcome-based models actually shake out when cost to serve is variable and compute doesn’t magically 10× cheaper. If you want clear takeaways on strategy, distribution, and monetization, keep listening as we are about to dive in.

It’s been weeks since GPT-5 launched—which is basically a decade in AI time. The hype fog has finally lifted, and that’s the perfect moment to ask: what really changed, what actually matters, what were the actual product strategy decision? In this episode, Brian Balfour and Fareed Mosavat dig into why OpenAI went all-in on a “one model to rule them all” consumer strategy, the quiet product moves aimed at the next billion users, and the weird tension between how they marketed GPT-5 and what the product strategy actually says. We also go straight to the money: the “gym-membership” economics of AI, why flat pricing turns into a house of cards, and how usage-based, hybrid, and outcome-based models actually shake out when cost to serve is variable and compute doesn’t magically 10× cheaper. If you want clear takeaways on strategy, distribution, and monetization, keep listening as we are about to dive in.

AI’s crown jewels, you data, is under siege. Lawsuits, API throttles, and Cloudflare’s “default-off” move have publishers slamming the gate while AI titans keep battering it down. Brian Balfour (Reforge) and Fareed Mosavat break down who’s suing whom, why API chokeholds matter, and how these defense moves could hand even more power to the Googles and OpenAIs of the world. We then tackle Anthropic’s latest launch: Claude “artifacts.” These bite-sized AI mini-apps piggyback on the user’s own API quota, and spin up self-fueling growth loops to build a unique growth model. We unpack the model step-by-step, the constraints, and the upside for builders hunting leverage. Grab your coffee, hit play, and turn today’s hot takes into tomorrow’s unfair advantage.

Get ready for a crash course for you in the next great distribution shift. In this episode, Brian Balfour and Fareed Mosavat pull back the curtain on why AI’s real battleground isn’t the tech itself—it’s the fight to be the next distribution platform. Fareed and Brian dissect the playbooks and cycles that crowned Facebook, Google, Apple and LinkedIn as the winners of their categories and turned them from open platforms into toll booths. The key part is who is going to be next, and what you need to know to play the game. We cover: Brian's prediction on which LLM will create the platform first—and exactly how to ride that wave before the gates slam shut. How startups need to play the game differently vs larger companies A candid debate on platform moats, memory vs. action, and whether PLG just made a roaring comeback. If you build, invest, or obsess over AI products, this 45-minute sprint will hand you the hard truths and the hidden opportunities shaping the next couple of years. Plug in, level up—and learn how to play the game before the game plays you.

The AI Wild West just got wilder — and we’re riding straight into the melee.In this episode, Brian Balfour, Fareed Mosavat, and special guest Aaron White crack open the three questions every builder is secretly sweating right now: Can you actually differentiate when every launch feels like a land-grab? Is “move fast” still an edge — or just table-stakes? What happens when OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic hoover up all the context you thought was your moat? Expect hot takes on speed-as-a-moat, why Apple’s “slow and perfect” playbook suddenly looks brittle, and how vertical-niche founders can still carve out 10-to-100× markets hiding in plain sight. You’ll hear: The Great Land Grab – Why OpenAI’s next platform move could dwarf Facebook’s 2007 dev-platform blitz. Speed vs. Strategy – If “move fast” is merely table stakes, what actually sets winning teams apart? Moats in 2025 – From data loops to brand trust, which defenses still work—and which are illusions? Niche Power Plays – How vertical micro-SaaS and “taste-driven” products can survive the AI tidal wave. The Dark & Bright Futures – Privacy nightmares, device wars, and the unexpected upside for founders who master context. If you’re building, investing, or just trying to keep your head above the AI tidal wave, hit play. This convo will arm you with the mindset (and the memes) you need to survive the quicksand and still grab the crown. Strap in—let’s ride.

Last week we talked about Everyone-versus-Everyone. That hasn’t stopped. Before we could edit and publish the last episode, Google unleashed a “do-everything” AI bundle. Last week we talked about when everyone ships everything at once, how do you find the whitespace? This week we continue to discuss two more tectonic shifts: 1. The Great SEO Trade-Off ➜ The AI Answer Engine - Google’s new AI-mode could nuke the blue-link economy that’s powered the internet for 20+ years. If LLMs hoard the traffic, who keeps creating the content they need to stay smart? Expect hot takes on long-tail extinction, “answer-engine optimization,” and whether originality still pays. 2. Hiring Hangover Meets AI Reality - New-grad recruiting is down 50 %, senior talent is grumbling, and managers admit they’d rather spin up an LLM than onboard Gen Z. Brian and Fareed unpack why the entry-level pipeline collapsed, where the arbitrage is hiding, and how startups can weaponize AI-native rookies before incumbents wake up. We add a dash of labor-economics humor, a sprinkle of Shopify-meets-Stack-Overflow, and you’ve got an episode that will leave you rethinking your product, growth, and hiring strategy all at the same time.

In the last 30 days, Notion fired off three products, Figma morphed into a mini-Adobe, OpenAI gobbled Windsurf, and Loom, Atlassian, Anthropic, Cursor, and Granola pointed their AI cannons straight at one another. Welcome to ludicrous speed—a market where every launch feels like a direct hit on your roadmap and “competitive landscape” now means everyone vs. everyone.  In this episode Brian Balfour and Fareed Mosavat are joined by Ravi Mehta to talk about The Great Bundle Brawl, Granola's Escape Hatch, The AI Flywheel, and more.