Startup Founders Pretend to Be AI, Raise $1B

Two startup founders, Sam Udotong and Krish Ramineni, initially posed as an AI bot named Fred to validate their product idea, manually taking notes for over a hundred meetings. Their unconventional approach, shared on LinkedIn, sparked debate about startup practices. Despite financial struggles, they offered a human-powered note-taking service, hinting at AI but not disclosing it was manual. Now valued at $1 billion, they stopped manual note-taking and developed their AI, securing over $4 million in seed funding. This story highlights the controversial practice of pretotyping in the tech world.The Daily News Now! — Every city. Every story. AI-powered. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.