No Priors Ep. 2 | With Runway ML’s Cristobal Valenzuela

For a long time, AI-generated images and video felt like a fun toy. Cool, but not something that would bring value to professional content creators. But now we are at the exciting moment where machine learning tools have the power to unlock more creative ideas. This week on the podcast, Sarah Guo and Elad Gil talk to Cristobal Valenzuela, a technologist, artist and software developer. He’s also the CEO and co-founder of Runway, a web-based tool that allows creatives to use machine learning to generate and edit video. You've probably already seen Runway's work in action on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and in the feature film Everything Everywhere All at Once. 00:00 - Introduction 01:50 - Cris’s background and how he doesn’t see barriers between art and machine learning 06:46 - How Runway works as a tool 08:36 - The origins and early iterations of Runway 12:22 - Product sequencing and roadmapping in a fast growing space 15:43 - Runway as an applied research company 19:10 - Common pitfalls for founders to avoid 22:35 - How Runway structures teams for effective collaboration 24:22 - Learnings from how Runway built Greenscreen product 28:01 - Building a long-term and sustainable business 32:34 - Finding Product Market Fit 36:34 - The influence of AI tools in art as an artistic movement