How I Faced Challenges in AI Writing & Founded My Copywriting Startup that Became #1 on Product Hunt

Let's start with some fascinating facts: Did you know that 85.1% of people who use AI today apply it to writing articles and creating content? And these figures are set to increase even further.

However, the real question remains: does AI-generated content meet quality standards?

Let's explore this further.

The Backstory: My Own Challenges With AI

Greetings, hackers! My name is Alex, and I'm the founder of Flipner. I'm excited to share with you the journey that led me to launch my AI copywriting startup.

AI has become a big part of our daily tasks, helping with writing, managing social media, and more. ChatGPT is one of these tools, known for doing a lot.

However, when it generates text, it's not always as rich or genuine as what a person might write. The words make sense and are organized well, but they can miss the deeper connection or unique touch that comes from human creativity.

This kind of AI writing might be okay for quick, straightforward tasks, but it doesn't always engage readers on a deeper level. The content can end up feeling a bit bland and repetitive.

Also, it's tough to plan content over time with today's AI tools, which focus on creating content instantly without the ability to delay or schedule. Imagine wanting to draft a post or article and having various notes or ideas you wish to compile.

Right now, this means saving thoughts and links in different ways—some jot down notes on their phone, others might send voice messages on social networks, start a chat with themselves on WhatsApp, or even email drafts to themselves.

This process is pretty scattered, leading to a bit of chaos when trying to organize thoughts. I've found myself caught in this mess, often losing track of my notes.

My Initial Step: Beginning With Dialogue

Initially, I set out to explore the idea further by talking to various people who regularly produce content, including bloggers, professional writers, copywriters, and authors of academic and scientific papers.

Unsurprisingly, almost all of them highlighted how creating text is a demanding task, emphasizing that the essence of content lies in the thoughts and ideas of the author.

This led to a realization: people are looking for more than just a content generation platform. They need a space to store, organize, and structure their ideas.

This sparked an idea: why not develop a platform that not only facilitates text generation but also offers a space to save notes, thoughts, and voice messages? A hub where content can be not just created but curated, with features allowing users to manage styles for their desired text format.

More critically, I envisioned a platform where AI plays a supportive, technical role—synthesizing the user's own thoughts and notes inputted into the system, rather than generating content on its own. This approach would ensure the content remains authentically the author's, differentiating it from current AI-generated texts by making it more human and reflective of the author's intent.

Such a platform would transform AI into a tool that assembles author-driven content, preserving the unique voice and insights of the individual.

Second Step: Understanding the Problem and Crafting a Solution

If you were to ask journalists or professional writers today about their use of artificial intelligence in their work, about 80% would likely say they don't use it. The main reason? AI as it currently exists tends to produce content that lacks originality, often seen as unable to truly replace the human touch.

The key to overcoming this challenge lies in repositioning AI as a supportive tool rather than a replacement, emphasizing its role in aiding humans to weave their unique thoughts into cohesive texts.

This approach offers a new avenue for the journalism industry, where AI serves as an assistant that helps consolidate individual ideas into polished, ready-to-publish content.

By leveraging such platforms, content creators can not only enhance the quality of their work but also streamline their workflow, saving precious time.

This sparked the concept for Flipner AI, a portable assistant tailored to your content needs. Flipner is designed to simplify your workflow by allowing you to save and amalgamate your notes, transforming them into complete texts. It introduces a three-tiered approach to content creation:

• Firstly, Flipner serves as a central hub for content creators of all types, whether you're a blogger, a writer, or simply jotting down personal notes. You can add content to Flipner in the form of text notes or voice memos, with the latter being automatically converted from speech to text.

  
  

  This feature is especially handy for capturing your thoughts on the fly, enabling you to record any idea that comes to mind, no matter where you are.

• The second tier focuses on the organization and enhancement of your collected notes. Flipner not only stores but also helps you merge and refine these notes, offering functionalities for easy editing and translation into different languages as needed.

• On the third level, Flipner takes your accumulated notes for a specific project—be it a social media update, an article, or academic work—and artfully assembles them into a cohesive piece.

  
  

  It rephrases your notes while maintaining the original intent, presenting your thoughts in a polished and structured format.

  
  

In essence, Flipner AI aims to be more than just a tool; it seeks to be a companion in your creative process, ensuring that your original voice and ideas are not just preserved but showcased in the best possible light.

Third Step: Building a Functional MVP

To create an MVP that was both comprehensive and approachable, I focused on including features that would make the beta version stand out, based on real-world needs and industry insights:

• A user-friendly interface that's available whenever and wherever you need it, ensuring accessibility and ease of use.

• Style management options that accommodate a variety of content requirements, allowing users to tailor their output to different audiences and formats.

• The ability to edit generated text directly within the system, removing the hassle of having to use external tools for modifications.

• Support for multiple languages, opening up the platform for international use and facilitating global content creation.

• An automatic feature that converts voice recordings into text, streamlining the note-taking process and making it more efficient.

  
  

Fourth Step: Launching and Testing the Market

We decided to launch Flipner's first public version on Product Hunt for two main reasons: the platform hosts a significant portion of our target audience, and it offers a chance for initial traction and user feedback. The preparation phase lasted around three months, balancing marketing strategies and technical development simultaneously.

The effort paid off spectacularly when Flipner AI was named the #1 Product of the Day and the #2 Product of the Week on Product Hunt.

Moreover, we gathered over 30 suggestions for new features and improvements from the feedback.

This success served as a strong validation for my initial concept, motivating me to further refine and evolve Flipner. I am committed to continuous development, aiming to revolutionize text creation with AI assistance.

Keep an eye on my progress with #buildinpublic on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn for the latest updates. In the meantime, I invite you to try out Flipner AI for yourself at no cost by following this link!