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Hugging Face CEO Clem Delangue tells the company's story on the Acquired podcast: a teen chatbot startup that pivoted three years in, with about $6 million raised, into the main platform for AI builders. He argues for open source AI and says AI startups need a different playbook from software startups.
We link to the original and never republish it. All credit to Clem Delangue.
Key takeaways
- Delangue says Hugging Face pivoted three years in, with about $6 million raised, after a weekend port of BERT to PyTorch drew unexpected attention. Watch for small signals of demand and be willing to change direction.
- Hugging Face grew by following community feedback: users asked to host bigger models and data sets, and the team built it. Delangue credits this for much of the company's success.
- Delangue says Hugging Face raised a bit more than $500 million over seven years, spent less than half, and is profitable. It runs a permissive freemium model so it can stay open and be around for the long term.
- Delangue's advice for AI startups is to trash the lean startup book. Training and improving a model takes months, not days, so shipping cadence and the playbook differ from software.
- He says having a scientist co-founder is a big plus for an AI company, and notes that most successful AI companies have one.
Who it's for
Founders starting or considering an AI company, and anyone weighing whether to build on open source, who want a view from inside the ecosystem.
Why it's worth your time
The conversation is a snapshot of 2024 AI, but the lessons on pivoting, following your community and choosing a sustainable business model still hold; the predictions are Delangue's own and he says nobody knows yet.
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