Codex

The Untold Story of Higgsfield | Burning $4M a Month on AI Models | CEO, Alex Mashrabov

Sep 28, 2026 · 1:15:43

Alex Mashrabov, CEO of Higgsfield, tells Harry Stebbings his AI video company crossed $1BN in annualized revenue 18 months after hitting $1M, third-fastest behind OpenAI and Anthropic. He recounts burning $10M of a $16M seed before a camera-control pivot brought instant product-market fit, no paid marketing, and one customer growing from $99 a month to $6M a year. He argues Google and OpenAI will destroy $20 prosumer subscriptions, that proprietary models were a mistake — open weights earn 80%+ margins versus 20–30% closed — and that internal model spend tops $4M a month. He also covers engineers moving from Claude to Codex, moats as only outcomes and network effects, selling AI Factory to Snap for $166M, and his bet on $10BN revenue and $100BN+ scale.

Town vs Instinct vs GrokBot | Why the AI Assistant Market Is Not a Bubble

Sep 7, 2026 · 1:16:01

Jean-Denis Grèze, Co-Founder and CEO of Town, joins 20VC's Harry Stebbings to argue the AI assistant market is not a bubble and that Town can survive Google, Apple and OpenAI. He explains Town's pivot from AI tax prep to an assistant living in email and calendar, arguing the winning product will have agent-level network effects. Grèze says startups are subsidizing frontier model costs today, pricing for 20–30% margins in 18 months as prices halve every 9–12 months. He predicts people will trust agents to decide what data to share within five years, calls token maxing the wrong metric, and says Apple could lose because it lacks cloud DNA and is tied to on-device privacy. He also refuses to inflate announced round valuations, calling the practice unethical toward employees.

Only 10% of Neo-labs Will Survive | Factory CTO, Eno Reyes

Aug 29, 2026 · 1:29:23

Eno Reyes, Factory CTO, says the cheapest AI model isn't the cheapest system: outcome-based pricing can make frontier models cheaper, and predicts 99% of workflows will run on open models in three years but the remaining 1% holds most economic value. He calls 'Chinese models' a psyop by frontier labs, says frontier valuations are overweighted, sees Anthropic's $2 trillion Claude Code bet as risky due to model lock-in, and credits Microsoft with the best AI hand. Reyes says model routing is commoditized, warns 80-90% of neo labs could die in 18 months unless tied to durable workflows, and insists enterprises must own their intelligence rather than let labs control it. He rejects pedigree in hiring, wants token budgets funding outcomes, and expects SaaS to sell before cannibalization.