On January 15, 2025, Jon Noronha, the founder of Gamma, shared the journey of growing their user base from zero to 40 million. Gamma, an AI-powered PPT product, achieved remarkable milestones in 2024, including 150 million generations, 2.5 million sites, and 500 million images. This article revisits Gamma’s entrepreneurial journey and explores the key factors behind its success.
First Step in Entrepreneurship: Choosing the Right Problem
Gamma was established in 2020, focusing on addressing the pain points in the presentation creation process. The team identified that people spent a significant amount of time on layout, neglecting the content itself. Gamma aimed to initiate a paradigm shift, making presentation creation more efficient and focused.
The Biggest Pain Point: Typography
Through user research, the Gamma team discovered that the primary pain point for users was typography. People spent 80% of their time making slides look visually appealing and only 20% focusing on content creation. Gamma sought to resolve this issue with AI technology, allowing users to concentrate more on content creation.
You Are Your Product’s First User
The Gamma team continuously designed prototypes and “ate their own dog food” in the early stages, forcing themselves to use the product even when it was subpar, and gathered feedback. This approach enabled them to intuitively grasp the product’s shortcomings and make continuous improvements.
Gaining the First Batch of Users Through TechCrunch
In 2021, Gamma acquired its first batch of users by publishing an article on TechCrunch. They established a waiting list and introduced new users weekly for testing. By collecting user feedback, the Gamma team kept refining the product.
Product Hunt Success: 30x User Growth
In August 2022, Gamma launched on Product Hunt and was named the best product of the day, week, and month. This achievement brought a surge of users and positive feedback. However, growth eventually flattened, and the team faced financial constraints.
Stalled Growth, Funding Challenges
After the Product Hunt launch, Gamma still hadn’t achieved profitability or found a viable business model. The funding market turned harsh, putting the team’s survival at risk.
Three-Month Countdown: Succeed or Perish
In early 2023, AI began to emerge as a significant trend. The Gamma team decided to go all-in on artificial intelligence, embarking on a bold gamble. They conducted a massive feature development sprint and produced a launch video. However, the first day after the launch was less than ideal.
Virality Due to Paul Graham’s Retweet
Days later, Gamma’s tweet went viral when Paul Graham retweeted it, sparking discussions across the tech industry. This brought them more attention and led to increased viral spread within the product itself.
Regret for Not Starting to Charge Sooner
As the user base grew, the Gamma team started to see profits, and the results were better than they had imagined. People were willing to pay more for AI than for conventional software.
Focus, Embrace Luck, and Stick to Your Vision
Jon Noronha summarized Gamma’s success formula:
– Focus on your strengths
– Leverage your luck
– Believe in your initial vision, and accept failure if the outcome is not as expected
Gamma’s story is a classic case of evolving from “nothing” to “danger zone” and then to “exponential growth.” Their experiences offer valuable lessons for other entrepreneurs.
