I’ve seen a lot of hype cycles in my day. I’ve been a founder twice, with two successful exits. I’ve written over 200 angel checks into companies you’ve probably heard of, like Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. So when I see a new technology explode into the public consciousness, I’ve learned to look for the story that isn’t being told.
Right now, everyone is mesmerized by generative video. OpenAI’s Sora is dropping jaws with its cinematic quality. And Pika Labs is getting a ton of press for its rapid improvements and viral videos. But the public narrative, the one you read on tech news sites, is missing the real story. It’s focused on the spectacle, the magic trick. As a founder and investor, I see something different. I see a platform war brewing, and the winner might not be who you think.
Here’s the insider perspective you won’t find anywhere else: while everyone is watching the videos, nobody is talking about what Pika Labs is doing for developers. And that’s the single most important part of this story.
The API is the Product
I learned a long time ago that the most powerful products aren’t always the ones with the slickest user interface. The most powerful products are the ones that give developers tools to build their own dreams. It’s a lesson I learned firsthand. With my first company, RemoteTeam, we weren’t just building a tool for remote companies; we were building the plumbing for a new way of working. Our API was everything. It allowed other companies to integrate our services, to build on top of our platform. That’s how we got acquired by Gusto. We didn’t just have customers; we had an ecosystem.
This is what I see happening with Pika Labs. While the world is oohing and aahing at the latest AI-generated cat video, Pika has been quietly building a robust, accessible API. This isn’t just a feature; it’s the entire strategy. They’re not just building a toy for creators; they’re building an engine for developers.
Think about it. What can you, as a developer, do with a powerful video generation API?
- Automated Marketing Content: Imagine a real estate app that automatically generates a video walkthrough for every new listing, complete with music and voiceover, just by feeding the API the property photos and description.
- Personalized Education: A language learning app could generate dynamic video scenarios based on a student’s progress and vocabulary needs.
- Dynamic Game Assets: An indie game developer could create an endless variety of in-game assets, characters, and environments on the fly, making their worlds feel more alive and unique.
This is where the real innovation will happen. Not in the Pika Labs web interface, but in the thousands of applications that developers will build on top of it.
Sora is a Walled Garden, Pika is Handing Out Shovels
Let’s talk about Sora. What OpenAI has achieved is technically astounding. The quality and coherence of the videos are on another level. But as of today, Sora is a black box. It’s a beautiful, mysterious, and completely inaccessible walled garden. You can look, but you can’t touch. You certainly can’t build with it.
This is the classic innovator’s dilemma. Do you keep your technology proprietary to maintain a quality advantage, or do you open it up to foster an ecosystem? History shows us time and time again that the open approach wins. Just look at the difference between iOS and Android, or Windows and Linux. The platforms that empower developers are the ones that ultimately capture the market.
Midjourney is another example. For a long time, their primary interface was a Discord bot. It was clever, but it was also a bottleneck. They were slow to release a full-fledged API, and that gave competitors like Stable Diffusion an opening. The lesson is clear: if you don’t give developers the tools they need, they will go somewhere else.
Pika Labs gets this. They’re not trying to be the next Hollywood studio. They’re trying to be the AWS of generative video. They’re building the infrastructure, the picks and shovels for the gold rush. And that’s a much smarter, and ultimately much bigger, business to be in.
The View from the Cap Table
As an investor in this space, I’ve had the privilege of talking to the teams behind these models. When I talk to the Pika team, I hear a different kind of ambition. They’re not just obsessed with photorealism and cinematic quality. They’re obsessed with speed, cost, and developer experience. They understand that for a developer to build a business on their platform, the API needs to be fast, affordable, and easy to use.
I remember a conversation I had with one of the founders. I asked them what their biggest competitive advantage was. They didn’t say it was their model architecture or their training data. They said it was their iteration speed and their focus on the developer community. They’re not just shipping a model; they’re building a movement.
This is what I look for as an investor. I don’t bet on technology; I bet on teams and strategy. And Pika’s strategy of arming the developers is one of the smartest I’ve seen in a long time.
Stop Watching, Start Building
So what does this all mean for you, the founder, the creator, the developer? It means you need to stop being a spectator and start being a builder.
The public is distracted by the shiny objects. They’re debating whether Sora will replace Hollywood. That’s the wrong conversation. The right conversation is about what you can build now that this technology is becoming accessible.
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Niche Content Automation: Pick a niche—local sports highlights, daily stock market summaries, personalized birthday messages—and build a service that generates short-form videos automatically.
- Interactive Storytelling: Create a “choose your own adventure” style game where the story branches are generated as videos in real-time based on user choices.
- AI-Powered Video Editing Tools: Build a plugin for Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro that uses Pika’s API to generate b-roll, transitions, or special effects.
The window of opportunity is wide open, but it won’t be for long. The platforms that win will be the ones that attract the most developers, who in turn will build the most innovative applications. The network effects are powerful.
Don’t get me wrong, the technology is still early. There will be glitches, limitations, and a lot of weird-looking videos. But the trajectory is clear. The next wave of generative media won’t be created by a handful of large, centralized companies. It will be built by a decentralized army of developers and entrepreneurs. Pika Labs is building their armory. It’s time to pick up your tools and start building.
Frequently Asked Questions
What experience informs this perspective?
This perspective comes from over a decade of building companies in Silicon Valley, two successful exits (RemoteTeam to Gusto, MovieLaLa to Gfycat), and investing in 200+ startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Scale AI. I write about what I've lived.
Do all experts agree with this view?
No, and that's fine. The best ideas in business are often contrarian. I share my perspective based on my experience and data, but I encourage you to seek out opposing viewpoints and form your own conclusions.
How can I apply this thinking to my own situation?
Start by identifying the core principle behind the opinion, not the specific example. Then ask yourself: does this principle apply to my context? If yes, test it in a small, low-risk way before going all in.