6 Critical Go-to-Market Lessons from Building an AI Company Before the Boom

When Hikari Senju started Omneky in 2018, generative AI was still considered speculative technology. In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, he shared crucial insights about building and scaling during periods of market skepticism. Here are the key go-to-market lessons from Omneky’s journey:

1. Build for Sustainability First, Scale Second

Unlike many AI startups that prioritized growth over revenue, Omneky took a different approach. “We had structured the company in a way where it was profitable and had good mortgages and good cash flow from very beginning,” Hikari explains. This early focus on sustainability created the runway needed to pursue their larger vision without constant fundraising pressure.

The lesson? When building in emerging technology spaces, establishing a sustainable business model early provides the freedom to pursue long-term innovation.

2. Message Consistency Trumps Market Trends

Rather than pivoting their messaging with every market shift, Omneky maintained unwavering focus on their vision. As Hikari notes, “Just consistently communicating to the market that we are the leading generative AI company for advertisers year over year. Not really deviating from that message has helped.”

This consistency paid off when market sentiment shifted: “The market started to understand the messaging and the value problems we’ve been communicating consistently for the past several couple years.”

3. Build Technical Moats Through Infrastructure

Instead of trying to differentiate purely through AI capabilities, Omneky focused on building valuable technical infrastructure. “Building data integrations with all these different ad networks and platforms take time. Not anybody can get access to these ad networks,” Hikari shares. This approach created barriers to entry that wouldn’t be easily replicated, even as AI technology became more accessible.

4. Evolution Over Revolution in Product Development

Rather than waiting for perfect technology, Omneky evolved their product alongside advancing AI capabilities. “Initially when we launched the product, it was just GPT-1 and stock images,” Hikari recalls. “Then it began with GPT-2, GPT-3, GPT-4, and then regarding the image generation with stock images, then it was Dolly, and now it’s our fine-tuned kind of stable diffusion based models.”

This iterative approach allowed them to build customer relationships and gather feedback while continuously improving their technical capabilities.

5. Target Initial Markets Based on Innovation Appetite

Omneky’s go-to-market strategy acknowledged the reality of selling emerging technology. “The vast majority of my customers today are SMB. We’re breaking into the enterprise and mid market,” Hikari explains. “I think the classic kind of innovators dilemma where you kind of come into the market with an inferior product at a cheaper price and then as the technology improves, you kind of displace the incumbents.”

6. Use Intrinsic Motivation as Strategic Advantage

During periods of market skepticism, personal conviction became a strategic advantage. As Hikari shares, “I’m like a massive nerd for the technology, and so I actually didn’t really care if the market didn’t begin because I was just having so much fun learning about the technology. For me, it’s a dream job, whether I’m being paid or not.”

This deep interest in the technology helped maintain focus and motivation through challenging periods, while also informing product development decisions.

These lessons highlight a crucial truth about building in emerging technology markets: success often requires balancing visionary thinking with practical business fundamentals. As Hikari concludes, “What these generative models enable and empower is that kind of leverage for brilliant visionaries. They don’t need necessarily to raise tons of venture to get their products out, to get their products built.”

For founders building in frontier technologies today, Omneky’s journey offers a blueprint for maintaining conviction while building sustainable businesses. The key is creating enough stability to survive until market validation arrives, while continuously improving your product and maintaining consistent messaging about your vision.