In the Early Days It Was All Manual — AI Notes Unicorn Reveals Behind-the-Scenes
When “Artificial Intelligence” Was Just… Humans
You might be surprised to learn that the AI application you’re using may have had “artificial” without the “intelligence” — quite literally.
This isn’t satire — it’s a real story. A California-based AI note-taking company recently admitted that, in servicing its early clients, it didn’t use AI at all. Every meeting transcript was typed out manually by the two co-founders.
> After joining the call, we would quietly sit there, take detailed notes, and send them to the client within 10 minutes.
And they didn’t just admit it — they did so with pride.
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Fireflies Today: A Billion-Dollar “AI” Giant
Earlier this summer, top-tier AI note‑taking company Fireflies hit a $1 billion valuation.
It now serves:
- 500,000+ organizations
- 20 million users worldwide
- 75% of Fortune 500 companies
Meeting transcription is its core service — but a recent LinkedIn post from its co‑founder and CTO revealed a surprising origin story.
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The Shocking Admission
Before 2017, the “AI note-taker” customers thought they were using was actually just the founders themselves.
In 2016, after their sixth failed startup (a cryptocurrency food delivery service), they were broke — living on nothing but pizza, scraping by.
Their solution?
- Pretend to be an AI note-taking service.
- Dial into client meetings under the alias “Fred.”
- Take notes manually and send them within 10 minutes.
Because the process didn’t require real-time interaction, manual labor worked — at least for a small pool of early customers.
> We joined over 100 meetings, though we fell asleep many times.
Eventually, after 100+ transcripts, they moved from a cramped pizza‑box‑filled apartment to a $750/month room in San Francisco.
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Critics Call It “Fraud”
The LinkedIn post drew sharp criticism. Many called it deceptive and risky:
> I fail to see how lying could be inspiring.
> One of the most reckless and inconsiderate posts I’ve seen in a while.
Concerns included:
- Severe privacy risks (people overhearing confidential meetings)
- Breach of user trust
- Violation of data handling ethics
An automation engineer warned that the brand’s reputation could suffer irreparable damage.
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The CTO Responds
In defense, the CTO stated:
- Since 2017, all note‑taking has been fully automated.
- Early enterprise customers knew humans were involved.
Despite criticism, some defended the strategy:
- Manual-first approaches can validate demand before investing heavily in tech.
- Helps avoid costly product development missteps.
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From Manual Notes to AI Ecosystem
Despite its unusual start, Fireflies evolved into a world leader in AI meeting assistance.
Core services now include:
- Voice recording & transcription in 100+ languages
- Integration with CRM & task tools for automated workflows
Expanded ecosystem advantages:
- Searchable meeting knowledge base
- 200+ AI apps for sales, customer tracking, and feedback analysis
- Integrations with 60+ enterprise tools
Recent innovation: Talk to Fireflies (via partnership with Perplexity) — enables real‑time web searches by voice during meetings.
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The Profitable Reality
Key facts:
- Fireflies has been profitable since 2023
- Gross margins match top SaaS firms
- No major fundraising since 2021
Irony: In the early days of “artificial intelligence,” removing the “intelligence” may actually have made it easier to make money.
Reference links:
[1] https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7393690382884044800/
[2] https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/24/fireflies-ai-raises-14m-for-its-meeting-transcription-and-automation-service/
[3] https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/fireflies-founder-startup-ai
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Lessons for Startups & Creators
This case underscores the importance of:
- Transparency with users
- Strong data privacy measures
- Validation before heavy investment
Modern platforms like AiToEarn官网 help individual creators and teams build, publish, and monetize real AI-driven content across multiple channels — from Douyin and Bilibili to Instagram and YouTube.
AiToEarn advantages:
- Open-source tools
- Cross-platform publishing
- Analytics & AI model rankings (AI模型排名)
- Scalable, transparent workflows
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Takeaway: Fireflies’ journey — from two founders manually typing notes to a $1 billion AI leader — proves that a manual-first approach can work when validating demand. But it also shows the risks of misrepresenting technology, and why credibility is crucial in AI.
