Shader

This is probably the hardest post I’ve ever had to write. Shader has been my heart and soul for the past 2.5 years. We built both iOS and web versions, brought in nearly 100,000 creators, and had some truly amazing collaborations. Unfortunately, we can’t continue working on Shader full-time. I’ll do my best to keep the servers running for a few more weeks. Writing those words feels surreal. This journey has been life-changing in ways I didn’t expect. I risked everything — nearly all my savings — because I believed so deeply in this vision. We bootstrapped for six months, raised funding, and went full-time. We kept pushing, launching multiple versions, improving, and iterating. But one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is how quickly momentum can slip away when critical decisions aren’t made fast enough. Building a strong core team is key. I’ve spoken with other founders and investors, and one thing sticks with me: the real heartbreak isn’t in failing. It’s spending years making just enough progress to survive without ever fully reaching the dreams you set out to achieve — especially if you've already raised venture funding. I felt that deeply in the last stretch of this journey. But there’s so much I’m proud of. Shader wasn’t just a product; it became a part of people’s creative lives. I still hear from people in San Francisco who remember the quality of what we built, the cool design, and how ahead of its time Shader was in real-time creation. That means the world to me. I believe in Shader’s mission more than ever. I know it can live on through others, especially as AI continues to shape creative tools. For now, I plan to collaborate with other founders and learn from this experience. I can’t wait to build new and exciting products together! One day, I hope to get another chance to create something truly special as a founder. Until then, I just want to say thank you — to every person who believed in me, used Shader, shared their ideas and feedback, and supported us through all the highs and lows.

Real-time is the time ?? Does anyone in my network know folks from this team who are working on real-time at OpenAI? We (Shader and I) need to chat!

Here’s a growth life hack that took us from 5 search downloads ?? a day to over 700 in just a few weeks ?? This is a real case from summer 2024. How can you do this as a founder with a small team? Here's the process we followed: 1) Create a mood board in Figma ~ - Gather 10–20 app icons and descriptions from your competitors or apps in your area. - Collect details like app names, short descriptions, categories, colors, and design styles. - Analyze these trends and patterns to identify commonalities or opportunities for differentiation. 2) Design 15+ Variations of Your App Icon ~ - Focus on making your designs stand out. - Use contrasting colors (e.g., if most competitors use black, try white; if they use blue, try yellow). - Experiment with unique text styles, layouts, and graphic elements. 3) Brainstorm as a Team ~ - Get everyone involved — engineers, marketers, designers, and even customers! - Post in your community Discord or Slack channels for feedback. - Hold a brainstorming session to generate fresh, unconventional ideas. 4) Prepare for User Testing ~ - Create about 20 prototypes styled like App Store pages (scrollable in Figma). - Each prototype should display 10 app icons: five from competitors and five of your designs. 5) Test with friends, active customers, family, etc ~ - Show these prototypes to 50 people—friends, customers, team members (mini video call) - Keep the calls short (under 2 minutes) and describe your product story. For example: “Imagine you need an app to create fun social media content” or “You’re looking for an app to generate AR videos or avatars.” 6) Analyze Feedback and Choose the Top 3 Designs ~ - Based on user input, pick the top 3 most eye-catching and memorable icons. It’s amazing how quickly patterns emerge! 7) Run an App Store A/B Test ~ - Use the 3 winners in an A/B test campaign on the App Store for at least 2 weeks. - Show these variations to 75% of your target audience. 8) Crown the Winner ?? - Once you’ve found the top-performing icon, update it! Afterward, move on to optimizing your screenshots. I’ll share tips on that next ?? Let me know if you’ve tried this or if you have any other fun hacks to share! P.S. After 2 years of building my own B2C mobile app, two years at Snap, consulting for social startups, and three years as part of the founding team of another social startup... I decided it’s time to share some fresh ideas and fun growth hacks. Plus, I’d love to hear your recommendations too — we need more cool growth ideas!

?? Learn about "Speak to Create: AI Image Generation with Voice Commands" from Darya Sesitskaya, Co-Founder & CEO at Shader. ??? Full replay available in the comments! ?? What do you think about this innovative approach? #AI #ImageGeneration #VoiceCommands ????

Thank you to everyone who tested Shader Playground Web over the last 3 months! Unfortunately, the product will remain in Beta for now and won’t be available to everyone.

Thank you, Mercury team, for highlighting Shader on the startup digest ??

Dreaming of a magical interface for video calls and game streams with your friends and community? Check out the latest tech updates for the Shader AI camera. We’re all about speed and consistency when it comes to our AI character results: https://lnkd.in/g3BrtwRa

End of summer... or the start of the busiest ???? days in San Francisco! Had a fun at pitch night at the Immigrant Founders event at Microsoft yesterday ?? Link with Shader new product updates ~ https://lnkd.in/gSyVSDFy

Creating real-time effects and filters from 2D images and text ????

Shader?creates real-time creative experiences that personalize a brand's IP for their customers ?? With Shader, it's possible to bring any movie, game, or music characters into real-time for video calls or live streams in just a couple of minutes!