Wondercraft as it looks today is the result of a cold DM.
I was looking to start something new after leaving Acast, and was working on a business case. Dimitris and Youssef had already started work on Wondercraft and Dimitris DM-ed me out of the blue saying “we’re a couple of engineers who’ve built something cool, would love for you to take a look.”
Their MVP blew me away and our jam sessions quickly morphed into a grand ambition we couldn’t turn away from.
We joined forces and today we’re rolling out Wondercraft: the first Audio Studio for Creators.
Tell me about the business – what it is, what it aims to achieve, who you work with, how you reach customers and so on?
Wondercraft lets you craft audio for all your projects — podcasts, audiobooks, ads, meditations, keynote narrations, company communications, you name it — and effortlessly translate your content for a global audience, all in one place.
We’re an AI audio platform which enables anyone to create quality audio productions without the need for mics and mixing equipment.
Our platform features ready-made templates, an AI script assistant, professional music, video generation and AI synthetic voices, as well as a translation tool.
Our aim is to democratise audio, just like Canva has done for design and Substack for writing.
Our customers are creators, who can use the platform for free or access more features via a monthly subscription; and enterprise clients like podcasting platforms and big, global media publishers. Existing customers include Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast, Ali Abdaal, Coindesk, The School of Greatness and many more.
In 2024 we are starting to onboard our bigger enterprise customers.
How has the business evolved since its launch?
The first version of Wondercraft was launched in May 2023 by Dimitris and Youssef. This product helped people create a podcast from scratch and showcased the fantastic engineering foundations we built on for version 2 which launched on Monday (29th January).
The MVP took off and the daily Hacker News Recap podcast the team created went viral and is still very much appreciated.
We were thrilled to see it pop up on a lot of peoples’ “most listened to” lists on Spotify Wrapped last year.
Tell us about the working culture at Wondercraft
As a former COO for a 500 person company, I am a firm believer that simplicity is key for a great culture. Simplicity means clarity in communication and more work time than meeting time; and this should also translate across to your product, which should be simple to work with.
As founders, we sat down at the beginning of starting Wondercraft and had a long conversation about the kind of culture we wanted to build. Based on that discussion, our culture today is built on accountability, trust, ambition and boundless human creativity. We’re passionate about spending our time and attention wisely on what matters most, and about creating a culture of accountability and trust in the team. But we also want to nurture creativity and empower diverse and original ideas, both in our team but also our users and creators. Our curiosity to solve problems brings out the resourcefulness we need to make things happen. We also feel passionately that whether we are externally presenting a product or designing an engineering solution internally, clarity is the ultimate currency and simplicity the ideal outcome.
How are you funded?
We’re VC backed. We’ve just raised a $3M seed in a round led by Will Ventures and backed by Y Combinator, ElevenLabs, Steven Bartlett and other Angels.
What has been your biggest challenge so far and how have you overcome this?
Once we decided on our shared vision for the company and the product, the challenge was getting all the work streams moving towards our launch date. Not only did we build a new and far more technically advanced platform for our recent launch, but we also developed a new brand platform and design. I’m incredibly proud of our team for pulling this off.
How does Wondercraft answer an unmet need?
The audio market is growing rapidly in all directions. But currently, it’s extremely expensive to produce quality audio content like podcasts and adverts. You have to book a studio, get a good mic, use mixing software and learn how to edit. Wondercraft can significantly cut these costs, enabling creators to make audio a viable part of their toolkit.
Our solutions span the needs of a few markets within a wider creator economy which is forecasted to be worth half a trillion by 2027.
What’s in store for the future?
We are on a mission to empower the world to create and voice ideas. That means making audio as fun and gratifying to work with as visual design. We are super proud and excited about the first step we’ve taken with this launch, but we’re even more excited to be at the forefront of AI technology and the leader in this space. We’ve got lots of exciting plans for the future.
What one piece of advice would you give other founders or future founders?
There’s a lot of great advice out there for founders about having a clear vision, focusing on the customer, embracing failure and so on. But I think being a great founder or company leader comes down to mindset and psychology. Having a growth mindset and keeping your mentality in a healthy space is everything. Without that, you are hanging on by a thread. That could mean different things for different people, so you need to find the thing that keeps you grounded and mentally fit.
And finally, a more personal question! What’s your daily routine and the rules you’re living by at the moment?
I’m not sure who I got this from but I live by the motto: good emotions come from motion, but I start my morning by sitting for 30 minutes and counting my breath. I usually fail and start brainstorming, but the practice is to really not judge yourself for what your brain comes up with. I do this before my kids wake up. Then I make them breakfast and lunch and walk them to school which is my favorite part of the day. Then I’m ready to do anything.
Oskar Serrander is the cofounder of Wondercraft.