Stories are powerful. So now that my new company, OpenWater has opened to the public, and my next career chapter begins, I want to share a story with you.
This is the story of AI.Reverie, my previous startup. AI.Reverie’s story has a happy ending, but more importantly, it helped me understand what modern businesses need.
I met Daeil Kim at The New York Times. He was, and is, hands down one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met. Daeil was (and is) a lot younger than I am and our difference in age showed. Filled with optimism and armed with a background in artificial intelligence, Daeil was bursting with ideas – groundbreaking solutions to problems. Too many too count.
By the time I met Daeil, I was already in my fifties, had already been around the block a few times, and on the back half of a successful career that included launching and running numerous startups. I saw a spark in Daeil and a brilliance, but more than that, I saw a symbiotic relationship.
Daeil had an idea for a new company built around synthetic data, an emerging concept borne out of his work in AI. Daeil was an innovator – but what he, and the business we launched together, needed was an editor. What he needed was me.
With my decades of experience, I knew what investors wanted to see. I knew what going to market required. And I knew how to run a company in such a way that led to an exit. In other words, I knew what we needed to edit out to stay on track as a business.
As an innovator, Daeil continued to generate tons of new ideas. As the editor, I helped identify and prioritize those ideas. Some ideas pushed the business forward, so we kept them. Others, while good, were distractions and needed to be delayed or excised altogether.
Daeil and I each knew our strengths and roles, so our collaboration came easy (despite the occasional disagreement). I had no interest in being the innovator, and loved that I could turn that part of my business brain over to Daeil. Daeil felt free to innovate and knew that my edits were in the best interest of the business and everyone succeeding.
In the end, this relationship allowed us to raise venture funding, build out a successful business and eventually have our happy ending with an acquisition by Meta.
But this isn’t just a story about me, or Daeil or AI.Reverie.
It’s the story that led me to launch OpenWater. We are building a community and a platform of accomplished professionals with decades of experience. Our members also have a ton of market and institutional wisdom. We are all editors of the highest order.
The world needs younger innovators who dream up wild ideas. But it also needs seasoned editors who have the experience to know what’s been done and what works. It’s like the saying goes “to the beginner there are infinite possibilities, to the expert there are but a few.”
Whether you are seasoned or just starting out, and no matter what business you’re in, you need a balance of innovators and editors.
You probably have a ton of innovators at your company. OpenWater can provide the editors. And together, we can all succeed.
-Paul
Paul Walborsky is the Co-Founder and CEO of OpenWater. Prior to this, he was Co-Founder of AI.Reverie, which was acquired by Meta, and he served as SVP at The New York Times, leading its global digital expansion. Paul is also an MEA alum.