In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, our hosts, Andrew Romeo and Anthony Sapountzis are joined by the guest JP Tucker, founder of Copydash.ai, who discusses his journey in the e-commerce space. He talks about how a need within his business led to the creation of Copydash.ai, a platform that helps businesses and brands create content 100x faster than other platforms and reduce project costs by up to 80%.
JP talks about his background at Dell Computer and his experience in various pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, and grocery industries. He launched a startup called Hello Drinks in 2016, which grew to become a successful liquor business. However, managing content for a large inventory of 3000 products became a significant challenge. Outsourcing content creation was expensive and time-consuming, leading JP to explore AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... tools. He built an internal tool to rewrite product descriptions and achieved impressive results in search engine rankings. This success prompted him to consider bringing the tool to market. This led to the developing of the content creation tool—Copydash.ai.
JP highlights the challenges startups and businesses face in managing content and engaging with marketing managers. He talks about how they initially canvassed 60 to 70 individuals and found that many had not heard of their product. However, they continued to develop their prototype, making it more user-friendly. After three months, they revisited the same people and found a significant shift in perception. JP shares the setbacks faced during the development process but eventually found a dedicated team with expertise in machine learning to help bring the tool to its current state.
Going back to his experience of working in Dell’s manufacturing facility in Limerick, Ireland, JP highlights his role in management and the importance of process improvement and optimization in lean manufacturing. He talks about a project involving headcount reduction, explaining the need for clear messaging and empowering teams throughout the process. JP emphasizes the significance of empowering teams to foster a stronger brand, increased output, and the potential for developing new roles within the organization.
The three then talk about the misconception surrounding upskilling and the role of technology in the workplace. While there are concerns about technology replacing jobs, it still requires human assistance and collaboration. They highlight how technology, like their AI-powered assistant, empowers individuals by speeding up processes and facilitating learning on the job. JP also mentions his non-tech background but acknowledges the importance of having someone with technical expertise to maintain control in the tech-driven world.
JP then shares his experience working with development teams and managing product feeds in the pharmacy industry. He discusses the challenges faced while building his first startup, Hello Drinks, on the Shopify platform and the importance of optimizing app usage for improved performance. JP advises contacting app developers to customize solutions and optimize store functionality. He also highlights the significance of effective communication with developers, encouraging open dialogue and sharing of ideas to avoid misinterpretations and additional costs.
JP discusses the importance of effective communication and engagement in remote work settings. He shares an example of his experience with a UI/UX developer who required constant task assignments rather than taking initiative. JP emphasizes the need for engaged and communicative team members, even in remote work environments, and highlights the significance of receiving feedback and maintaining a sense of connection. He acknowledges that while remote work may not work for everyone, it is essential to adapt, learn, and pivot as necessary.
Furthering talks about taking Copydash.ai to market, he addresses the question of differentiation from competitors like Chat GPT and the need to pivot approach after encountering challenges. JP emphasizes that copydash.ai targets medium to large businesses and agencies requiring bulk content generation. He emphasizes the recent launch of bulk GP tools, enabling businesses to optimize their product feeds and quickly generate 500 product descriptions simultaneously for improved rankings.
JP then reveals his plans for the future development of the platform. He is fundraising and exploring opportunities to integrate Copydash.ai into popular platforms like Shopify and WordPress. The current functionality includes generating downloadable Excel sheets of content that can be easily uploaded to Shopify feeds. JP mentions expanding the platform’s capabilities to include blog and article generation, category, and front-page content.
When asked how he forms teams, JP highlights the significance of trust and how it has helped solve their most significant problem in going to market. He explains that the challenge was educating people about their product and gaining awareness. However, the emergence of Chat GPT has opened up conversations and opportunities by providing a platform for direct engagement with people who may not be familiar with their product, allowing for more efficient communication.
He then discusses his plans to bring potential co-founders to accelerate development and expand their team. He talks about integrating their chatbot into the platform to provide users with instant solutions and keep them engaged. JP also mentions their efforts to reach out to larger e-commerce brands in Australia, showcasing their product and generating interest. He expresses gratitude for finding skilled developers before Chat GPT became popular and emphasizes the importance of local talent and minimizing turnover.
JP ends by discussing the challenges of managing a team and aligning different personalities. He emphasizes the importance of values and conducting tests to gauge team members’ commitment and responsiveness. JP shares his experience dealing with high-turnover teams and the need for effective communication and respectful collaboration among developers from different areas. He highlights the goal of bringing all team members together on the same page to foster a cohesive and productive working environment.
Topics Covered
- The inspiration behind creating copydash.ai
- Challenges faced in the e-commerce space and the need for compelling content generation
- The role of AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... in content creation and its impact on businesses
- Differentiating copydash.ai from other content generation platforms
- Strategies for optimizing product feeds and improving rankings
- The importance of trust and building credibility in the market
- Integration of copydash.ai with popular platforms like Shopify and WordPress
- Expansion plans and reaching out to larger e-commerce brands
- The value of local talent and minimizing turnover in tech teams
- Managing team dynamics
Key Quotes (Time Stamps)
- “AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... is a hot topic at the moment, and where copydash.ai came out of was more our own problems in the e-com space; with the first start-up that we launched in 2016.” (0:47 – 0:59)
- “And believe me, SEO for 12 products out of storage is a lot easier than doing it for 3000 products.” (2:31 – 2:38)
- “When you’re speaking to our founders and business owners, it’s one of those headaches that you just leave it. It’s too big of a problem to fix. You end up spending money with Google, with Facebook, and you never get around to updating content. It just couldn’t be asked. It’s going to take me a year to do it. So, it was always one of those dreamy ideas that if only I could take content on Dan Murphy’s or Amazon and re-jumble it and rewrite it in my own words. Wouldn’t that be great?” (2:45 – 3:22)
- “So, we set about building our own for internal use—no idea or no vision to go to market with it at this stage. And, it kind of started with writing a couple of product descriptions and this thing is powerful. It seems to know a lot of stuff. It knows more than we know about our brands. So, what if we could rewrite all 3000 product descriptions? So, we set about doing this, and it was a strategy later on. But initially, we went away and put 1 million words by refreshing content in the Hello Drinks.” (4:13 – 4:50)
- “Again, bootstrapped budget, and we were able to move the needle across a number of brands and topics from an early playing our own with this tool. And so yeah, it’s just got us thinking, are we missing a trick here? Do we need to go to market with this and forget about the liquor business?” (6:10 – 6:30)
- “What’s big in AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... at the moment is headcount, jobs, and scaring people.” (10:42 – 10:48)
- “AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... is about empowering teams. If you are empowering your teams, they are going to become stronger, your brand becomes stronger, and so does your output, and you may develop new roles within AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... as well.” (11:39 – 11:54)
- “The biggest Shopify tip I can give to anyone is if an app isn’t doing what you want it to do but it is 80% on the way, talk to the app developers, write to them, they’ll, more often than not, customize it for you and they won’t charge you. It will be a little tweak on their side, and it will make a big difference to your store and what you are trying to achieve.” (14:23 – 14:45)
- “I think you can find good developers anywhere in the world. I think it is possible. It’s just finding people that are going to add value across the stack or across the thinking and engage with you. If you can find that relationship, doesn’t matter where it is—that’s a good relationship. Because you want people that are going to help. Especially coming from a non-technical background, people that can help you, are able to simplify what you are doing, or we could do XYZ to speed up whatever it might be—that’s the support that most people need.” (17:08 – 17:35)
- “Sometimes the panic button is, we are dead and buried. Let’s close it up. But generally, I walk to the coffee shop and get thinking—where exactly are we at, what’s in front of us, what is our point of difference, and what could potentially be our point of difference? And for us, it’s medium to large business, it’s agencies that are generating content in bulk. We have recently launched some bulk GPT tools. So, for someone to have 3000 products like we had, they don’t have to sit on a sofa and do it one by one. They can basically click on a button and write 500 product descriptions in one hiss that are SEO optimized, that can input into their product feeds, and it will stack and rank it pretty quickly for them. (20:32 – 21:24)
Social Media Clips (Time Stamps)
- Journey from a liquor business to an AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... startup (0:37 – 6:30)
- Challenges in content creation and the ultimate power of user feedback (5:49 – 8:35)
- Empowering teams for success (9:20 – 11:59)
- AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... as an empowering assistant (12:00 – 12:37)
- Navigating development challenges and the value of communication (12:38 – 16:58)
- Building engagement in virtual teams (17:04 – 19:33)
- How is copydash.ai different from Chat GPT? (19:35 – 21:24)
- Expanding platform integration (21:30 – 22:33)
- Overcoming the awareness barriers (23:24 – 24:13)
- What the future looks like for copydash.ai (24:23 – 27:03)
- Team dynamics and the power of values (27:16 – 28:51)
