$18B AI CEO: How to Build a Million-Dollar Business in the Age of AI — Silicon Valley Girl Podcast
About the Guest
Andrey Khusid
CEO and Co-Founder, Miro
Andrey Khusid is the CEO and Co-Founder of Miro, the collaborative visual workspace platform valued at $18 billion. He co-founded the company in Russia before relocating it to San Francisco, growing it into one of the most widely used collaboration tools for product and engineering teams worldwide. Khusid is known for his focus on product-led growth, long-term brand building, and a philosophy of iterative experimentation over rigid strategic planning.
In this episode of the Silicon Valley Girl Podcast, Marina Mogilko interviews Andrey Khusid, CEO and Co-Founder, Miro. Andrey Khusid, CEO of Miro, joins Marina Mogilko to discuss how he scaled Miro to an $18 billion valuation and 100 million users. He shares counterintuitive lessons on why long-term planning can hurt startups, why AI alone won't fix a flawed product, and what qualities matter most in founders. The conversation also covers vertical AI opportunities, experimentation over rigid vision, and the role of trust in building a lasting brand.
Key Takeaways
- Miro reached 100 million users in 18 months by focusing on what makes the product genuinely different rather than copying conventional growth playbooks.
- Long-term 12-month planning can kill startups — Khusid advocates for a three-year vision reset combined with short, iterative experimentation cycles instead.
- AI won't save a bad product; founders must first build something users truly love before layering AI capabilities on top.
- Trust is the new competitive currency — Khusid distinguishes between a name, a brand, and a 'lovemark,' arguing that emotional trust is what drives durable user retention.
- Vertical AI is poised to explode, offering founders the biggest near-term opportunity by applying AI deeply to specific industries rather than building broad horizontal tools.
Transcript not available for this episode.