OpenAI’s Triple Threat: ChatGPT Apps, AgentKit, and Sora
In the span of two weeks, OpenAI launched an app platform with 800 million users, released Agent Kit with visual workflows and custom widgets, and dropped Sora—a social video app that instantly became the #1 and #2 app in the App Store. If you've been following our predictions about the next great distribution shift, this is the moment we've been waiting for. The "open" phase has officially begun.
In this episode, Brian Balfour (Founder and CEO of Reforge) is joined by Ravi Mehta (former CPO at Tinder, product leader at Meta and TripAdvisor) and Adam Fishman (former Interim VP Product at Mozilla, previously at Patreon and Lyft) to break down what these launches really mean for product leaders. We discuss why this could be the "uh-oh moment" for Google and Apple, how OpenAI is using memory and context to build their moat, and the specific tactical steps you should be taking right now—before your competitors do.
We also dive deep on Sora's surprising product design, why it feels more like Snapchat than TikTok, the dopamine mechanics of AI-generated content, and whether Meta is about to "Stories-ify" the whole thing.
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Key Topics:
Why ChatGPT's app platform threatens Google Search and the iPhone home screen
The distribution shift playbook and what Phase One means for startups vs. incumbents
How to get early access and build on OpenAI's platform before it's too late
Sora's design choices, creator-product fit, and the unsustainable economics of AI video
Why there's no opting out of this wave—and how to catch it
This is the strategically most intense environment we've ever seen. Don't miss this one.
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Credit Anxiety: When Nobody Knows What AI Really Costs
What happens when the entire software industry gets repriced on the cost basis of AI? When AI procurement agents are pitting your product against five competitors in real-time speed trials? And when every project management tool builds the exact same agent platform?
Welcome to Unsolicited Feedback, where we dig into the messy realities of building in the age of AI. Brian Balfour (Founder and CEO of Reforge) and Aaron White (Founder of Appy.ai, Former CTO at Vendr) are in the thick of building AI tools and their companies for the AI era.
In this episode, they pull back the curtain on a massive shift happening right now: The entire industry is scrambling to shift from "all you can eat subscription" pricing to credit-based models that few consumers understand and the secondary effects.
Brian and Aaron also tackle the launch of Notion’s Agent platform and how it feels like every project management tool from Jira to Glean to Notion to Monday has the exact same strategy.
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Decoding Atlassian's $610M Acquisition Of The Browser Company
Tech Twitter absolutely lost its mind this past week when Atlassian dropped $610 million in cold, hard cash to buy The Browser Company. And honestly? The memes were spectacular. While everyone was busy dunking on the deal, Brian and Fareed reverse-engineer the product thinking behind the deal.
In this episode, we're breaking down two acquisitions that were not on our bingo cards. First up: Why Atlassian suddenly decided browsers are the future of enterprise software. Second, we dig into OpenAI's acquisition of Statsig.
These two deals were the complete opposite of each other, which makes them interesting to compare.Grab your coffee, hit play, and let's turn these insights into your unfair advantage.
Product team? Check out our AI-native tools here:Reforge Insights: https://reforge.com/insightsReforge Research: https://reforge.com/researchReforge Build: https://reforge.com/build
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GPT-5 After the Hype: Strategy, Monetization & the Next Billion Users
It’s been weeks since GPT-5 launched—which is basically a decade in AI time. The hype fog has finally lifted, and that’s the perfect moment to ask: what really changed, what actually matters, what were the actual product strategy decision?
In this episode, Brian Balfour and Fareed Mosavat dig into why OpenAI went all-in on a “one model to rule them all” consumer strategy, the quiet product moves aimed at the next billion users, and the weird tension between how they marketed GPT-5 and what the product strategy actually says.
We also go straight to the money: the “gym-membership” economics of AI, why flat pricing turns into a house of cards, and how usage-based, hybrid, and outcome-based models actually shake out when cost to serve is variable and compute doesn’t magically 10× cheaper.
If you want clear takeaways on strategy, distribution, and monetization, keep listening as we are about to dive in.
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GPT-5 After the Hype: Strategy, Monetization & the Next Billion Users
It’s been weeks since GPT-5 launched—which is basically a decade in AI time. The hype fog has finally lifted, and that’s the perfect moment to ask: what really changed, what actually matters, what were the actual product strategy decision?
In this episode, Brian Balfour and Fareed Mosavat dig into why OpenAI went all-in on a “one model to rule them all” consumer strategy, the quiet product moves aimed at the next billion users, and the weird tension between how they marketed GPT-5 and what the product strategy actually says.
We also go straight to the money: the “gym-membership” economics of AI, why flat pricing turns into a house of cards, and how usage-based, hybrid, and outcome-based models actually shake out when cost to serve is variable and compute doesn’t magically 10× cheaper.
If you want clear takeaways on strategy, distribution, and monetization, keep listening as we are about to dive in.
Tired of interview podcasts? Us too. That's why we created Unsolicited Feedback - the podcast that should have come out 5 years ago, but we're making it anyway. In this podcast, Brian Balfour (Reforge, HubSpot), Fareed Mosavat (Reforge, Slack) and friends provide unfiltered feedback on the products they actually use, along with key product lessons.
Essentially, we're taking the conversations that happen between experts at invite-only happy-hours and delivering them to the podcast platform of your choice.
Although no one asked for their opinions, they're sharing them. It's like eating Goodles when you want Kraft Mac n Cheese, or Olipop when you want Pepsi - it feels wrong, yet so right.
Each week, they analyze recent announcements, features, and releases across product and growth. The hosts make predictions about where Threads and Twitter will be in a year, and analyze unparalleled growth loops at LinkedIn. They give respect where it's due, but also deliver tear-downs when the writing’s on the wall. Sorry, not sorry!
Brasil