How Tome built the fastest productivity tool to reach 1M users

Executive overview

PowerPoint was designed for physical slides in the 1980s and hasn't kept pace with digital storytelling. Most stories follow a similar arc — large language models can generate that starting point instantly. Tome's co-founders bet that removing the blank-page problem would unlock a new category of AI-native presentation tools.

The core insight: eliminating the start of a story unlocks exponential growth — removing pain isn't enough; you need something people can love.

Origins and co-founder fit

• Keith (CEO) identified that story structure is predictable enough for LLMs to bootstrap
• Henry had redesigned Facebook Messenger; the two found quick creative chemistry
• Early sessions at Greylock focused on why presentations feel broken, not on a specific product
• They broke out of analysis paralysis by shipping and iterating rather than seeking a perfect spec

Reid Hoffman's network effects principle

• Tome gained Reid Hoffman as a board member through persistent outreach and demonstrated progress
• His key input: build a networked tool, not a single-player experience
• Sharing, collaboration, and bringing others into the creation process create multiple network-effect touch points
• This principle shaped Tome into something that "travels well" virally

Finding product-market fit

• First year feedback: "cool, but not ready for me yet"
• Shift came around July when users began building real pitch decks, not just experimenting
• Quality of feedback rising is a signal that people are using the product for real work
• Exponential growth began in December; doubling every few weeks
• Site went down from sign-up load — a scaling problem born of rapid adoption

The future of AI and knowledge work

• Knowledge workers will shift from creators to directors — evaluating and shaping AI-generated output
• Research and iteration tasks (e.g. five mock-up variants) will be automated quickly
• Fact-oriented tasks are harder: models struggle to distinguish opinion from truth
• Human collaboration at scale — not individual intelligence — is what enables civilisation-level achievements

Strategic positioning

• Staying small deliberately: smaller teams execute with precision and can change direction quickly
• Not building "AI PowerPoint" — Microsoft will connect PowerPoint to OpenAI eventually
• Goal is to reimagine how stories are told in the internet age, not replicate existing tools
• Long-term vision: a multi-generational storytelling company that evolves with technology