After making over $1M from consumer apps, Kevin Natanzon switched to B2B SaaS. Now, his AI product, CreatorKit.com, has a six-figure ARR. And it's all thanks to his custom AI model.
Here's Kevin on how he's doing it. 👇
I've spent 10+ years building startups, from consumer apps used by 15 million people to B2B SaaS.
Back in 2020, we had just come from a few “good years” of creating apps used by millions. We made over $1M with our apps.
But the App Store became too crowded and our main acquisition channel stopped working. We used publishers on Twitter and Instagram, and after both platforms had a big purge, the arbitrage wasn’t working anymore.
This wouldn’t have been an issue if our apps were defensible products that people used on a recurring basis, but they weren't. Our apps could be easily copied. And a lot depended on ASO.Â
At this point, we'd already created many marketing videos using After Effects, spending countless hours rendering and edit, just for 30 second videos. We knew there was a better way.
That’s how we started building the online video platform we wish we had, reinvesting into a new company that would become CreatorKit.com, an AI video platform for creating marketing videos fast.Â
We have the PRO plan and the Business Plan. Each plan gives access to different AI Actors and a greater number of videos you can generate per month. While we don’t share exact revenue numbers, CreatorKit has already grown to six figures in ARR.
We started building the video platform we wish we had, but we got distracted with too many features.
We also made bad product decisions, underestimating the scope. Questions like, “Should we build a timeline?” always had a “Yes” as an answer. Our MVP wasn’t minimal at all.
The lesson is clear: As a startup founder, you can do ANYTHING, but not EVERYTHING.
During all that time of distraction, many video platforms emerged that solved most of the problems we set out to solve. So we pivoted our focus to AI features that most video tools weren't built for. So, once again, we set out to build the AI video platform we wish we had, purpose built for the new era of AI video ads.
We became laser focused on being the best tool to create videos with AI Avatars. And after launching AI Actors, we started growing fast.
We have a standard Node backend and React frontend for the app, but the AI models used for AI actors has a lot of complexity involved.
AI video is at point where it’s still uncanny and fake, especially for videos with talking AI Actors. This is because most use the same underlying lipsync API.Â
We developed our own model for video restoration, forking based on GPFGAN. THAT WAS HARD, but it enabled us become the platform with the most hyperrealistic actors available.
Even hosting that wasn’t trivial, as Sagemaker and other elastic GPUs aren’t quite ready yet. Only my cofounder, Carlos, could’ve built this.
Shipping faster. I believe shipping velocity is a key metric for success.
But the phrase, “Done is better than perfect” only justifies mediocrity.
We said it more than I’d like to admit. But, in reality, we were just justifying shipping a mediocre product.
And in the end, we shipped very slowly because we tried to do too many things at once without focusing on doing one thing really well.
The best way to improve shipping velocity is to be laser focused .
One of the biggest mistakes we made was thinking we needed every growth channel and strategy figured out. In reality, you only need one marketing channel to go from each stage to the next one.
In our case, we started with SEO. The problem with SEO is that it requires getting multiple signals from multiple sources, so you’ll have to do socials too — at least one.
We did TikTok and Instagram, and it did pretty well, reaching over 80k followers on TikTok and 40k on IG. We hired a creator full time to be the face of the channel and organic content went viral often. The problem was that when we stopped working with her, our engagement tanked.
That’s not an issue anymore. Now, you can rely on AI to be the face of the brand, and that’s why I know AI video avatars will be big. Avatars are always be available.
I see many indie hackers selling an idea of work-life balance because it’s super easy to build stuff with AI now.Â
While the latter is true, it’s still hard to build, so prepare to not have any work-life balance.
Jeff Bezos is famous for his quote about having "work-life harmony", yet he divorced his wife and lost 50% of his wealth.
I believe in work-life imbalance, that over a period of time gets to a certain balance. So plan accordingly.
No book, course, class will give you more learnings than putting the reps. Action produces information, and nothing is worse than analysis paralysis.
The best way to learn is to ask for advice to people who are a few steps ahead, but not too many steps ahead.
Also, be mindful to help those who are a few steps behind.
My main goal is to offload more to AI. We’re already halfway through!
You can follow along on X. And check out CreatorKit.
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Kevin’s journey is a perfect example of how focus and adaptability can turn experience into a new kind of leverage.
People seem to be more willing to pay for something if it is for their business. So I think B2B is the way forward for most.
IMO I think it's true, it's easier to get money from those who are using our product to make money
I am at the start of my journey, asking questions and being curious is good advice, I feel stupid sometimes because I am trying to build a product and I feel restricted I am not a coder, I have ideas but I don't know how to bring them to life. Being in this forum without a coding background is daunting.
It was a very useful kit
Your product is incredibly valuable for SMBs like us. It perfectly solves our needs while showing us the way forward.
B2B is the way to go for small teams without VC funding. There are so many niche markets to serve, and you don't need thousands of users to make the thing profitable.
Really enjoyed this read - especially the part about moving from broad consumer utility to deep B2B pain-solving. That transition from “nice to have” to “business critical” is something we’re navigating too. In fact, due to our lack of a marketing team, your service is almost a must-try to boost our product.
We're building an AI-powered workspace (Polite AI) for teams tired of jumping between Notion, ChatGPT, Slack, and Jira. Curious—how did you validate which B2B workflows had the biggest AI leverage before committing?
Thanks for sharing your journey 🙌
Would you pay for an AI that builds a custom-coded portfolio for you (with templates, images, and full layout) in some seconds?
Really loved reading this — so many practical lessons packed in here.
The point about “you can do ANYTHING, but not EVERYTHING” really hits hard. Focus and speed seem to be even bigger advantages now with AI moving so fast.
Also, huge respect for building your own video restoration model — that’s real technical defensibility most platforms don’t have.
Excited to see how CreatorKit evolves with the AI video wave!
Really appreciate this brutally honest breakdown.
The lessons around focus, shipping velocity, and not trying to win every channel resonate a lot — it’s so easy to get spread too thin when building.
Also love the reminder that work-life balance isn’t something you start with, it’s something you eventually earn after long periods of imbalance.
Thanks for sharing real, hard-earned insights — following along!
It’s not easy to walk away from something that’s working on paper. But that long-game instinct- the one that says “this isn’t it”- separates real builders from short-term operators. Glad you listened to it.
Kevin’s story is a masterclass in knowing when to pivot and how to double down on what actually drives value. Moving from consumer apps to B2B AI SaaS isn’t just a shift in business model it’s a mindset shift. Loved the focus on building a truly differentiated product with proprietary AI tech. CreatorKit feels like it's not just catching the wave, but helping shape it. Excited to watch it grow!
This hits hard — especially the part about products collapsing without strong habits behind them.
I’m building something totally different — a voice assistant for people who don’t talk much at all. But it reminded me: even slow, quiet tools need roots and resilience. Thanks for laying that out so clearly.
Continuous and correct practice will lead to better and faster learning
Inspiring
Finding clients for B2B projects is really difficult, too many large enterprises can produce them. I can't get customers directly from them.
While acquiring clients for B2B projects can indeed be challenging especially when competing with larger enterprises the long-term value of securing those relationships shouldn’t be underestimated. Once a client is acquired, the partnership can become highly sustainable and profitable over time.
Thanks for advice ! Really inspiring !
This looks nice but am i the only one who can't see the pricing details here https://creatorkit.com/ai-actors
From $1M in crowded consumer apps to building a defensible B2B AI SaaS, Kevin’s pivot to focus on custom AI paid off.
CreatorKit’s hyperrealistic AI avatars are changing the game.
That's an impressive pivot! Moving from the crowded consumer space to a focused B2B AI SaaS is a bold move and it clearly paid off. CreatorKit’s AI avatars sound like a real game-changer in the content creation and marketing world. Excited to see where it goes next!
Loved reading about your transition. It’s clear you made a strategic move by shifting away from the crowded consumer space to something with more long-term potential. CreatorKit looks like it’s tackling a meaningful problem with a smart AI-driven approach. Excited to see how it evolves!
Really inspiring pivot. It's impressive how you recognized the limits of the consumer app space and leaned into a more scalable B2B model. The AI angle with CreatorKit is super smart—feels like you’re solving a real pain point in a way that's defensible. Curious to see where it goes from here!
I really liked it
Love what I just read! Thanks for the advice. Even your website looks really nice. Would you guys need a creative copywriter though? I'd love to share my expertise and add value to your brand.
Just let me know
Really liked the shift in focus.
It’s interesting how stepping outside the expected , whether it’s product, model, or positioning almost always triggers strong reactions.
Sometimes the market isn’t rejecting the idea, just the unfamiliarity.
Shifting from consumer apps to B2B AI SaaS is a smart long-term play. More stability, higher LTV and better scalability. Excited to see where this founder takes it next!