Jackson Barnes LogoJackson Barnes
AIVideo.com (YC24): Direct Reality

AIVideo.com (YC24): Direct Reality

aiuiuxBy Jackson Barnes

Helped scale AIVideo.com (YC ’24) from ≈ $10 K MRR to $100 K+ (>$1 M ARR) in five months through AI-native product engineering, rapid-growth teamwork, the Pixyl design system, and a full rebrand.

Lead AI Prototype Engineer & Designer — AIVideo.com

As Lead Product Engineer and Brand Designer at AIVideo.com, I applied a hybrid skill set across software engineering, interaction design, and AI product development to build the company's core video-creation platform. In five months, the team scaled from ~$10K MRR to $100K+ (>$1M ARR), with product engineering, design infrastructure, and a partial rebrand as core drivers of that growth.

Featured on YC's Podcast with Garry Tan

My approach to AI-native design was highlighted on Y Combinator's podcast alongside Garry Tan, where a partner called out a fundamental shift in my design workflow. Rather than relying on traditional mockup tools like Figma, I design directly with AI tools like Replit, Claude Code, and Loveable, converting text prompts into functional JavaScript code.

Watch segment (9:30) → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LMK5JYkB94&t=570s

The discussion noted that despite the counter-intuitive nature of using text for a visual medium, the output matches the quality and aesthetic sensibility of a polished Figma mockup, pointing to a broader shift in how designers can work with AI as a creative collaborator.

My Highlights

  • Revenue Growth: Helped scale AIVideo (YC '24) from ~$10K MRR to $100K+ (>$1M ARR) in five months through AI-native product engineering, rapid iteration, and a full brand and design system overhaul.
  • AI-Native Video Suite: Designed and prototyped a multi-panel editor UI (AI media panel, timeline, preview) with a persistent prompt box for seamless clip generation, editing, and review.
  • "Command ⌘" Agent: Built an in-editor AI agent that auto-edits scenes and generates new media from a single prompt, speeding up workflows for both professionals and first-time creators.
  • "Backlots" Context Engine: Centralized scripts, characters, environments, reference media, and styles into a persistent context layer for consistent cross-project reuse.
  • Pixyl Design System: Built an AI-driven design system and brand guidelines platform (Next.js, Drizzle, Postgres) with exportable Tailwind tokens editable directly through the UI, including layout skeleton generation, palette building, and AI asset creation.
  • AIVideo.com Rebrand: Led a full visual refresh including new palette, typography, graphics, and a subversive cinematic identity used across all product, creative, and investor materials.

Work Samples