Latest news with #Figma
Express Tribune
14 hours ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Midjourney AI: Midjourney launches first AI video tool to animate images
Midjourney has launched its first public video generation tool, allowing users to create animated clips from still images. The new feature, announced on Midjourney's website, enables the generation of five-second videos from either uploaded images or those created within the Midjourney platform. Once an image is selected, an 'animate' button appears, offering a standard motion option or a manual setting for customising movement. The animation can be extended in four-second increments, with a maximum length of 21 seconds. Motion settings allow users to determine whether the subject, the camera, or both are animated. The feature is currently limited to subscribers, with plans starting at $10 (USD) per month. Introducing our V1 Video Model. It's fun, easy, and beautiful. Available at 10$/month, it's the first video model for *everyone* and it's available now. — Midjourney (@midjourney) June 18, 2025 Midjourney says the cost of video generation is approximately eight times higher than that of image rendering, equating to roughly one image's worth of cost per second of video. The launch comes amid an ongoing copyright lawsuit filed by Disney and Universal. The two entertainment companies argue that Midjourney's training process may have included unauthorised use of copyrighted works. Legal filings specifically flagged the video tool as a concern, with plaintiffs describing the company's output as a 'virtual vending machine' for unlicensed content. Midjourney founder David Holz described the release as 'a stepping stone' in the company's development of real-time, open-world simulation models. The startup is one of several firms racing to develop AI-powered video tools, with competitors such as Google, OpenAI, and Meta also releasing systems that generate video content from text prompts. Social media users have been sharing their first reactions, including early videos, with many hailing it as a 'game-changer'. Midjourney Video is on another level. — AI Breakfast (@AiBreakfast) June 19, 2025 Created with Midjourney + Recraft + Figma in just under one hour. Get psyched. — DANN© (@DannPetty) June 19, 2025 How well does Midjourney Video handle complex environments? It's (almost) flawless: — Alex Patrascu (@maxescu) June 19, 2025 While Midjourney's current offering focuses on animating static images, the company has indicated that expanded capabilities will be introduced in future updates.
Business Wire
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Udemy Expands Industry-Leading Creative Capabilities with Addition of Lummi's AI-Powered Design Tools
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Udemy (Nasdaq: UDMY), a leading AI-powered skills development platform, today announced the acquisition of Lummi, an innovative creative technology group known for AI-driven design tools that simplify and accelerate the creative process. The acquisition will better enable Udemy's instructors and creators to enhance course experiences with custom illustrations, visual storytelling, and AI-generated design assets. Now part of Udemy's Innovation Studio, the Lummi team will play a key role in advancing product innovation and tool development. This strategic move reinforces Udemy's commitment to providing instructors, learners, and enterprise customers with both expert instruction and the practical tools needed to apply skills in real-world settings. Founded in 2020 by CEO Pablo Stanley and CTO Jason Donnette, the Lummi team has built a loyal following among creatives with its portfolio of intuitive tools that enable fast, high-quality content creation across platforms like Canva, Figma, and Adobe Express. Udemy will continue to enhance the Lummi suite of products as well as integrating the offering into the core Udemy platform further enhancing Udemy's AI capabilities. 'At Udemy, we believe skills development should go beyond content consumption, it should activate real skills that are relevant, AI-driven, and work-ready,' said Hugo Sarrazin, President and CEO of Udemy. 'Integrating Lummi's intuitive AI tools enhances how learners and instructors apply their skills, while enabling enterprises to create more engaging, customized content. This move advances our transformation strategy to evolve into a comprehensive, AI-enabled platform for upskilling and reskilling, where instruction, practice, and tools align to drive real outcomes.' Empowering Instructors and Creators with Tools to Teach Creatively Udemy instructors and creators will be able to leverage Lummi Pro to enhance skills development experiences with custom AI-generated illustrations and design assets that support visual storytelling and more engaging content. This move is an early step toward Udemy's broader vision for a revamped Instructor Academy, a centralized resource hub planned for future release that will equip instructors with a suite of integrated tools, including Lummi, Role Play, Assessments, and Labs to make courses more interactive and applicable to today's learners. Advancing Enterprise Learning with AI-Enhanced Visual Content For Udemy Business customers, Lummi Pro introduces a new layer of creative potential and will be sold as an add-on to the current enterprise and team plan offerings. Teams in learning and development, marketing, and communications will be able to leverage Lummi's AI-powered capabilities to: Generate high-quality, branded visuals for corporate training Develop interactive assets that make workplace learning more engaging; Streamline course creation through no-code design tools; and Use enterprise-safe, original assets with no copyright infringement concerns. 'Instructional designers today face major hurdles from limited access to quality visuals and lack of design support to inconsistent style guidelines, which results in learning content that's often misaligned, unengaging, and visually disconnected,' said Matthew Brown, Director of Research, Human Capital Management at ISG. 'The Lummi offering helps address these issues by streamlining content creation and equipping instructional designers with AI-powered visual assets reducing production time, enhancing learner engagement, and ensuring scalable content quality across the enterprise.' These features will help organizations scale their workforce's reskilling/upskilling efforts with tools that match the pace and expectations of a modern workforce. With access to AI-powered design tools like Lummi and experiential learning solutions like Role Play, companies can go beyond consumption and become creators, developing their own high-impact, branded content, interactive simulations, and visually engaging training materials. Looking Ahead: Creativity + Skills + Tools The Lummi team's arrival at Udemy will play a key role in shaping the platform's future learning experience. Their deep experience in user-centric design, AI innovation, and accessible tool-building will directly inform new product capabilities across the platform, including the future rollout of a design-focused offering inspired by Udemy's recently launched Career Accelerators. This offering will combine design-focused courses with practical creative tools, giving subscribers a more holistic path to launching or growing careers in the creative economy. About Udemy Udemy (Nasdaq: UDMY) is an AI-powered skills development platform transforming how companies and individuals across the world build the capabilities needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving workplace. By combining on-demand, multi-language content with real-time innovation, Udemy delivers personalized experiences that empower organizations to scale workforce development and help individuals build the technical, business, and soft skills most relevant to their careers. Today, thousands of companies, including Ericsson, Samsung SDS America, On24, The World Bank, and Volkswagen, rely on Udemy Business for its enterprise solutions to build agile, future-ready teams. Udemy is headquartered in San Francisco, with hubs across the United States, Australia, India, Ireland, India, Mexico and Türkiye.
Business Insider
13-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
I quit Big Tech to start my own business. Here are 5 AI tools that save me up to 15 hours a week.
For over a decade, I worked in Big Tech. To be honest, I loved it. I built programs and launched cross-functional initiatives at places like Meta, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Figma. I had incredible teammates, an amazing boss, and a total comp of $300,000 a year. I was learning from the best and growing fast. Then something inside me shifted, and I left. About a year and a half after quitting my job and starting my own business, I'm now a founder constantly improving my systems with the help of AI tools, allowing me to scale without burning out. Even as I thrived in my day job, I experimented on the side While still at Figma, I started posting content on LinkedIn, coaching job seekers who wanted to land fulfilling program manager roles, and building a community around career growth. That side hustle started to take off. I realized I didn't just want to help tech companies grow. I wanted to help people grow inside them. In early 2024, I left my full-time role at Figma to build my own business. I didn't make the choice out of burnout or bitterness, but because I saw a different path — one where I could design my own schedule, create work that felt meaningful, and scale impact in a way that aligned with my values. Today, I run a multiple six-figure business helping professionals land tech roles through a live cohort program, content creation, and brand partnerships. I've grown my audience to more than 300,000 across platforms without a full-time team. AI tools have become my go-to team behind the scenes. Here's how I've used them to get hours back, grow faster, and stay focused on what actually matters. 1. Fathom: My meeting assistant Time saved: ~3 hours/week As a coach and founder, I'm on Zoom constantly — whether it's sales calls, group coaching sessions, or networking 1:1s. I used to rewatch recordings or spend hours summarizing notes and writing follow-ups. Now, I use Fathom. It records my meetings, pulls out key moments, and auto-generates action items. I don't even have to leave Zoom — it connects with HubSpot and syncs the recording and summary to each contact. I save three to four hours a week, and clients and partners compliment how accurate it is. 2. Notion: My operating system Time saved: ~3 hours/week Before I went all in on entrepreneurship, my organization was all over the place. I used Google Docs for ideas, spreadsheets for planning, and Asana for task tracking. Now, everything runs through Notion. It's where I organize student feedback, build a real-time revenue dashboard, map out launches, and manage my calendar. I've even templatized my entire business inside it. I love the AI feature. It helps me summarize messy notes, write agendas, and surface the exact piece of information I need without digging through 10 tabs. 3. Fyxer: The reason I am inbox zero Time saved: ~5 hours/week Email used to drain me. I'd spend an hour writing five thoughtful follow-ups, only to fall behind again the next day. Now, Fyxer drafts 80% of my replies. It learns from how I write and handles things like student onboarding emails, brand partnership outreach, and thank-you notes. I just personalize and hit send. It's an invisible tool that makes a big difference. 4. ChatGPT (Custom GPT): Tailored résumé feedback at scale One of the most rewarding parts of my business is helping students rewrite their résumés. However, it's also one of the most time-consuming. I built a custom GPT that takes a student's current résumé and the job description they're targeting and rewrites it using Google's famous formula: "accomplished X by doing Y, resulting in Z." It highlights their impact, aligns with the role, and uses the results-driven language hiring managers look for, especially in strategic program management roles. It doesn't replace coaching, but it speeds up the process dramatically. Students still get a personalized experience, but I don't need to edit every single line myself. 5. Content creation prompts: My creative brain Time saved: ~4 hours/week People often ask how I consistently post across platforms. The truth is that I don't start from scratch. I use different ChatGPT prompts depending on the format. For LinkedIn, I might say: "Turn this student win into a three-part story with a clear takeaway." For newsletters, I'll ask: "Expand this idea into a personal essay that sounds like me." For video scripts, I go with: "Make this story punchy, with a hook and a clear CTA." Tone and pacing shift depending on the platform, and AI helps me map that out quickly. It's like having a creative assistant who understands my voice while recognizing copywriting best practices. I taught it my voice by providing custom instructions, feeding past posts, and refining outputs until it sounded like me. Instead of getting stuck on what to say, I get to focus on how I want people to feel. One day I looked up and saw that AI had quietly given me back 10 to 15 hours a week That's a full day and a half I could now spend on strategy, deep work, coaching, or rest. I wasn't always working, which is a new normal for me. I was building something that felt both sustainable and scalable. If you're in Big Tech doing meaningful work but starting to wonder if something else might feel more aligned, know that you don't have to burn out to build something great. All the experience you've gained so far won't go to waste. It will become the foundation for something that's aligned, intentional, and yours. You don't need a big team to scale. You need the right tools, a clear direction, and the willingness to show up, fail forward, and get 1% better each time. AI hasn't made me less human. It's made me more focused, present, and available for work I love.
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
The secret to scale a startup
HighlightsFigma, a collaborative design platform, achieved a valuation of $12.5 billion and was almost acquired by Adobe for $20 billion in 2023, emphasizing the importance of brand building from its inception. Wholsum Foods, the parent company of Slurrp Farm and Mille, prioritized brand documentation early on, which helped them maintain clarity and consistency during their growth phase, despite skepticism from investors. The article emphasizes that strong branding not only enhances customer acquisition and loyalty but also significantly influences a startup's valuation and potential exit price, as seen with brands like Minimalist and Licious. When Figma , a collaborative design platform, recently announced its IPO, it spotlighted the company's meteoric rise in just a few years. Valued at $12.5 billion on the secondary market — and almost acquired by Adobe for $20 billion in 2023 — Figma's impressive worth is deeply rooted in its early focus on brand. From the start, the company embedded itself into the language, rituals and workflows of the global design community --and built the brand with them. Tori Hinn, who joined Figma as creative director two years after its launch, said that because there was so much good work in place, they 'didn't need to start from scratch — just give the brand a longer runway'. Figma exemplifies a gradual shift among startups , where brand building comes in, not as an afterthought, but as a strategic move. For new age ventures, brand is no longer the cherry on top — it's the scaffolding supporting growth. Closer to home, Wholsum Foods — the parent company of Slurrp Farm and Mille — made drafting a brand document one of its first priorities when it started out. The company needed a north star. 'We wanted to be clear on what mattered — that we wouldn't make a product here that felt like the lower quality version of something abroad,' says co-founder Shauravi Malik . In their 'lean' days, even as they were working out supply chains and toddler taste tests, Malik and co-founder Meghana Narayan brought on brand director Umang Bhattacharyya. 'He helped give shape and spirit to the soul of Slurrp Farm long before we had the language for it,' says Malik. Their first illustrators built a visual world of animals from India, which still defines the brand today. Though many, including venture capitalists, questioned their emphasis on brand, Malik shares that the clarity helped them stay consistent through the 'pivots and growing pains'. This focus paid off: The company was backed by Fireside Venture and caught the attention of actor Anushka Sharma, who later joined as brand ambassador and strategic investor. But this shift in mindset wasn't evident earlier in the industry. Joseph George , founder of Tilt Brand Solutions, observes, '[Earlier] Most founders saw brand building as an indulgence that only established businesses should and could undertake. But it became painfully clear to them that significant and sustained product superiority was going to be tough to pull off. Today, they've started to see brand building as not just necessary but something that can shape the business itself.' Meet your brand before your customers do In the world of blitz-scaling and bootstrapping, brand building was often seen as a luxury — a Series B task at best, a distraction at worst. Founders focused their energies on chasing product-market fit, scrambling for funding and prioritising growth hacks over brand. But a new wave of entrepreneurs and investors are controlling the narrative. As more startups compete in crowded, noisy categories, there is risk in letting consumers define your brand before you do. Modern branding experts caution that it's not about having a 'cool' brand--it's about controlling the bias – as the latter either opens doors or closes them. One sees real value creation from the brand when it reaches a point of salience, which is not about awareness, but the ability to come to mind at the right time vis-a-vis the category associations. 'A large brand can launch a variant, invest massive sums on share-of-voice (SOV) and build salience fast. But an early-stage brand needs time: Investing small but consistently and focusing on marketing budget vs. trying to do everything based on a generic playbook,' says Meghana Bhat, co-founder of Early Partners. Take Subko Coffee, which launched in 2020 during the Covid lockdown. 'It chose to grow deliberately rather than chase rapid scale,' says Bhat. And founder Rahul Reddy plans to use the funds from its latest raise ($10 million at a $34-million valuation) to scale in a 'responsible, calibrated and slow way', she adds. Today, consultants and investment firms bring brand experts into the boardroom at a very early stage, says Arvind Krishnan, co-founder at Manja. He advises startup founders to start with a 'minimum viable brand' and not just a minimum viable product. That includes a clear name, tone of voice and origin story. 'These are assets that prevent startups from making abrupt narrative pivots as they scale. You can continue building on the core brand story as you go along and keep adding to it.' The brand clarity advantage A misconception founders have about brand building is that it's more about advertising and buying media. But at its core it's about clarity. A well-defined brand shows up in every touchpoint: Packaging , website UX, and even the walls of your office. And it is also a draw for top talent who want to be part of something meaningful. 'There is enough data to show how strong brands have lower customer acquisition cost (CAC), higher trial rates, better price premium and better stickiness,' explains George. He adds that as unit economics become non-negotiable, the ability to charge a premium — or launch premium variants — becomes critical. Consumers have too many choices, too little time or patience. In this triple whammy environment, brands will slip up,' he cautions. 'Only strong brands have 'forgivability' — they can invoke that irrational bias where the consumer says: 'I'll give them another shot.'' From your first pitch deck to your first customer interaction, you're building a brand whether you intend to, or not. 'Your logo, packaging, first social post, distribution choice, how you frame your pricing strategy, the copy on your website, it all creates the mix of mental associations that define your brand in your consumer's mind,' says Bhat. Brand as blueprint Define who you are, your purpose, proposition and values. 'Your brand should give you clarity in how you position yourselves to investors, employees and consumers alike,' says Rohan Talati, portfolio partner at Spring Marketing Capital. 'This is as much internal as it is external.' He points to wearables brand Ultrahuman, which had embedded brand thinking into its DNA from inception. 'With little to no advertising, the brand became aspirational by design — a carefully considered identity that influenced everything from packaging to the user interface,' he explains. Whether you are building to sell or scale, strong branding can boost your exit price or funding valuation. Bhat mentions skincare brand Minimalist , which was acquired by HUL for Rs 2,955 crore despite generating revenue in the Rs 300 crore range — is likely attributed to 'intangible assets' – which is one-way brand equity shows up on the balance sheet. India's first D2C unicorn — meat and seafood brand Licious — tackled a largely unorganised market with a brand built on trust. Early on, the company sought select testimonials and featured those customers' sketches in their packaging, transforming the latter into brand advocates. For its founders Abhay Hanjura and Vivek Gupta , the brand was never just a logo or a campaign — it was personal. 'We built Licious around a simple promise: We won't serve anything we won't feed our own families.' That brand promise guided every decision, even the difficult ones. 'We invested in a full cold chain before we had scale — not for optics, but because it was the right thing to do. In the early days, it's tempting to chase growth at all costs. But if you don't build trust from day one, you may never get a second chance,' they add.
Globe and Mail
10-06-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Will Adobe (ADBE) Stock Rebound as Q2 Earnings Near?
Set to report results for its fiscal second quarter on Thursday, June 12, Adobe ADBE will highlight a relatively quiet earnings lineup this week with investors awaiting Wednesday's inflation report as May's CPI data rolls out. Down nearly 30% from its 52-week high of $587 a share, Adobe stock is an appealing buy-the-dip candidate for what will hopefully be an extended rebound at some point. ADBE Performance Overview At the center of the decline in Adobe stock are concerns about AI disruption. To that point, there are growing fears that generative AI could replace Adobe's creative software suite and make its traditional software tools less relevant for content creators. Although Adobe has integrated AI into its digital experience solutions, the company has experienced slower sales growth, which has weighed on sentiment, along with a botched deal to acquire collaborative design platform Figma. Facing regulatory scrutiny, the Figma deal would have potentially strengthened Adobe's market position at a crucial time, with the software giant providing weaker-than-expected guidance for Q2 and the full year, leading analysts to cut price targets for ADBE. ADBE is still down 5% in 2025 and is only up +12% over the last three years to widely trail the broader indexes and its Zacks Computer-Software Industry's gains of nearly +100%. Adobe's Q2 Expectations & Compelling Consistency Based on Zacks' estimates, Adobe's Q2 sales are thought to have increased 9% to $5.79 billion versus $5.31 billion in the comparative quarter. On the bottom line, Q2 EPS is expected to rise 11% to $4.96 compared to $4.48 per share a year ago. Despite recent headwinds, Adobe has surpassed the Zacks EPS Consensus for 25 consecutive quarters with an average earnings surprise of 2.53% in its last four quarterly reports. Adobe has exceeded top line expectations for 19 straight quarters with an average sales surprise of roughly 1% over the last four quarters. Adobe's Attractive P/E Valuation Making Adobe's consistency more appealing is that at 20.4X forward earnings, ADBE trades beneath the benchmark S&P 500's 23.2X and offers a 41% discount to its Zacks industry average, which includes other software titans such as Oracle ORCL. It's also noteworthy that ADBE trades at an even steeper discount to its decade-long median of 42.7X forward earnings and well below its high of 65.4X during this period. Bottom Line For now, Adobe stock lands a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) ahead of its Q2 report. While long-term shareholders may be rewarded for holding ADBE at current levels, a sharp rebound will largely depend on the tech giant's ability to once again exceed or reach its quarterly expectations, but, most importantly, offer favorable guidance that helps quiet AI disruption concerns. Only $1 to See All Zacks' Buys and Sells We're not kidding. Several years ago, we shocked our members by offering them 30-day access to all our picks for the total sum of only $1. No obligation to spend another cent. Thousands have taken advantage of this opportunity. Thousands did not - they thought there must be a catch. Yes, we do have a reason. We want you to get acquainted with our portfolio services like Surprise Trader, Stocks Under $10, Technology Innovators, and more, that closed 256 positions with double- and triple-digit gains in 2024 alone. See Stocks Now >> Adobe Inc. (ADBE): Free Stock Analysis Report
