Synthesia founder on timing: young founders should chase non-consensus ideas early
synthesiaIO · x · 2026-10-21
Synthesia CEO Victor Riparbelli founded the company in London in 2017, when Hollywood-quality video from a laptop sounded impossible; it grew fast from 2020, about 1.5 years before ChatGPT. His advice on timing:
- Young founders with little to their name: chase a non-consensus idea in a huge market, ideally a bit early, while believers are still few
- Second-time founders: go after existing markets—easier to raise and bring in executives
Riparbelli was 25 at founding; being "young and naive" let the team believe in an idea outside consensus.
The reposter also launched GR Angel with a partner: portfolio companies have raised $1.2B+ (Replit, HappyRobot, etc.), co-investing alongside a16z, Sequoia, Founders Fund and General Catalyst, with one exit scaling from $10K MRR to $7M ARR in under a year.
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