Lessons from David Holtz

David Holz, the founder of the groundbreaking AI image generator Midjourney, offers a vision for technology that is deeply intertwined with human imagination and creativity. His insights, drawn from years of experience as a serial entrepreneur and technologist, provide a compelling look into the future of artificial intelligence, art, and human-computer interaction.

On the Mission and Philosophy of Midjourney

On Empowering Human Imagination: "We like to say we're trying to expand the imaginative powers of the human species. The goal is to make humans more imaginative, not make imaginative machines, which I think is an important distinction." [1][2]
It's About Imagination, Not Just Art: "It's important to emphasize that this is not about art. This is about imagination. Imagination is sometimes used for art but it's often not." [1][3]
An Engine for the Imagination: "We see this technology as an engine for the imagination. So it's a very positive and humanistic thing." [4][5]
AI as a Co-creator: Holz's vision for Midjourney is rooted in a collaborative partnership with AI in the artistic process, challenging the notion of AI as merely a tool for automation and instead presenting it as a co-creator. [6]
Unlocking Creativity for Everyone: "Midjourney is designed to unlock the creativity of ordinary people by giving them tools to make beautiful pictures just by describing them." [1][7]
A Tool for Reflection: About 20 percent of users utilize Midjourney for what Holz calls "art therapy," such as creating images of a pet that has passed away. "They're using it as an emotional and intellectual reflective tool." [8]
Three Pillars for the Future: After his time at Leap Motion, Holz identified three pillars that would be paramount for the future: reflection, imagination, and coordination, which led to the creation of Midjourney. [2]
The Meaning of the Logo: The simple boat logo for Midjourney symbolizes that we are in the middle of a journey, with the bot acting as a tool between users and the world they want to imagine. [9]
More Interested in Society than Business: "I'm definitely more interested in society than business. We're a consumer product, but right now maybe 30 to 50% of our users are professionals. Not the majority." [9]

On AI's Impact on Art and Artists

AI as an Amplifier, Not a Replacement: "What does it mean when computers are better at visual imagination than 99 percent of humans? That doesn't mean we will stop imagining. Cars are faster than humans, but that doesn't mean we stopped walking." [4][5]
Artists Will Lead the Way: "An artist using these tools is always better than a regular person using these tools." [8] Those who use the tools to create higher quality, more creative, and sophisticated content are the ones who will win. [3]
Boosting Confidence in Weak Areas: AI tools can help artists with aspects of their work they are less confident in, such as colors, composition, or backgrounds. [1]
Supercharging the Creative Process: Professionals use Midjourney to "supercharge their creative or communication process," allowing them to be more exploratory and generate many ideas quickly. [8][9]
Creating Better, Not Just Cheaper, Content: Holz believes the market will choose "wildly better content" over cheaper content, and AI tools will enable this leap in quality and creativity. [1]
AI as an "Art Student": Some artists view Midjourney as an art student with its own style. Invoking an artist's name in a prompt is like asking that student to create something inspired by their work. [5]
Uneasiness with Deepfakes: Holz is personally uneasy with the uncanny quality of deepfakes and photorealistic images that simulate reality too closely. Midjourney is not trying to create fake photos. [1][8]
The Inevitability of Change: When Photoshop was invented, people were scared you could fake anything. Today, the market for sensationalism is larger, which is why Holz believes platforms need to be more careful about misuse. [8]
On Training Data and Copyright: Holz has been candid about the practical challenges of sourcing training data: "There isn't really a way to get a hundred million images and know where they're coming from... It would be cool if images had metadata embedded in them about the copyright owner or something. But that's not a thing." [2][3]

On Entrepreneurship and Product Strategy

The Importance of Timing: A major lesson from his first company, Leap Motion, was that the market's readiness is as crucial as the idea itself. The technology was arguably ahead of its time. [4][10]
The Value of Independence: Holz famously turned down acquisition offers from Apple for Leap Motion, believing the technology's potential was broader than what a single corporate owner would allow. This philosophy of independence continues with Midjourney. [4][11]
Self-Funded and Mission-Driven: Midjourney is a self-funded research lab, not a typical venture-backed startup. "We're not really financially motivated. We're just sort of here to work on things we're passionate about and have fun." [8] The company is already profitable. [8][12]
Starting as a Research Lab: "I usually just prefer being called the founder, though, because CEO sounds very businessy, and we're not very businessy. We're an applied research lab that makes products." [1]
Building a Community on Discord: The decision to launch on Discord was unconventional but driven by the observation that "people really like imagining together." [5] The Midjourney server is now the largest on Discord. [13]
Focus on Need, Not Funding: By bootstrapping, Midjourney prioritized compute resources and product development over seeking external funding, demonstrating a different set of startup priorities. [10]
Embrace Change: Holz advises entrepreneurs and individuals to embrace the inevitability of change by being adaptable, flexible, and open-minded. [14]
Persistence is Key: He believes persistence is one of the most important traits for success, advising people to keep pushing forward despite obstacles. [14]
Learn from Failure: Having experienced failures, Holz views them not as an end but as opportunities for growth and improvement. [14]
Redefining Human-Computer Interaction: His core mission, from Leap Motion to Midjourney, has been to redefine the interaction model between humanity and technology, breaking down bottlenecks. [2][15]
Frustration as a Catalyst for Innovation: The idea for Leap Motion stemmed from his personal frustration with the clunky interfaces for 3D modeling, sparking a desire to make digital interaction more intuitive. [11][15]
A Home for Cool Projects: On starting Midjourney: "It's just about having a home for the next 10 years to work on cool projects that matter —hopefully not just to me but to the world — and to have fun." [4]

On the Future of AI and Technology

AI's Power is Like Fire or Water: "Everything with power... can be used for good and bad... When somebody invented fire, I'm sure they're saying 'We can't teach anybody how to make fire, someone will burn the town down.' Somebody probably did. But you know, we're okay." [16]
AI is Like Water, Not a Tiger: He compares AI to water, which can be dangerous (you can drown) but is also a driver of civilization (you can swim, build boats, make electricity). It's an opportunity, not just an adversary like a tiger. [5]
The Real Question is What We Want to Become: Holz believes that with transformative technologies like AI, "the only real question is what do we want to become." [16]
AI is Already "Nonzero Conscious": In an interview, he stated his belief that AI is already "nonzero conscious... more conscious than ants." [16]
Superhuman Entities Already Exist: On the fear of AI taking over, he points out that we already have superhuman entities like governments and corporations, and that advanced AIs will likely be absorbed by these existing structures. [16]
The Future of Gaming is AI-Generated Dreams: "In ten years, there will be an Xbox with an AI processor that dreams all games in real-time." [12]
Real-time Content is Coming: Holz predicts that within two years, it will be possible to generate AI content in real-time at high resolution, though it will be expensive. [12]
A Transition as Big as the Rise of Life: He believes the convergence of AI, biotech, and human-computer interaction will have an aggregate effect as significant as the rise of life on Earth. "We didn't get to be a part of the rise of life on Earth... This is a new thing." [16]
We Will Run Out of Computers: The computational demand for AI is immense. "I think the world will run out of computers before the technology actually gets to everybody who wants to use it." [8][12]
Technology as an Offset to Problems: "Without technology, there's an argument that like civilization might be on its way down... the question is can technology offset all the other problems we have." [16]
The Human Ramifications are Unfathomable: While the technological progress of AI is somewhat foreseeable, "the human ramifications of that are so hard to imagine." [8]
A Belief in Technology's Power to Enhance Humanity: Holz's core philosophy is a deep-seated belief in technology's potential to enhance human creativity and expand the boundaries of artistic expression. [6]
From Physics to Entrepreneurship: He left his Ph.D. program because he was concerned about the tangible impact of his work and wanted to leave a more indelible mark on the world through technology. [2][17]
The Need for Open Exploration: Declining Apple's acquisition offer for Leap Motion was a stand for the freedom to explore uncharted territories, a belief that true innovation requires being unconfined by the priorities of a larger entity. [6]
AI Will Help Us Solve Problems: When asked about the controversies around AI training, he reframes the issue: "The broader question is, are AI going to help us solve problems... and can we make the world better." [16]
A Shift from a Venture-Backed Environment: He left Leap Motion to start Midjourney in search of a "different environment instead of a big venture-backed company." [4]
Building for the Long Term: His vision extends beyond immediate applications, aiming to chart a course where AI serves as a bridge between imagination and reality for decades to come. [6]
The Proliferation of Visual Expression: He sees the movement not as replacing people, but as the "proliferation of the visual means to express yourself." [18]
A Small, Passionate Team: Midjourney operates with a remarkably small team (around 10 people as of late 2022) despite serving millions of users, a testament to its lean and focused structure. [8][12]
The Future is a Malleable Dream: "All the games are dreams, and everything is malleable, and we're going to have AR headsets... the humanistic element of that is quite unfathomable." [12]

Learn more:

Lessons from David Holtz

On the Mission and Philosophy of Midjourney

On AI's Impact on Art and Artists

On Entrepreneurship and Product Strategy

On the Future of AI and Technology

Written by Antoine Buteau

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