Video Editing Made Simple With A.I

We talked to Michael Moss of PromoMii on how to create stunning videos in minutes with the help of creative A.I., with no editing experience needed and this is what he had to say.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

Michael Moss: Everyone’s doing alright, thanks for asking! I’ve been spending a lot of time in Denmark (I’m from Denmark, so that’s where my family is), and it’s been nice to be able to see them more. Because everyone’s working from home, we’ve had more time for each other.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded PromoMii.

Michael Moss: If I had to choose one word to describe myself, it would have to be – building. I love to build solutions and have started four companies, my first being when I was 21. I founded PromoMii 4 years ago because we identified cloud-based AI technology’s emerging opportunities to eradicate the current labor intensive process of searching, discovering, and tagging relevant content in video post-production. There is a real problem when it comes to creating enough video content for digital. With the need for video content exponentially growing, it didn’t seem like a valuable use of time for video creators to spend hours logging, instead of doing what they do best – being creative. Therefore, we wanted to build a tool that would revolutionize their workflow balance and free up time for the creative and qualitative elements of their jobs—thereby enabling them to produce a quantitatively higher proportion of qualitative content.

I am obsessed with efficiency and in love with creating stuff (I’ve been building computers since my early teenage years). Sometimes we limit our creative ability by overloading ourselves with too many decisions and archaic ways of doing things. 

I worked in asset management for nine years, managing clients’ money and portfolios. Still, I was craving the opportunity to invest all my time and energy into something which I really believed could change the world. Starting PromoMii allowed me to combine my passion for creativity, tech, and innovation while solving a real-world problem, which brings so much meaning and purpose to my work. Also, there’s just something unique about building something up from nothing.

How does PromoMii innovate? 

Michael Moss: We’ve introduced new technology to the video editing industry, and our application of AI to video search doesn’t exist anywhere else. We aim to revolutionize how all people edit videos. Video is becoming how people communicate, and a simple yet powerful tool is needed to democratize video editing to allow anyone to create meaningful content in this emerging world. Ultimately, our innovation wishes to ensure no one has left behind in the transition to video-driven communication and empower people to produce a quantitatively higher proportion of qualitative content. Inside the company, we always try to explore new ways of doing things and experiment, which I guess is one of the luxuries of being a startup! So we try to have a culture where the expectation is that if there’s an idea that someone is passionate about, they should run it as an experiment.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Michael Moss: The way we work is different as everyone is working from home. So we’ve changed a few things to make everyone feel like we’re “still together” – we have morning and afternoon meetings every day where we go through to do’s and results and talk about everyday things and how everyone’s feeling. We try to maintain an office-chat environment so people can still bounce off ideas with each other. The pandemic has had an interesting effect on our relationship with potential clients. Because most of them work from home now, we’ve seen an increase in demo requests because they have more time. We’ve had long, engaging calls with people who usually don’t have more than 5 minutes. So our business hasn’t been affected negatively. Many clients also consider now to be a great time to experiment with new services. Instead of waiting out the uncertainties of a Covid struck the world, many are leaning into investing in new verticals to adapt to consumer shifts, accelerated by Covid, for example, cutting the cords and going digital. It is something from which our company benefits.

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?

Michael Moss: Perhaps not so many difficult choices as exciting choices. I have learned that having the right team is essential, and I feel fortunate to have had that during the last nine and a half months (has it been that long already?!). I’ve also learned that trends that were already gaining ground have been accelerating this year. People value different things in 2020 – wholesome and fulfilling content, express their creativity and learn something new. As a business, we have to adapt to that and respond to the context of people’s lives without changing our brand message and core. We’ve learned a lot this year about how to do that (and how not to). We try always to go back to the problem we are solving for people and ground ourselves in their need. 

How do you deal with stress and anxiety?

Michael Moss: I exercise every day! In many ways, it’s about finding the right balance, I think. Exercising clears my head and makes me focus solely on my body and its mechanics. It grounds me and energizes me at the same time. Most of my days, I’m working in front of my computer, so it’s imperative to get up and move!

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Michael Moss: Our competitors are other companies offering online video editing platforms. I’m not going to give away too much of our plan, but I believe we have a set of unique selling points which we will continue to establish alongside a distinctive market position. In the end, it all comes back to knowing your customers and solving their needs in the best way possible.

Your final thoughts?

Michael Moss: Thanks for the opportunity! I would be delighted to learn more about the work you do.

Your website?

www.promomii.com