Blog

The Structured Playbook for Ramping Up Digital Marketing

How to Build a Customer Feedback Engine with Enquire CEO Matt Bahr

The Ebbs and Flows of Scaling a Startup with Loop CEO Jonathan Poma

The Case for DTC Customization with Prose Co-Founder Paul Michaux

How to Leverage Sustainability to Drive Revenue Growth

How to Scale a DTC Growth Agency with Common Thread’s Taylor Holiday

Building Web3-Enabled Commerce Engines with Novel CEO Roger Beaman

The Future of Unified Commerce with Violet CEO Brandon Schulz

Unlocking Brand Design & Development with Doris Dev’s Justin Seidenfeld

Why Shogun Built a "Head" for "Headless" with Co-Founder Nick Raushenbush

Leveraging Reviews as a Growth Engine with Junip CEO Stuart Arsenault

Tactical Lessons from Scaling HelloFresh with CEO Dominik Richter

The Next-Gen Operating System for CPG with Cresicor CEO Alex Whatley

The Taika Playbook: Designing Custom R&D Engines

Influencer Marketing & Gen-Z Community with TBH CEO Elena Guberman

MuteSix Field Guide: How to Unlock Your Brand’s Optimal Ad Strategy

Cutting Acquisition Costs and Democratizing Data with Disco's Conner Sherline

Headless Upgrades and Category Dominance with Builder’s Steve Sewell

How to Build a Luxury DTC Brand with Last Crumb CEO Matt Jung

GTM Tools and Driving Reliable Revenue with ShipBob’s Casey Armstrong

Leveraging Automation and Socializing Stacks with Alloy CEO Sara Du

Loyalty Trends and DTC Referral Flywheels with Smile CEO Mike Rossi

Angel Investing, Growth Tactics, and eComm Stacks with James Beshara

Networking Flywheels and Flexible Financing with Settle CEO Alek Koenig

Designing Zero to One Growth Funnels with Julian Shapiro

Jeff Chang on Growth Funnels, Acquisition Playbooks, and Rapid Testing

Sahil Bloom on Content Strategy, Brand Voice, and Audience Growth

Data Paralysis and DTC Growth Levers with Source Medium’s Feifan Wang

missbotez x bloomnu

4.7M followers

ridge

407K followers

missbotez x bloomnu

4.7M followers

ridge

407K followers

missbotez x bloomnu

4.7M followers

immieats

204K followers

Problem

Coming up with 100 unique, 30-second scripts is painful.

Manually matching 3-second clips (from your 10,000-video library) for every shot of your 100 scripts is even more painful.

Creating 3 permutations of each of the 100 ads (for A/B testing) is maximum pain.

Now imagine voiceovers, captions, music, & manually uploading all 300 ads to Meta & TikTok on top of this. Also imagine you're an agency doing this for 10 brands (now we're at 3K ads).

Products for scriptwriting, competitor research, creative storage, video editing, creative analytics, & UGC exist, but they're not built for admaking (or just built badly).

Capcut

Video editing

$7.99/month

Adobe Premiere

Video editing

$54.99/month

ChatGPT

Scriptwriting

$20/month

Foreplay

Competitor ads

$99/month

AdSpy

Competitor ads

$149/month

Recharm

Creative storage

$500-$3k/month

Motion

Creative analytics

$1K-$10K/month

Billo

UGC

$99/video

Air

Creative storage

$250-$2k/month

Problem

Coming up with 100 unique, 30-second scripts is painful.

Manually matching 3-second clips (from your 10,000-video library) for every shot of your 100 scripts is even more painful.

Creating 3 permutations of each of the 100 ads (for A/B testing) is maximum pain.

Now imagine voiceovers, captions, music, & manually uploading all 300 ads to Meta & TikTok on top of this. Also imagine you're an agency doing this for 10 brands (now we're at 3K ads).

Products for scriptwriting, competitor research, creative storage, video editing, creative analytics, & UGC exist, but they're not built for admaking (or just built badly).

Capcut

Video editing

$7.99/month

Adobe Premiere

Video editing

$54.99/month

ChatGPT

Scriptwriting

$20/month

Foreplay

Competitor ads

$99/month

AdSpy

Competitor ads

$149/month

Recharm

Creative storage

$500-$3k/month

Motion

Creative analytics

$1K-$10K/month

Billo

UGC

$99/video

Air

Creative storage

$250-$2k/month

Solution

Icon solves this with the first AI Admaker. Think CapCut, but for making winning ads with AI in minutes (vs. a general video editor).

Icon connects to your video library and turns everything into small, reusable clips. From there, you can type whatever script you want (or upload a competitor's winning ad) and we'll create an ad with the perfect matching 3-second clip for every scene.

From there, we'll help with permutations, voiceovers, captions, music, and even auto-upload your ads.

We're built to augment marketers, not give you unuseable AI creatives. Our AI gets your ads 80-99% of the way there, leaving you to add your final touches to get them to the finish line.

Solution

Icon solves this with the first AI Admaker. Think CapCut, but for making winning ads with AI in minutes (vs. a general video editor).

Icon connects to your video library and turns everything into small, reusable clips. From there, you can type whatever script you want (or upload a competitor's winning ad) and we'll create an ad with the perfect matching 3-second clip for every scene.

From there, we'll help with permutations, voiceovers, captions, music, and even auto-upload your ads.

We're built to augment marketers, not give you unuseable AI creatives. Our AI gets your ads 80-99% of the way there, leaving you to add your final touches to get them to the finish line.

How it works

Bring a script

Save time by using Icon to find matching videos for your script.

We'll split your script into shots and pick matching videos (to get you 80-99% of the way there). From there, take it to the finish line with the Admaker Editor.

Bring a script

Save time by using Icon to find matching videos for your script.

We'll split your script into shots and pick matching videos (to get you 80-99% of the way there). From there, take it to the finish line with the Admaker Editor.

B-roll cutting

Save time by using Icon to cut in B-roll on your talking head videos.

We'll pick matching videos to cut in on your talking head videos (to get you 80-99% of the way there). From there, take it to the finish line with the Admaker Editor.

B-roll cutting

Save time by using Icon to cut in B-roll on your talking head videos.

We'll pick matching videos to cut in on your talking head videos (to get you 80-99% of the way there). From there, take it to the finish line with the Admaker Editor.

Ad cloning

Save time by using Icon to clone ads from top brands.

We'll clone an ad using your videos (to get you 80-99% of the way there). From there, take it to the finish line with the Admaker Editor.

Ad cloning

Save time by using Icon to clone ads from top brands.

We'll clone an ad using your videos (to get you 80-99% of the way there). From there, take it to the finish line with the Admaker Editor.

Make me an ad

Save time by using Icon to make you ads (with the click of a button).

We'll make ads using your videos (to get you 80-99% of the way there). From there, take it to the finish line with the Admaker Editor.

Make me an ad

Save time by using Icon to make you ads (with the click of a button).

We'll make ads using your videos (to get you 80-99% of the way there). From there, take it to the finish line with the Admaker Editor.

Describe an ad

Save time by using Icon to get an ad from a short prompt (e.g. creative brief).

We'll make an ad using your prompt (to get you 80-99% of the way there). From there, take it to the finish line with the Admaker Editor.

Describe an ad

Save time by using Icon to get an ad from a short prompt (e.g. creative brief).

We'll make an ad using your prompt (to get you 80-99% of the way there). From there, take it to the finish line with the Admaker Editor.

Ad from voiceover

Save time by using Icon to create an ad from a voiceover.

We'll pick matching videos for your voiceover (to get you 80-99% of the way there). From there, take it to the finish line with the Admaker Editor.

Ad from voiceover

Save time by using Icon to create an ad from a voiceover.

We'll pick matching videos for your voiceover (to get you 80-99% of the way there). From there, take it to the finish line with the Admaker Editor.

What they're saying

"We went from spending hours making each ad to building entire campaigns in minutes. Icon's AI helps us shape perfect creatives at incredible speed."

Ron Shah

CEO, Obvi

"Manual ad creation was limiting our testing potential. Icon lets us scale to hundreds of high-performing variants without the production headache."

Maneet Khaira

CEO, Backbone

"Going from scripts to finished ads was a mountain of manual work. Icon handles everything from video matching to platform uploads with a few clicks."

Tim Chen

CEO, Dog Is Human

"We went from spending hours making each ad to building entire campaigns in minutes. Icon's AI helps us shape perfect creatives at incredible speed."

Ron Shah

CEO, Obvi

"Manual ad creation was limiting our testing potential. Icon lets us scale to hundreds of high-performing variants without the production headache."

Maneet Khaira

CEO, Backbone

"We went from spending hours making each ad to building entire campaigns in minutes. Icon's AI helps us shape perfect creatives at incredible speed."

Ron Shah

CEO, Obvi

Products

Admaker(replaces CapCut, Adobe Premiere)

Create winning ads in minutes.

Helps with scriptwriting, competitor ad cloning, script-to-video matching (for every shot), B-roll cutting, video creation, permutations, voiceovers, captions, music, analytics, ad auto-uploading, & more.

Replaces CapCut ($7.99/month), Adobe Premiere ($54.99/month)

Admaker(replaces CapCut, Adobe Premiere)

Create winning ads in minutes.

Helps with scriptwriting, competitor ad cloning, script-to-video matching (for every shot), B-roll cutting, video creation, permutations, voiceovers, captions, music, analytics, ad auto-uploading, & more.

Replaces CapCut ($7.99/month), Adobe Premiere ($54.99/month)

Adspy
(replaces AdSpy, Foreplay)

Save time with AI-powered ad cloning.

Replaces Foreplay ($49-$99/month + $20/user), AdSpy ($149/month)

Adspy
(replaces AdSpy, Foreplay)

Save time with AI-powered ad cloning.

Replaces Foreplay ($49-$99/month + $20/user), AdSpy ($149/month)

Ads Manager
(replaces Ad Managers)

Save time with ad manager auto-upload.

Replaces Meta Ads Manager (direct use)

Ads Manager
(replaces Ad Managers)

Save time with ad manager auto-upload.

Replaces Meta Ads Manager (direct use)

Creative Library
(replaces Recharm, Air)

Save time by storing, tagging, creating, & splitting videos with AI.

Videos are used as building blocks for AI-generated ads in Admaker.

Replaces Recharm ($500-3K/month), Air ($250-$2K/month)

Creative Library
(replaces Recharm, Air)

Save time by storing, tagging, creating, & splitting videos with AI.

Videos are used as building blocks for AI-generated ads in Admaker.

Replaces Recharm ($500-3K/month), Air ($250-$2K/month)

Creative Analytics
(replaces Motion)

Save money with built-in creative analytics.

Replaces Motion ($1K-$10K/month)

Creative Analytics
(replaces Motion)

Save money with built-in creative analytics.

Replaces Motion ($1K-$10K/month)

UGC Creators
(replaces Billo)

Save time & money with AI-generated UGC.

Replaces Billo ($99/video)

UGC Creators
(replaces Billo)

Save time & money with AI-generated UGC.

Replaces Billo ($99/video)

Story

Kennan Davison

CEO, Founder

CPO, Chairman, Founder at Skio (CEO 2021-2024, $10M+ ARR in 3 years, profitable).

Previously: Pinterest, Hulu, Wieden+Kennedy (ad agency), League of Legends Challenger (Top 200 North America, 100M+ players globally), Y Combinator S20 (solo founder), Columbia (transfer, dropout).

Hi, I'm Kennan!

Growing up, my dream was to be a pro gamer: this felt within reach in high school once I ranked top 200 North America in League of Legends (out of 100M+ players globally).

Despite this, I needed to support myself so I went to college and started learning to code. Coding came naturally (especially with 100 hour weeks) and I was soon skipping class to work at places like Hulu and Wieden+Kennedy (ad agency). Realizing that being paid to work full-time (vs. paying to go to school) sounded quite nice, I dropped out after 1 year to join Pinterest.

After Pinterest, I started a company called Skio which does subscription management software for brands on Shopify. In just 3 years, we've partnered with 1000+ brands (Liquid I.V., Milk Bar, Polaroid, Barstool, Unilever, KraveBeauty, Boba Tea Protein), reached $10M+ ARR (+profitable), and built an amazing team of 50.

With advancements in generative AI (video specifically), I saw an opportunity to help brands bring their stories to life exponentially faster and make marketing much better (hence Icon & building the first AI Admaker).

I love learning how we can help better. Feel free to reach out any time at kennan@icon.me.

Kennan Davison

CEO, Founder

CPO, Chairman, Founder at Skio (CEO 2021-2024, $10M+ ARR in 3 years, profitable).

Previously: Pinterest, Hulu, Wieden+Kennedy (ad agency), League of Legends Challenger (Top 200 North America, 100M+ players globally), Y Combinator S20 (solo founder), Columbia (transfer, dropout).

Hi, I'm Kennan!

Growing up, my dream was to be a pro gamer: this felt within reach in high school once I ranked top 200 North America in League of Legends (out of 100M+ players globally).

Despite this, I needed to support myself so I went to college and started learning to code. Coding came naturally (especially with 100 hour weeks) and I was soon skipping class to work at places like Hulu and Wieden+Kennedy (ad agency). Realizing that being paid to work full-time (vs. paying to go to school) sounded quite nice, I dropped out after 1 year to join Pinterest.

After Pinterest, I started a company called Skio which does subscription management software for brands on Shopify. In just 3 years, we've partnered with 1000+ brands (Liquid I.V., Milk Bar, Polaroid, Barstool, Unilever, KraveBeauty, Boba Tea Protein), reached $10M+ ARR (+profitable), and built an amazing team of 50.

With advancements in generative AI (video specifically), I saw an opportunity to help brands bring their stories to life exponentially faster and make marketing much better (hence Icon & building the first AI Admaker).

I love learning how we can help better. Feel free to reach out any time at kennan@icon.me.

Investors

Founders Fund

Icon Investor

Peter Thiel's Founders Fund is a venture capital firm. Its partners have founded and funded companies including PayPal, Palantir, SpaceX, Anduril, Flexport, Airbnb and Stripe.

Eric Nam

Icon Investor

K-Pop Artist.

Roman Khan

Icon Investor

President, Founder at Peak21, CMO at Raycon, CMO at Know Beauty, CMO, Co-founder at Linjer, CMO at Nutrition Kitchen.

Ron Shah

Icon Investor

CEO, Co-founder at Obvi, Co-host at Chew On This, Managing Partner at Gaas for SaaS.

Founders Fund

Icon Investor

Peter Thiel's Founders Fund is a venture capital firm. Its partners have founded and funded companies including PayPal, Palantir, SpaceX, Anduril, Flexport, Airbnb and Stripe.

Team

Kennan Davison

CEO, Founder

CPO, Chairman, Founder at Skio (CEO 2021-2024, $10M+ ARR in 3 years, profitable).

Previously: Pinterest, Hulu, Wieden+Kennedy (ad agency), League of Legends Challenger (Top 200 North America, 100M+ players globally), Y Combinator S20 (solo founder), Columbia (transfer, dropout).

Yunyu Lin

Founding Board Member

Head of AI at Ramp.

Previously: CEO, Co-founder at Cohere (AI CX / LLMs, acquired by Ramp), Nuro, Facebook, Y Combinator S20, Duke (dropout).

Kevin Jin

Engineering

Previously: CTO at Kalder, Compound Labs, Robinhood, Rippling, Impira, Flexport, Google, Tesla, TSM, Vanderbilt.

Max Sidebotham

Engineering

Previously: CTO, Co-founder at Tare (AI Emails / LLMs), Founding Engineer at Skio, Robinhood, UMD.

Kennan Davison

CEO, Founder

CPO, Chairman, Founder at Skio (CEO 2021-2024, $10M+ ARR in 3 years, profitable).

Previously: Pinterest, Hulu, Wieden+Kennedy (ad agency), League of Legends Challenger (Top 200 North America, 100M+ players globally), Y Combinator S20 (solo founder), Columbia (transfer, dropout).