Adam Fainman on the Building Manitoba Podcast
A viral music video, a tool that did not exist yet, and the brutal side of solo founding. The full episode runs about 43 minutes.
Moonlite Labs founder Adam Fainman sat down with host Nathan Maertins on the Building Manitoba Podcast for an episode titled "Beatboxer to Tech Founder: Adam Fainman on the Highs and Brutal Lows of Solo Founding." It is a candid conversation about what it takes to build a creative product as one person, and it does not stop at the good parts.
How a viral music video became a product
During COVID, Adam started using generative AI to make music videos for his own TikTok and YouTube posts. One of them took off, and the question in his replies was the same over and over: which app is this? There was no single answer, because no one tool did the whole job. That gap became Moonlite Labs, a platform where a creator can generate footage, edit it, and publish it from one place.
What the episode covers
- What it means to be a creative founder in a technical space, and how leading bands and producing albums trained him to run a company.
- The brutal side, including contractors holding code for ransom immediately after his first big win.
- The isolation of solo founding and wearing every hat at once.
- Funding the company through grants instead of venture capital.
- Where the conversation on AI ethics and paying artists is heading.
The last stretch of the episode is about place. Moonlite Labs was built in Winnipeg and is now used by creators in 98 countries, with recognition from TechCrunch, VivaTech, and the DARE Innovation Awards along the way. For anyone building outside a coastal tech hub, that part of the conversation is the reason to listen to the whole thing.
