Hey there, it’s Kirill and Joel here, and we're thrilled to kick off The Early Adopter; your personal guide to the universe of innovative digital products waiting to be discovered.
As someone who's always on the lookout for new tools that push the boundaries, we noticed a lack of resources that not only highlight exceptional products before they go mainstream but also dig into what makes them special: the ingenuity of their design, the stories of their creators, and the trajectories they carve into the future.
In each episode, we will introduce you to a carefully selected digital product that's shaping our digital world.
We break down what it does, why it’s different, and why it matters - it's not just about what's new but understanding the product's journey and predicting its future.
So, if you're into tech, curious about what’s behind great products, or just love being ahead of the curve, this is for you. Subscribe and let's explore the early tech space together.
The Writing Assistant
TL;DR
Lex is an AI writing assistant that serves as a collaborator to help writers improve their work.
Key features include smart side comments where users can tag @lex for suggestions, Checks that scrutinize drafts, and version control for organizing drafts.
While promising, Lex faces technical challenges like stability issues and some missing collaboration features that you'd typically expect. Lex also faces obstacles like the lack of proprietary technology that others could easily replicate and sustainable business models in the era of expensive LLMs tokens.
Lex has the opportunity to tweak the long-term strategy and create something unique by incorporating a human element, by building a community that could be a potential game-changer with over 100k users.
Today, I'm going to talk about writing – not just any writing, but my personal journey with it, the struggles, and a fascinating tool I've been experimenting with lately.
I'm a non-native English speaker, and while dumping ideas onto a page comes naturally to me, refining them into something publishable has always been a painstaking process.
Since last year, I've been quite excited about LLMs, thinking this technology might finally unlock my potential to write like a pro.
But, to be honest, I've been a bit disappointed. Many AI writing tools are churning out content with more emphasis on quantity over quality – not really what I was looking for.
Then, I stumbled upon Lex.
Lex
Many tools tell you what to write. Lex focuses on how you can improve what you've already poured onto the page.
Imagine you've got ideas but they need polishing. That's where Lex steps in. More than just grammar or style, Lex helps refine your ideas and sharpen your sentences. It’s there for you, from brainstorming to the final draft, guiding you in the iterative process of writing, which – let's be honest – is where the real work happens.
As the Lex team shared with us, 'We always say Lex writes with you vs. for you,' emphasizing a collaborative relationship rather than a one-sided dynamic.
Lex is a product born from a real need. Nathan, an editor at Every, crafted Lex out of his struggles with writing. With a small, dedicated team and a and $2.75 million in funding led by True Ventures, Lex has emerged as a promising contender in the AI writing space, serving over 100,000 writers.
Top Traits
My writing process usually involves dumping all my ideas onto a page without editing. I then iterate, leaving comments like “investigate this topic more” or “how can I say this better?” Google Docs has always been my go-to partner in this journey, a process that usually stretches over several days.
Lex changed this for me.
Smart Side Comments
What really got me hooked on Lex was its smart side comments feature. Instead of leaving reminders for my future self, I could tag Lex’s smart assistant, @lex, to tackle specific tasks.
It's like having a second pair of eyes, always ready to help with rewriting, suggestions, or quick research.
@lex shines in its ability to provide feedback on your ideas and sentences, not so much on long rewritings.
The '@lex' feature, which allows users to directly engage with the AI, evolves from a familiar behavior. The team shares, 'We were inspired by how writers tag human collaborators @name when working together,' shedding light on the intention to normalize AI as a regular member of the writing team.
Now, a word of caution: sometimes, its responses miss the target, or it seems to forget the context. So, remember, it's a fantastic tool, but you've got to stay sharp and review its suggestions carefully. You don’t want to compromise the quality of your work.
Checks
The real game-changer for me is the new Lex’s 'Checks' feature.
This feature takes your draft and turns it into something close to a finished product by scrutinizing your work for readability, grammar, clichés, and more.
As a writer, you select the paragraphs to audit and then go through each suggestion, choosing what to keep and what to toss.
During my time with Lex, I found the Readability and Brevity checks to be incredibly thorough, flagging hundreds of sentences. However, I ended up accepting less than half of these suggestions, as many tended to overly simplify the text, removing crucial context.
The trick is not to fall into the trap of adopting every recommendation. That's a fast track to ending up with a bland, cookie-cutter piece that lacks your unique style and voice.
One thing I absolutely dig is the detailed explanations behind each suggestion. The goal extends beyond simply refining your present text; it involves cultivating your overall writing competence for the journeys ahead.
Versioning
Lex nails it when it comes to one of the biggest headaches for writers: draft chaos.
Lex's version control is elegantly simple. You can flip between drafts, compare your edits, and keep your brain and your work super organized.
But, here's the rub: the older drafts are locked in a read-only mode. You can look, but you can't touch. If Lex let us dive back into any draft and tweak it – now that would be a serious power move for our workflow.
Writing on Lex feels fresh. The AI is helpful without being intrusive. Its clean and minimalist design is a bonus.
Since incorporating Lex into my routine, writing has become more efficient, enjoyable, and, importantly, uniquely mine.
Work in Progress
Now, while I've been singing praises about Lex, it's important to acknowledge that it's not without its downsides. After all, no tool is perfect, especially in its early stages, and Lex is no exception.
One of the main issues I've encountered with Lex is its overall stability.
You're likely to experience some growing pains. I've noticed occasional freezes and quirks, especially with the tracking changes feature.
Recently, Lex has become noticeably slower, especially when incorporating media into documents. This sluggish performance was frustrating, forcing me to switch to an alternative editor due to the difficulty in navigating the cursor across the page.
Another area where Lex falls short is in its co-writing feature. You can invite another user and write together. However, the execution isn’t quite there yet. Unlike Google Docs, which sets a high standard for collaboration with its suggestion feature, Lex doesn’t allow you to track who made specific edits.
I had to switch back to my old friend, Google Docs, for co-editing this piece with Kirill.
We initially experimented with Lex, attracted by its promising features. However, it became clear that, while Lex has potential, it still has room for improvement in certain areas to make it a more robust and reliable tool for all writing needs.
Magic Wand 🪄
I've been using Lex for a while now, and I've put together a wishlist of features I'd love to see.
Adaptive Tone and Voice Settings
The first item on my wishlist is Adaptive Tone and Voice Settings. Writing isn't one-size-fits-all. One day you might be working on a personal blog post, the next, a piece of marketing copy.
The tool should have the flexibility to switch seamlessly between these different tones and voices. It’s about more than just maintaining your unique style; it's about enhancing it and ensuring consistency.
I've noticed Strut stepping into this arena, and I think Lex could really benefit from this feature.
Text Transformation Options
Next up are transformation options. Imagine being able to quickly shorten, extend, or adjust the formality of your text with a few clicks. This isn't a new idea – we've seen it in Chrome extensions for over a year, and it's incredibly useful.
If Lex integrated these options directly into its interface, it would allow writers to experiment with various versions of their content smoothly, without breaking their creative flow to repeatedly ask @lex in the side comments – a process that can become tedious over time.
Hemingway Check
Finally, the Hemingway Check. Ernest Hemingway was famous for his clear, concise, and precise writing style. A Check type in Lex that emulates this – allowing you to set and achieve a desired readability score – would be phenomenal.
We've seen similar functionality in recent AI upgrades in the Hemingway App.
Integrating this into Lex would simplify the editing process, making it more efficient and effective.
No more switching between applications – just pure, streamlined creativity.
Talking About Biz
Lex’s monetization strategy is refreshingly straightforward: a flat-rate subscription for unlimited use. For just $100 a year or $15 a month, you get unlimited use. And when they say unlimited, they mean it—no limits on credits or word counts. That's how it should be, right? Pay once, and you're set for endless rewriting.
Now, for the pros out there, you get to pick from different GPTs and Claude. Let me tell you, Claude is exceptional at rewriting tasks, outperforming any of the GPTs. Plus, you get early access to new features. That's a big deal.
If you're not ready to commit financially, you can still use most features for free. Sure, there are some limits, but it's a decent deal. However, for someone like me, who produces one or two pieces weekly, upgrading to Lex is a no-brainer. The value you get far outweighs the cost.
But here's the interesting point: is this limitless model sustainable? I mean, other tools have caps on tokens for a reason. Take this text, for example, 2000 words, and just running checks and tagging @lex, I racked up about $5 in gpt-4-turbo costs. I write five posts a week; you do the math.
We're seeing a trend in AI tools—the token prices are dropping, and open-source LLM models are becoming the norm. But let's not forget, that many startups in this space are grappling with gross margins between 20-30%, way lower than the typical 70-90% for software businesses. That's a tough spot to be in.
So, what's the future for these AI startups? It's a big question mark. They might burn through a lot of investor cash subsidizing user usage before we see how it all pans out. For now, though, we, the users, reap the benefits of their extended generosity. Let's enjoy it while it lasts.
Looking ahead
Lex faces a common problem across the AI SaaS landscape: low entry barrier and lack of proprietary technology.
Lex’s editor was built with the popular Tiptap library, which facilitates most of the functionality out of the box. Plus, it connects to several LLM providers that are available to everyone.
There's no secret sauce here, no advanced tech that's keeping others from copying what Lex has done.
Consider this, a Chrome extension could replicate Lex’s functionality in your browser. This could be a game-changer, especially for serious writers, already committed to tools like Scrivener or Day One journal.
So, how does Lex stay ahead in this game? They have a golden opportunity.
Nathan let slip that 100k "serious" writers are already using Lex. That's not just a user base; that's the foundation for a community, a place where the tool transcends AI.
Imagine Lex evolving into a space where writers share their work and receive genuine human feedback. Add exclusive events, like webinars with renowned writers, and suddenly, Lex becomes more than a tool—it becomes a hub for learning and connection.
The key here is fostering a community that values human interaction and peer support, not just the AI aspect. This kind of environment enhances user retention and creates a network effect that’s hard for competitors to mimic.
Lex has all the pieces to do this right, and that is something incredibly hard to replicate, my friends.
Wrapping Up
While Lex is navigating the typical challenges of a startup in the AI space, its potential for growth and community building is immense. As it stands, Lex is a promising tool for writers seeking to enhance their craft. But with strategic shifts focusing on community engagement and sustainable business practices, it could redefine the landscape of AI-assisted writing.
For those of us who thrive on being ahead of the curve, keeping an eye on Lex's evolution will be not just interesting but potentially game-changing.
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