Feb 6, 2026 · 11m · a16z

From $0 to $11B: The ElevenLabs Story

Mati Staniszewski · 3m spoken Piotr Dabkowski · 2m spoken ElevenLabs Employee · 54s spoken ElevenLabs Audio Research Engineer · 43s spoken ElevenLabs Engineer · 35s spoken ElevenLabs Investor · 12s spoken

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In an in-depth interview at Andreessen Horowitz headquarters, ElevenLabs Co-Founder Mati Staniszewski and key team members trace the company's journey from a weekend side project solving movie dubbing to a global leader in AI voice technology. They discuss their vision for voice as the primary future computing interface, backed by an unconventional culture of flat hierarchy, remote work, and non-traditional hiring.

Chapters · click to jump

1 statement ▾

Dabkowski: Apple's Siri fails to cross threshold of realistic human emotion open →

1 statement ▾

Staniszewski: Screen-first computing devices will shift into the background open →

2 statements ▾

Staniszewski: AI voice tutors will personalize future classroom learning open →

Staniszewski: Voice AI will dissolve global language and cultural barriers open →

1 statement ▾

Staniszewski: Polish single-voice movie dubbing inspired ElevenLabs' founding open →

1 statement ▾

Staniszewski: ElevenLabs waitlist grew to hundreds of thousands upon launch open →

1 statement ▾

Staniszewski: Only 50 to 100 top-level voice AI researchers exist globally open →

1 statement ▾

Dabkowski: Trusting 'mini-founders' drastically reduces company management effort open →

1 statement ▾

Dabkowski: ElevenLabs eliminated job titles to filter out high-ego applicants open →

3 statements ▾

ElevenLabs Engineer: A single AI model will eventually generate all audio open →

ElevenLabs Employee: Audio will become the primary human-computer interaction modality open →

Dabkowski: Voice is the only AI modality that evokes real emotion open →

How this conversation actually went

Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →

The host as informed peer 1.6 Guest teaching 2.6 Guest disagreement 0.2 The host pushing back 0.4

speaking balance: gold is the host, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

Sharpest disagreement ▶ 5:19 Rejecting in-person cultural obsession

Mati gently pushes back against the prevailing Silicon Valley in-person mandate by explaining that global scale and elite voice research required hiring worldwide.

Hardest push from the host ▶ 5:19 Challenging remote setup against in-person obsession

The host challenges the company's remote-first posture by contrasting it directly with industry obsession over in-person work.

Biggest teaching moment ▶ 9:24 Explaining raw audio models vs text tokens

An ElevenLabs audio research engineer details how training models on raw audio data differs from human text tokens to unlock multi-modal intelligence.

The host holds their own ▶ 0:47 Framing voice as the next fundamental interface

The host demonstrates preparation by quoting Mati's exact vision comparing voice interfaces to touchscreens and keyboards.

the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each

Topic	The host as informed peer	Guest teaching	Guest disagreement	The host pushing back	Why
Prologue: The Historical Quest for Synthetic Voice	2	3	0	0	The host opens with friendly, well-researched prompts referencing Mati's prior quotes about voice interfaces, allowing the founders to explain synthetic voice history and Polish movie dubbing.
From Side Project to Explosive Global Launch	2	2	0	0	The host asks broad questions regarding product philosophy and team growth, which prompts back-and-forth testimonials from early employees about non-traditional recruiting.
Remote-First Work Culture and Co-Founder Synergy	3	3	1	2	The host introduces mild tension by contrasting ElevenLabs' remote model with tech's strong in-person obsession, prompting Mati to justify global remote hiring.
Flat Hierarchy: Eliminating Titles to Scale Culture	0	4	0	0	Without host participation, team members elaborate on flat organizational hierarchy and technical distinctions between text tokens and raw audio models.
Personal Drive and Defining the Future Interface	1	1	0	0	The host concludes with a standard personal reflection question, which Mati answers warmly regarding mission alignment and team passion.

Statements from this episode (12)

Opinion

Dabkowski: Apple's Siri fails to cross threshold of realistic human emotion

“It sounds more realistic, but again, it doesn't cross that threshold of actually sounding like a human and actually making you feel something.”

Piotr Dabkowski Feb 6, 2026 ▶ 0:24

Prediction Not checkable as stated

Staniszewski: Screen-first computing devices will shift into the background

“A lot of things are screen first. Most people will have a laptop, the phone, and most of the day in front of them. I think a lot of that will move into the background where, where you will be able to be a lot more present.”

Mati Staniszewski Feb 6, 2026 ▶ 1:00

Prediction Not checkable as stated

Staniszewski: AI voice tutors will personalize future classroom learning

“When I imagine, say, studying in a classroom in the future, you have on headphones, you can have the most smart physicist, mathematician historian helping you through learning the subject.”

Mati Staniszewski Feb 6, 2026 ▶ 1:09

Prediction Not checkable as stated

Staniszewski: Voice AI will dissolve global language and cultural barriers

“And with voice and with technology, suddenly this will become possible, where you can speak any language in the world, and fully understand, ah, not, not only what is said, but how it's said, ah, kind of feel a closer part, which will be just incredible future…”

Mati Staniszewski Feb 6, 2026 ▶ 1:33

Assertion Supported

Staniszewski: Polish single-voice movie dubbing inspired ElevenLabs' founding

“In Poland, if you watch a foreign movie, all the voices, whether it's a male or female voice, are narrated with one single character. So one voice speaks all the lines. All the emotionality, all the intonation just disappears. And then back in 2021, we realize…”

Mati Staniszewski Feb 6, 2026 ▶ 1:59

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Staniszewski: ElevenLabs waitlist grew to hundreds of thousands upon launch

“So when we launched in early January, we already have a few thousand people lined up that we knew are very interested in actually using the product. But then, of course, the few thousand turned into a few 100,000 of users, and that was a magnitude probably hig…”

Mati Staniszewski Feb 6, 2026 ▶ 2:39

Opinion

Staniszewski: Only 50 to 100 top-level voice AI researchers exist globally

“We don't think there's that many researchers in the world that are at the top level, especially in invoice, maybe 50, maybe hundred.”

Mati Staniszewski Feb 6, 2026 ▶ 5:08

Insight

Dabkowski: Trusting 'mini-founders' drastically reduces company management effort

“If you can grade people, there is very little effort needed to run the company because you can just trust these mini founders.”

Piotr Dabkowski Feb 6, 2026 ▶ 7:07

Disclosure

Dabkowski: ElevenLabs eliminated job titles to filter out high-ego applicants

“We removed all the titles, and it's a great way, both initially, of filtering for people who are very low ego, and so if you're coming in, yes, I want to be VP of blah-de-blah, you're not going to get VP, and so it actually will turn off those people, but I'd …”

Piotr Dabkowski Feb 6, 2026 ▶ 7:33

Prediction Not checkable as stated

ElevenLabs Engineer: A single AI model will eventually generate all audio

“Currently we have specialized models for audio, for sound effects, and for music, and I think the future of sound is kind of like having one model which can generate any kind of audio.”

ElevenLabs Engineer Feb 6, 2026 ▶ 8:39

Prediction Not checkable as stated

ElevenLabs Employee: Audio will become the primary human-computer interaction modality

“I think there's going to be a point where most of the communicate we do with machine might be for audio, because one is faster to communicate, but also because it's more information rich.”

ElevenLabs Employee Feb 6, 2026 ▶ 9:10

Opinion

Dabkowski: Voice is the only AI modality that evokes real emotion

“Voice is the only AI modality that can actually make you feel something. And so when you have text, yes, you can have a poem or a story but it doesn't give you that same kind of emotive feel.”

Piotr Dabkowski Feb 6, 2026 ▶ 9:46

From $0 to $11B: The ElevenLabs Story

How this conversation actually went

Statements from this episode (12)

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