Faris at MusicTech Meets Private Capital: How Product Building Evolved From 2001 to 2025
We took the stage this month at MusicTech Meets Private Capital conference in Milano organized by Zero One Hundred and partners.
We're talking about an event bringing together founders, investors, and innovators shaping the next decade of music and technology.
Our co-founder and CEO, Faris, joined the program to deliver a talk that explored one of the biggest shifts in modern product development:
the collapse of the gap between idea and prototype.
What used to take months now takes hours, and it’s fundamentally reshaping how products are imagined, tested, and built.
From iPod to AI: The timeline that changed everything
In his talk, Faris walked the audience through a 24-year journey of product creation:
- 2001: Building consumer hardware like the iPod required “big” everything: big teams, big budgets, big timelines.
- 2014: Early music-tech tools like Captain Plugins and Odesi reduced complexity, but still required multiple disciplines coordinating closely.
- 2025: With no-code tools and AI now in the mainstream, building a working prototype is no longer the bottleneck — it’s practically instant.
Across every era, one thing stayed the same:
products start with prototypes; but today, prototypes start much earlier, much faster, and with far fewer barriers.
Why this shift matters for founders, teams, and investors
The message Faris shared with the room was simple:
Speed wins, but not in the way it used to.
Speed today isn’t about rushing.
It’s about reducing the distance between thinking and making.
He outlined four key takeaways that resonated strongly with attendees:
1. Prototype on day one
It’s no longer an optional step. In 2025, it is the step.
Products begin the moment something becomes visual, clickable, or testable.
2. Prototype before decks
Ideas communicated visually create alignment faster across teams, founders, and investors alike.
3. Barrier to entry: Gone
The timeline looks like this now:
8 months → 8 days → 8 hours.
The effort required to build early versions has collapsed.
4. Experts still matter
Faris stressed a crucial point: Prototypes aren’t products.
Scaling, security, architecture, and longevity still require experienced teams.
Why Milano was the right stage
MusicTech Meets Private Capital gathers the people shaping what comes next in music, tech, and venture. The event created the perfect setting to reflect on how modern teams can move from idea → prototype → traction with more clarity and speed than ever before.
For MoP, the conversation aligns with how we build alongside founders every day — focusing on real-world execution, rapid validation, and transforming early concepts into scalable digital products.
What’s next
With product building changing this fast, founders entering 2025 are operating in the best era of entrepreneurship so far. Tools have matured, barriers have shrunk, and the only real limit is how quickly you can turn an idea into something real.
And those are exactly some of the topics Faris will talk about on the upcoming Doers Summit in Dubai this November.
We'll be sure to share more about his experience there.