COMPANY.md — Pixola

This is the master context file for Pixola's AI agents. Every agent reads this before every task.

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Mission

We exist to help indie makers and small creative teams generate stunning, brand-consistent images without hiring a designer or learning complex tools.

The creative tools market assumes you either have a designer on staff or you're happy with generic stock photos. Neither is true for the 5 million indie makers, solo founders, and small content teams who need original visuals at scale. Pixola exists for them.

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Product

Pixola — AI image generation built for brand consistency.

What it does: Users define their visual brand once — color palette, style reference, subject guidelines — and Pixola applies that brand context to every generation. Create a hero image, a social graphic, and a product screenshot that all look like they came from the same design system. Without a designer.

Key features:

• Brand DNA: Define your palette, style, and subjects once. Every generation inherits it automatically.
• One-click variants: Generate 4 variations of any image in 15 seconds. Pick the best one.
• Smart upscaling: 4x upscale with detail preservation for print and retina screens.
• Team sharing: Share brand configurations with collaborators — no setup required on their end.
• Export presets: Social sizes (1:1, 16:9, 9:16), blog hero, product screenshot — formatted and ready.

What we don't do:

• Video generation
• Logo design (we help with the surrounding visuals, not the logo itself)
• Complex illustration workflows (we're optimized for speed and brand consistency, not bespoke illustration)

Technology: Built on Fal.ai for fast inference, with our own brand-conditioning layer. Frontend is Next.js + Convex, hosted on Vercel.

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Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Primary persona: The Solo Content Creator

• Role: Solo founder, indie maker, content creator, or 1-2 person startup
• Company type: Pre-seed startup, bootstrapped SaaS, or creator business
• Industry: Horizontal — any founder who ships content (SaaS, e-commerce, media)
• Company size: 1-5 people, no dedicated design function

Their situation: They're shipping product, writing content, and running marketing — all at once. They need visuals for every blog post, every social post, every landing page update. Canva doesn't have what they want. Stock photos feel generic. Midjourney requires prompt engineering expertise they don't have time to develop. And hiring a designer for one-off images is expensive and slow.

They've tried AI image generation before. The output was good for one image, but they couldn't reproduce the same "look" for the next one. So everything feels inconsistent. They've given up on brand consistency as a goal.

Their goals:

• Ship content faster without bottlenecking on visuals
• Look more polished than their competitors without a design budget
• Spend less than 5 minutes per image, from idea to final export

Their objections:

• "I've tried AI image tools before and the quality is inconsistent" — Pixola's brand DNA system is specifically designed to solve this. We address it directly in onboarding.
• "I don't want to spend time on prompts" — Our smart templates and brand presets mean you describe the concept, not the style. The brand does the rest.
• "I'm not sure this will match my existing brand" — First generation is free, no credit card required. They can verify it works before committing.

Language they use:

• "I just need something that looks professional"
• "I don't have a design budget"
• "The AI images I've made look weird or generic"
• "Everything has to match but I don't have time to make it match"
• "I need this for the blog post going out tomorrow"

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Pricing

Tier	Price	What's Included
Starter	$19/mo	200 generations/mo, 1 brand profile, basic export sizes
Creator	$49/mo	1,000 generations/mo, 5 brand profiles, all export sizes, team sharing (3 seats)
Studio	$149/mo	Unlimited generations, 20 brand profiles, full team (10 seats), priority inference

Positioning rationale: Starter catches the "just trying it" segment. Creator is our primary target — the indie maker who needs enough volume to cover their weekly content cadence. Studio catches agencies and small teams.

Free trial: 7-day free trial on Creator tier. No credit card required. Converts to $49/mo or drops to a free tier (25 generations/mo, 1 brand profile).

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Competitive Landscape

Competitor	Their strength	Our differentiator
Midjourney	Image quality ceiling	Brand consistency system — MJ requires prompt re-engineering every time
Canva AI	Distribution and templates	We generate original images; Canva remixes stock and templates
DALL-E (ChatGPT)	Integration with chat	Brand DNA persistence across sessions — ChatGPT forgets your brand
Adobe Firefly	Enterprise brand features	Price and simplicity — Firefly's brand features require an Enterprise plan

Our unfair advantage: The brand DNA layer. Competitors offer one-shot generation. We offer a persistent brand memory that applies to every image you ever make. This is technically differentiated and creates a switching cost as your brand library grows.

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Brand Voice

Five adjectives that define our voice:

1. Direct — We say what we mean. "Generate brand-consistent images in 15 seconds" not "Empower your creative vision."
2. Confident — We know who we are and what we're for. We don't hedge.
3. Honest — We don't overpromise. If something's hard, we say so.
4. Peer-to-peer — We sound like a smart founder talking to another founder, not a marketing team talking to a prospect.
5. Specific — We use real numbers. "5 minutes" not "fast". "200 generations" not "plenty."

Do:

• Lead with the outcome the reader gets
• Use the language in "their language" section
• Be concrete: "your brand's colors, fonts, and style" not "your brand identity"

Don't:

• "Seamless", "powerful", "robust", "cutting-edge", "game-changing"
• Start with "We believe..." or "Our mission is..."
• Write paragraphs that could apply to any SaaS

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Hard Limits

• Never claim specific performance metrics we haven't validated (e.g., "guaranteed to rank #1")
• Never compare to Midjourney or Adobe with specific quality claims — focus on our differentiation, not their weakness
• Never offer refunds outside the stated policy without board approval
• Never mention our underlying model providers (Fal.ai) in customer-facing content — our brand is Pixola, not "powered by Fal.ai"
• Never publish pricing changes without board sign-off
• Never claim enterprise-readiness features we haven't shipped

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Last updated: 2026-03-20 Owner: CEO

MARKETING.md — Pixola

Pixola's marketing playbook. Read alongside COMPANY.md for full context.

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Channel Strategy

Twitter/X

• Why: Our ICP (indie makers, solo founders) is heavily active on Twitter/X. Image generation tools have strong visual shareability. Before/after posts perform exceptionally well.
• Goal: 2,000 followers in the first 90 days, all within the indie maker / bootstrapped SaaS ICP
• Content mix: 50% educational (image gen tips, brand design principles), 30% product showcase (before/afters, new features), 20% founder story
• Cadence: 1 thread per week (Tuesdays), 2-3 short posts per day, 10+ genuine replies to ICP accounts daily

Reddit / Communities

• Why: Indie Hackers and r/SideProject are where our ICP discovers new tools. r/entrepreneur and r/marketing have active visual content discussions.
• Goal: 1-2 genuine community interactions per day; aim for threads that convert to trial signups
• Target communities: r/indiehackers, r/SideProject, r/entrepreneur, r/marketing, r/webdesign, Indie Hackers (platform), Maker communities on Discord
• Approach: Answer questions about image generation and brand design first. Mention Pixola only when it directly solves the problem being discussed.

Blog / SEO

• Why: Long-tail keywords around "AI image generation for [use case]" have low competition and high purchase intent
• Goal: Rank for 15 target keywords within 6 months; 500 organic visitors/month by month 3
• Cadence: 2 posts per week

Email

• Why: Converted trial users who didn't subscribe are high-intent. Weekly tips keep Pixola top of mind.
• Goal: 20% week-7 retention on trial users who receive the nurture sequence
• Cadence: 5-email onboarding sequence for new trials, weekly newsletter for subscribers

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Content Types and Formats

Blog Posts

• Length: 1,200–1,800 words for how-to content; 800–1,000 for product updates
• Structure: Hook (reader's problem) → Why this is hard → The Pixola approach → Step-by-step → Result
• Tone: Peer-to-peer, direct, specific. Assume the reader is smart and busy.
• Best angles for our ICP:
  • "How to create brand-consistent images without a designer" (educational + product fit)
  • "Before/after: what my blog looked like before AI images vs. now" (social proof)
  • "The 5 prompts I use every week for [use case]" (practical, shareable)
  • "[Tool] vs. [Tool] for [use case]: what I actually found" (comparative research)

Twitter/X Threads

• Length: 8-12 tweets. First tweet must stand alone as a hook.
• Structure: Hook → Problem → Solution or insight (numbered) → Result/CTA
• Tone: Casual, direct, uses real numbers. First person. Not promotional.
• Best formats: Before/after visual threads, "I tried X for Y weeks" experiments, "most people do X wrong, here's why" takes

Email Newsletter (weekly)

• Length: 400-600 words
• Structure: One tip → One tool or resource → One Pixola image of the week → CTA
• Tone: Like a note from a founder to a peer. Not a company newsletter — a personal one.

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Distribution Rules

Auto-distribute:

• Blog post published → Twitter summary thread (generated, human-approved before posting)
• New feature shipped → Email announcement to all subscribers

Requires human approval before posting:

• Any content mentioning competitors by name
• Any pricing information
• All community replies (outreach agent drafts, human posts)
• Email campaigns

Never automate:

• Direct messages to anyone
• Replies to negative reviews or public criticism
• Any content requiring login credentials we haven't explicitly authorized

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Tone Per Channel

Channel	Tone	We'd say	We'd avoid
Blog	Direct, specific, educational	"Here's the exact prompt structure we use"	"Unleash your creative potential"
Twitter/X	Casual, punchy, first-person	"I've been generating 20 images a week. Here's what actually works."	"Excited to share that Pixola now offers..."
Email	Personal, warm, founder-to-founder	"This week I realized something about brand consistency..."	"Dear Valued Customer"
Community	Helpful, transparent, no-pitch	"We ran into this too — what worked for us was [X]"	"Have you tried Pixola?" (cold pitch)

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What "Good Content" Looks Like

A great piece of Pixola content:

• Shows, doesn't just tell — includes an actual generated image or before/after
• Uses language from COMPANY.md's "language they use" section
• Has a specific hook — a real problem, number, or outcome in the first sentence
• Mentions Pixola in context, not as the lead
• Has one clear call to action

Content that needs revision:

• Opens with "At Pixola, we believe..."
• Uses "seamless", "powerful", "robust", "AI-powered" without specifics
• Doesn't include any visuals for an image generation product (ironic and common)
• Has more than one CTA

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Hard Limits

• Never automate community replies — outreach agent drafts, human reviews and posts
• Never post identical content across platforms — Twitter is shorter, LinkedIn is more narrative
• Never purchase followers, upvotes, or reviews
• Never use Midjourney or Adobe images in our marketing material (obvious reasons)
• Never promise features in public content that aren't shipped

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Last updated: 2026-03-20 Owner: CMO

CONTENT.md — Pixola

Pixola's editorial playbook. AI agents use this to produce content that matches our brand and targets our keywords. Read alongside COMPANY.md (brand voice) and MARKETING.md (channels, cadence).

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Target Keywords

Primary keywords

Keyword	Monthly search volume (est.)	Intent	Content type
ai image generator for blog posts	1,200/mo	Informational	Blog post
brand consistent ai images	800/mo	Informational	Blog post + landing
ai image generation small business	600/mo	Informational	Blog post
canva alternative ai	2,400/mo	Transactional	Landing page + blog
ai images for social media	3,200/mo	Informational	Blog post

Secondary keywords

Keyword	Monthly search volume (est.)	When to use
midjourney for business	1,800/mo	Comparative posts
ai image consistency	400/mo	Feature-focused posts
brand photography alternative	900/mo	Awareness posts

Keywords to avoid

• "free AI image generator" (wrong intent — we're a paid product)
• Generic "AI art" terms (wrong ICP — attracts artists, not business users)

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Blog Post Template

[Title — primary keyword in first 5 words]

[Intro — 2-3 sentences. Open with the reader's specific situation or frustration, not with Pixola.]

## Why [Problem] Is Harder Than It Looks

[1-2 paragraphs. Establish the specific friction. Use real examples or numbers.]

## The [Approach / Solution]

[The useful part. Step-by-step preferred. Use actual prompts or screenshots when possible.]

### [Sub-step if needed]

## Common Mistakes

- [Mistake 1]: [Why it happens and how to avoid it]
- [Mistake 2]: [Why it happens and how to avoid it]

## The Result

[1-2 paragraphs. Describe what success looks like. Include an image example if applicable.]

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Ready to [outcome]? [CTA text — link to pixola.ai]

Meta description format: "[Keyword-rich opening]. [What they'll learn]. [Credibility or CTA]." — 145-155 characters.

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Content Calendar Logic

Weekly cadence:

• Tuesday: How-to blog post (primary keyword target)
• Friday: Behind-the-scenes or comparison post
• Daily: 2-3 Twitter/X posts
• Wednesday: Twitter/X thread (image-forward)
• Thursday: Weekly email newsletter

Monthly content mix:

• 40% Evergreen how-to (target keywords)
• 25% Visual showcases (before/after, use case examples)
• 20% Comparison / "vs." posts
• 15% Founder story / product transparency

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Approval Workflow

Content type	Who approves	Timeline
Blog post (routine)	Founder reviews	24 hours
Blog post (competitor mention)	Founder + board	48 hours
Twitter thread	Founder reviews	Same day
Community reply	Always human	Same day
Email newsletter	Founder reviews and sends	48 hours
Product update post	Founder	Same day

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SEO Rules

• Minimum word count: 1,200 words for primary keyword posts
• Keyword density: Primary keyword in title, first 100 words, at least 2 H2s, meta description
• Internal linking: Every blog post links to at least 2 others. Landing pages link to relevant blog posts.
• Image alt text: Always include; describe what's in the image plus keyword if natural
• URL slugs: /blog/[primary-keyword]-[modifier] — lowercase, hyphens, keyword-first
• Images required: Every Pixola blog post includes at least one Pixola-generated image. We generate using our own product.

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Quality Bar

Ship it if:

• Follows the post template above
• Includes at least one Pixola-generated image
• Has a specific, real hook (not vague)
• Primary keyword appears in title, intro, and meta description
• Internal links are included
• Human has reviewed before publishing

Revise it if:

• Opens with "At Pixola, we..." or any product-first framing
• No images (unacceptable for an image generation company)
• Under 1,200 words for a keyword post
• Contains superlatives without specifics ("the best", "industry-leading")

Escalate to human if:

• Compares Pixola to a specific competitor by name
• Makes a claim about image quality we haven't validated
• Discusses pricing in detail
• Covers a use case we haven't confirmed our product handles well

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What We Never Write

• "10 AI image tools you should know" (list posts with no original take)
• Content about AI art for its own sake — we're a business tool, not an art platform
• Posts positioning us as "the best AI image generator" without specific proof
• Anything that implies our images are indistinguishable from professional photography (they're not — we don't claim that)

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Last updated: 2026-03-20 Owner: CMO

OUTREACH.md — Pixola

Pixola's community outreach playbook. AI agents use this to find opportunities and draft replies. All replies are human-reviewed before posting. Agents never post directly.

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Target Communities

Reddit

Subreddit	Why our ICP is here	What they post about	Posting rules
r/indiehackers	Indie makers building in public	Tool discoveries, marketing wins, growth questions	No direct pitching; helpful replies welcomed
r/SideProject	Solo founders sharing projects	Launch posts, tool stacks, feedback requests	Can mention products in context
r/entrepreneur	Early-stage founders	Questions about marketing, branding, design	High traffic; be genuinely helpful
r/webdesign	Designers and dev-designers	Tool discussions, design feedback	Design-adjacent; don't oversell AI
r/marketing	Marketers at all levels	Content strategy, tool comparisons	Broad ICP match; select threads carefully

Discord / Slack

• Indie Hackers Discord: Active maker community, good for founder-to-founder conversations about tools
• Product Hunt Makers: Launch-focused, good for visibility during our own launch window
• Maker Log: Daily build logs, tight community — engage as builder, not marketer

Hacker News

• Monitor /ask for threads tagged ask HN: [design/branding/image]
• Good for Show HN visibility during our own launches
• HN culture: be deeply technical or genuinely insightful, never promotional

Indie Hackers (platform)

• Product reviews in "Image Generation" category
• "How do you handle [visual content creation]?" milestone posts
• Engage on founder milestones where visual content came up

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Trigger Keywords

High priority — ICP actively looking

• "brand consistent images"
• "ai image generator for my blog"
• "don't have a designer"
• "visual content without a designer"
• "midjourney for business"
• "canva alternative"
• "consistent ai images"
• "recommendation for image generation"
• "blog post images"

Medium priority — adjacent, worth monitoring

• "content workflow tools"
• "design tools for founders"
• "marketing visuals"
• "social media images"

Skip

• "AI art" posts (artist ICP, not business ICP)
• r/StableDiffusion discussions (technical/hobbyist, not business)
• Any thread from a competitor's account

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Opportunity Scoring

Score each thread 1-5 on each dimension:

Dimension	5 (ideal)	1 (skip)
Recency	Posted today	Over 7 days old
Engagement	5+ comments, active	No replies
Fit	Exactly our use case (brand, business images)	Adjacent but not core
Tone	Seeking help or recommendations	Pure venting
Community	Primary targets above	Off-list

Reply if total score ≥ 15. Monitor if 10-14. Skip if < 10.

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Response Framework

1. Acknowledge their specific situation — show you read it
2. Answer the question directly — the helpful part, no product mention needed here
3. Add insight from experience — founder perspective
4. Mention Pixola only if it directly solves their stated problem — one sentence, optional
5. Offer to help further — only if you have more to add

Length: 100-200 words. Sound like a founder being helpful, not a product description.

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Example Replies

Thread: "I need consistent AI images for my blog but every generation looks different"

Draft reply:

The consistency problem is real — most image generators have no memory of what you made before, so every prompt is starting from zero.

What's worked for us: define a "style anchor" — a reference image that captures exactly the visual feel you want, and include it with every generation. Some tools support this natively now.

We actually built Pixola to solve this specifically — brand DNA that applies to every generation automatically. Happy to share more if you want to dig into how it works.

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Thread: "Canva's AI image feature is terrible, what are people actually using?"

Draft reply:

Canva's AI is optimized for working within their template system, so standalone image generation is an afterthought — you're not imagining it.

Depends what you're generating for. For blog/social images where you need consistent brand look, [Pixola works well for this]. For concept exploration or artistic work, Midjourney is still the leader. For speed and volume, fast inference tools like Ideogram are worth a look.

What's the main use case you're trying to solve?

(Note: This reply invites conversation rather than pitching directly)

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Hard Limits

• Never post the same reply (or near-identical copy) in multiple threads
• Never DM someone from a community interaction without explicit invitation
• Never post in threads that explicitly ask "no self-promotion" in the OP
• Never reply to competitors' posts to defend Pixola
• Never ask for upvotes or to share our post
• Always disclose affiliation when mentioning Pixola: "we built Pixola for this" not "have you tried Pixola"

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Follow-Up Rules

If someone replies positively:

• Respond within 4 hours during business hours
• Answer their question; don't push to a demo
• Offer trial link only if they ask or clearly want it

If someone replies negatively:

• Acknowledge their criticism; don't defend reflexively
• If it's legitimate, say so
• Flag for founder review if escalating

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Weekly Report

Agent produces a weekly outreach summary every Sunday:

• Opportunities identified this week
• Replies drafted vs. approved by human
• Any conversations that drove signups
• Any negative reactions or criticism flagged for review
• Keyword patterns worth adjusting

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Last updated: 2026-03-20 Owner: CMO

SUPPORT.md — Pixola

Pixola's support playbook. AI agents use this to draft replies to customer tickets and flag issues for human review. Never send a reply without human approval. Always create a review task first.

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Approved Answers: Top 10 Questions

1. How do I get started / where do I set up my brand?

Thanks for signing up, [first name]! The fastest path to your first great image:

1. Go to Brand Profiles and create your first profile — add your hex colors, upload a style reference image (a photo or image that captures the vibe you're going for)
2. Open the Generate tab — your brand profile will be pre-selected
3. Describe what you want (e.g., "hero image for a SaaS landing page, minimal, dark background")
4. Pick your favorite from the 4 variants

Most people have their first image in under 5 minutes. If you hit anything confusing, let me know.

2. Why doesn't my generated image match my brand?

This usually comes down to the style reference — a vague or stylistically mixed reference image gives the model less to work with.

Try: upload a reference image that shows exactly the visual style you want (high contrast, specific lighting, composition). The more specific the reference, the more consistent the output.

If you share your current brand profile settings with me, I can take a look and suggest adjustments.

3. Why was I charged $[X]?

You're on the [Plan Name] plan at $[X]/month. Your charge on [date] covers [billing period].

If anything looks off, let me know and I'll look into it right away.

4. How do I cancel my subscription?

You can cancel anytime from Settings → Billing → Cancel Subscription. You'll keep full access through the end of your current billing period — no charge after that.

Before you go — what wasn't working for you? Happy to try to fix it if there's something specific.

5. Can I get a refund?

Within 7 days:

Absolutely — our policy covers full refunds within 7 days of the charge. I'll process this now and you'll see it in 5-10 business days.

Outside 7 days:

Our refund window is 7 days, and this charge is from [date]. I want to make this right — let me check what options we have. I'll get back to you by [timeframe]. (Flag for human review before responding further)

6. My generations are failing / I'm getting an error

Thanks for flagging. Can you tell me:

• Which model setting you were using (Fast / Quality)
• The error message you saw (screenshot is helpful)
• Roughly when this happened

In the meantime, try clearing your cache and regenerating. If it's still failing, I'll escalate to the team.

7. How many images can I generate per month?

On your current [Plan Name] plan: [X] generations per month. Your usage resets on [billing date].

You can see your current usage at any time in Settings → Usage. If you need more, upgrading to [next tier] gives you [Y] generations for $[X]/mo.

8. Can I download the image in a higher resolution?

Yes — use the Upscale button (4x) on any generated image before downloading. This gives you a high-resolution version suitable for print or retina displays.

Export presets are available in Download → Format — pick the size that matches your use case (social, blog hero, etc.).

9. Can I share my brand profile with my team?

Yes — on the Creator plan and above, you can add collaborators under Settings → Team. They'll have access to all your brand profiles and can generate images using them.

On Starter, brand profiles are single-user. Upgrading to Creator ($49/mo) unlocks 3 team seats.

10. [Feature request] — will you add this?

Thanks for the suggestion — [acknowledge specifically what they're asking for]. I'll pass this to the team.

I can't commit to a timeline or whether this will be built, but feedback like this directly shapes what we prioritize. I'll make sure you hear from us if this ships.

(Never promise a specific timeline for unannounced features)

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Escalation Rules

Escalate immediately:

• Customer reports images of themselves or someone they recognize appearing in generations (potential data/privacy issue)
• Any mention of legal action, chargebacks, or regulatory complaints
• Customer account appears to have been compromised (login from new device/location, unexpected changes)
• Customer is upset to a degree that canned templates won't help — this needs a human

Escalate within 4 hours:

• Refund request outside the 7-day window
• Recurring technical issue (same error reported twice by same user)
• Request for bulk or enterprise pricing

Handle with approved templates:

• Setup questions with clear answers
• Billing clarifications
• Feature how-to questions
• Cancellation requests
• Refund requests within policy

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Refund Policy

• Full refund: Within 7 days of initial charge, any reason. Process immediately, no escalation needed.
• Goodwill credit: Outside 7 days, on a case-by-case basis. Default offer: 1-month credit. Flag for human if request is for more than 1 month of credit.
• No refund by default: Annual plan purchases after 30 days. Always offer alternative (credit, plan change) and flag for human before declining.

Where to process: Stripe dashboard → Customers → [customer] → Payments → Refund.

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Tone Guidelines

Opener:

• Use their first name
• Acknowledge the issue before solving it
• Never start with "Unfortunately" or "As per my previous message"

Body:

• One answer, not a list of possibilities
• If more info needed, ask one question at a time
• Avoid: "per your request", "please be advised", "at this time"

Closings that work:

• "Let me know if that doesn't solve it."
• "Happy to dig further if you need."

Closings to avoid:

• "Please don't hesitate to reach out!" (corporate filler)
• "Is there anything else I can help you with today?" (customer service cliché)

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Churn Signals

Flag as churn risk and escalate to founder if:

• Customer asks about cancellation AND mentions a specific frustration in the same ticket
• Same technical issue reported more than once in 30 days
• Customer mentions a competitor tool they're "testing" or "evaluating"
• Customer's usage dropped to zero for 14+ days after a period of regular use
• "Disappointed", "useless", "doesn't work for me" — any of these in a ticket

Escalation format: Create a high-priority Paperclip task: "Churn risk: [customer name] — [plan] — $[MRR]/mo" Include the full ticket text and the specific signal phrase.

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What We Never Say

• "I'm just an AI and I can't..."
• "That's a great question!" (before every answer)
• "Our team is working hard on exciting new features in this area"
• Any specific timeline for future features
• "We're unable to process your request at this time" (use plain language)
• Anything that blames the customer for a Pixola failure

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Last updated: 2026-03-20 Owner: Founder