In a world where automation is becoming indispensable for businesses, Solo by Mozilla sets new benchmarks by offering a cutting-edge, AI-driven website-building solution explicitly tailored for solopreneurs.
In our latest episode of AllAboutAI.com, we had the pleasure of speaking with Raj Singh, the Head of Product at Solo by Mozilla, to discuss the platform’s creation, mission, and how it’s transforming the website-building experience.
Whether you’re a service provider looking for a digital business card or a consultant seeking a seamless way to build your online presence, Solo is designed to make website creation accessible, streamlined, and hassle-free.
Join us as we explore how Solo by Mozilla empowers solopreneurs to build websites without technical complexities, allowing them to focus on what matters most—running their business.
Solo: Building a Future of Simpler, Affordable Websites
Solo is designed to make website creation faster and more accessible for freelancers, consultants, and service providers without requiring technical expertise. In this conversation, Raj delves into the inspiration behind Solo, its mission, and how it’s reshaping the website-building experience for non-technical users.
Who is Raj Singh?
Raj Singh is a seasoned product leader with a long-standing history of creating impactful, user-focused products. As the Head of Product for Solo at Mozilla, he leverages his vast experience from multi-VC-backed startups and successful exits to develop tools that empower individuals and small businesses to thrive in the digital world.
So, Raj, What inspired you to create Solo?
Raj Singh: Solo started of necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools were shut down where I live in the Bay Area, and I had a six-year-old son. So, I taught him how to play chess—to keep him occupied. And I thought, “I’m sure there are other kids in the neighborhood I can teach, too, who are stuck at home.”
So, I set up a website to teach kids for free. I tried Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress and spent maybe an hour, maybe two hours—I’m not sure exactly, I don’t remember—but I never finished. I got stuck with curating the content and finding the images. I’m not… Although I like to design user experience, I wouldn’t say I like higher-fidelity visual design and colors.
Fast-forward to when I joined Mozilla. The intersection of generative AI and website creation became an opportunity to build something new, and thus, Solo’s journey began.
How has your experience working with Mozilla been?
Raj Singh: It’s been fantastic. Makers of Firefox, a great browser. They’re formative to the internet—Netscape era, you know, they’ve been around forever.
Mozilla, known for Firefox and its commitment to democratizing the internet, has always played a neutral role in the tech industry, keeping big tech in check. This mission aligned perfectly with our goal for Solo—to create an accessible website builder for everyone, not just those with technical expertise.
What market research did you conduct before launching Solo?
Raj Singh: I go through a series of steps and processes anytime I want to evaluate something I want to build. Most of my career has been in startups. So, when I was looking at this problem statement, I looked at the space, and it’s not apparent because Wix, Squarespace, WordPress, and whatnot are massive companies that capture so much of the internet.
But interestingly, just a little over a decade ago, Shopify came out of nowhere and said, “Hey, we’re going to take a sliver of their business and just focus on e-commerce.” At the time, there was a lot of skepticism, like, “Why would I use Shopify when I could just use Wix?” But they proved many skeptics wrong and created a massive business there.
When we looked at Solo, we felt that there was another insertion point—service providers—who charge by the hour. This could be consultants, coaches, dog walkers, therapists, or anyone who provides services. We felt that this sliver was tiny but rapidly growing. Some call it the side hustle; some call it freelancing.
Interestingly, at least in the US, it’s the fastest-growing business category. Everybody wants to be their own boss—ownership economy, whatever you want to call it. So, we felt that this was a gap we could exploit. We can build an experience that is very good for service providers. And just like Shopify’s curve, we could follow a similar path over time.
What is the philosophy behind the name ‘Solo’?
Raj Singh: Solo is explicitly designed for solopreneurs—those who work independently, freelancers or consultants. We wanted the platform to reflect these individuals’ independence and self–reliance. Websites may not always be their top priority, but having a landing page or a digital business card is crucial. So, the name Solo came naturally as a nod to the solopreneur concept.
What makes Solo stand out in the competitive landscape of AI-driven website builders?
Raj Singh: Since we launched—and even maybe a bit before—there have been several AI website creators, generators, builders, whatever you want to call them. We do a couple of things to differentiate ourselves in the space. Solo has three main differentiators.
First, it’s an effortless experience. It’s by design. We’re not trying to be the fully-loaded vehicle. We’re trying to be something simple and easy to use. If you want all the bells and whistles, use Wix or Squarespace. That’s probably a better channel. But for the vast majority of people, it simply works. We make design decisions for you, and it’s pretty effective.
Solo gets users to the finish line because many people get stuck building their sites, lose interest, and never ultimately launch their businesses. But we want you to launch your business.
Second, we are focused on service providers. Although people use Solo in many ways, we’ve focused on service providers in that segment. We look at features from that lens. Many AI website creators try to be generic or output into source code that a developer can take over. That’s not our focus.
Third, possibly the most disruptive, is that we are also free. We are the only AI website creator where you can connect and host your custom domain for free. It’s a big deal because many business models around website hosting require you to pay to connect your custom domain.
We realized early on that SSL certificates are now free (which used to be paid for 15 to 20 years ago), hosting is super cheap now, and WebP format compresses images so much that single-page sites don’t use much bandwidth. Most small businesses don’t get more than 50–100 visitors monthly. You shouldn’t have to pay $10, $20, $30, or $50 a month just to host your website.
The unfortunate part of this is that many of these services layer in dark patterns to upsell more. If you want a chat widget, that’s another $10. If you wish to do analytics, that’s another $10. Before you know it, you’re paying $50 monthly for a site with ten visitors. Of course, we will introduce a business model. The product itself will remain free, but we plan to monetize differently.
How does Solo leverage AI to create websites?
Raj Singh: Quite weirdly, I’ve been in the AI category for a long time, though I’m sure everyone says that now. I had the first .ai domain on the internet with my company, Tempo, over ten years ago. I point out that my experience working with AI has been very consistent.
When doing computer vision work in 2009, NLP semantic analysis in 2012, and meeting summarization in 2019, I’ve always used this litmus test I call the “95% rule“: is 95% good enough?
AI is excellent, but it’s not perfect. Even a 1–2% error is too much when dealing with mission-critical workflows.
I had a calendar company (Tempo AI), and we were about to introduce a feature similar to Calendly to schedule meetings. Other startups had AI assistants doing this, but years later, Calendly—where the flow is primarily manual—became the winner because even a tiny mistake with AI scheduling could have significant consequences.
Fast-forward to Solo: There’s a lot of friction in choosing images or writing text for your website, but 95% accuracy is good enough and saves time. It might be better than perfection because it forces business owners to review and edit the content in their voice, which makes the result more authentic.
How did you approach design choices for Solo, and what role did AI play?
Raj Singh: We don’t rely on AI for design. When we first tested it, we tried using generative AI to suggest fonts or color palettes, but the results were average—just the most common fonts and colors on the internet. So, if you wanted Calibri or Arial, shades of blue or gray, that’s what you’d get.
We realized this wasn’t ideal because it didn’t create a unique experience. Instead, we curated the fonts within Solo and randomized the initial choices. We also defined a series of color palettes—dozens of them—that users can choose from, and we also randomize those.
We’re not using AI to suggest colors or fonts anymore because we didn’t find the results unique enough, though that could change. But for now, we’re sticking with curated options.
We don’t allow further customization beyond this because we don’t believe more design choices necessarily lead to a better user experience. We found that too many design options often cause churn because users get caught up in trying every color and font and ultimately don’t finish their site. So, we’ve adopted a “less is more” approach, making the design process simpler to keep users focused on what matters—getting their site live.
How does Solo address the diverse needs of different occupations?
Raj Singh: The most consistent feedback we get from users is twofold: either they want more control, or they want to add something we don’t yet support. Solo is still a relatively new product out of Mozilla, and our team is relatively small—just about four people. We’re continuously building and slowly filling in the gaps.
There’s a lot of variation depending on the occupation. For example, I’ve looked at dog walker websites. Many of them have long forms where users fill out details like what type of dog, the breed, the temperament, etc. Meanwhile, attorney websites tend to have articles or links to blog posts. The information shown or requested on these websites varies depending on the profession, and there are hundreds of different types of occupations.
We aim to dig into these occupational verticals, determine the best possible experience for each, and ensure we fill the gaps to benefit all our users.
How has Solo simplified website building for non-technical users?
Raj Singh: Interestingly, we positioned Solo as a no-code tool—something you don’t need to be technical to use, and you can get up and running quickly. But we’ve learned something fascinating along the way.
With Solo, you don’t need to contact your tech-savvy friends, web agencies, or developers to help you build your sites; you do not need to spend much time, money, and energy.
I think a lot comes from the fear that website building is too complicated. Wix and Squarespace are beautiful platforms, but they offer so many options that users can feel overwhelmed when creating their sites. It becomes intimidating very quickly.
The reality is that we do have primarily non-technical users on Solo. Still, we’ve also seen tons of technical people—like web agencies and developers—use Solo because they realize they can get a site up and running faster than if they had to build something from scratch. It’s all about making it easy and fast, which appeals to non-technical and technical users alike.
How can Solo users access support?
Raj Singh: We have a support section on the Solo website, and I continuously update it based on the types of questions that come through. I personally handle all the support emails, which is great because it allows me to identify patterns and address common issues proactively by adding support content.
Additionally, Mozilla has launched a Discord community—not just for Solo, but for solopreneurs in general. It’s a space where people can share best practices, tips, and tricks around using tools. Mozilla team members are there to provide support, so if you have questions about Solo, it’s an excellent resource for users to connect and learn.
What is Solo’s growth strategy?
Raj Singh: We have a whole growth playbook, like any SaaS or consumer company. It includes a combination of things—from improving our domain authority to drive organic traffic from Google to cold email outreach to existing business owners to building community and PR.
We’re also exploring product-led growth, allowing multiple editors on a website and features that promote sharing. We have a range of strategies in place, and we’ll continue to layer in infrastructure to drive growth over the coming year.
How do you plan to monetize Solo?
Raj Singh: Our monetization plan is unique. We’ll allow business owners to buy ads within Firefox, so when someone searches for something like “plumbers in San Jose,” your business could be served as a sponsored result. What’s nice about this model is that we’re charging for what the website owner wants—more business. We’re not going to charge just to host the website.
The job of a website is to drive more business, and that’s where we plan to help. You don’t have to pay for simply hosting your site. This is our direction; we think it’s a valuable approach for small business owners.
How do you see the role of websites in a changing internet landscape?
Raj Singh: I don’t see websites going away anytime soon. How people consume information is changing, and more synthetic content exists. People are looking for quick answers. But users still rely on traditional search engines and websites for recommendations—whether for restaurants, services, or people.
There’s a reason Reddit has seen so much traffic growth recently—people want to read authentic commentary around a product or service. They want to see reviews from real people.
I don’t see websites going away anytime soon, especially for small businesses. They still serve as digital business cards and landing pages where people can find more trustworthy and comprehensive information.
How do you see AI evolving in the website-building industry?
Raj Singh: For small business owners, like an on-demand barber or hairstylist who goes to people’s homes to provide services, they don’t want to spend hours figuring out how to build a website. They want to get it done quickly to focus on their business. AI helps streamline that process, allowing them to get their website live without spending too much time.
Quote: AI is here to stay. When it comes to generative AI, I see it as fuel on the fire—it’s an accelerant. It’s making everyone more productive.
It’s a massive advantage for those who adopt AI tools. It can disadvantage those who don’t take advantage of these resources. But overall, I believe AI is helping everyone in this space, and I don’t see websites disappearing anytime soon, especially for this market segment.
For solopreneurs, AI helps them focus more on their business and less on website creation. Those who don’t take advantage of these tools may be left behind, but overall, AI is here to assist, not replace human intelligence.
Which Jobs are AI-safe?
Raj Singh: You see automation everywhere—from making your hamburger on an assembly line at McDonald’s to Waymo self-driving cars to warehouse robots moving boxes. But people aren’t going away. People are now doing other higher-leverage work.
Productivity is booming. It follows an exponential curve—we’re 10x-ing every few years. And I think Artificial Intelligence is the next wave of that productivity boost, with downstream effects like output, innovation, and scientific discoveries.
AI enhances productivity across various industries, but it’s not replacing human jobs entirely. Instead, it’s transitioning roles, allowing people to focus on more complex and higher-value tasks that require human creativity, critical thinking, and decision-making. This shift will continue opening up new opportunities as technology evolves, driving more significant innovation across all sectors.
With AI integrating into web design, do you foresee it replacing traditional website builders and designers?
Raj Singh: I’ve experimented with several AI tools, such as Framer, for app or design generation. But I don’t think AI will replace designers anytime soon. I think it’s great for creative imagination, though.
When I’m working on the design in Figma, for example, I like to look at reference examples, and I often visit websites that screenshot hundreds of apps to see how others are handling onboarding flows, settings, feeds, etc. These examples give me ideas. AI is suitable for creating the first pass or generating a layout.
AI tends to generate the average of the internet. It would be best if you had something more unique and authentic to your brand, and I don’t think AI can replace the creativity of human designers in that sense.
Even with wireframing, AI can help with the initial design, but you still need a human to work through the permutations and make adjustments. Ultimately, AI is a massive accelerant that speeds up the process but is not replacing designers. If anything, it’s empowering them to iterate faster.
Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs?
Raj Singh: The most common things I hear from aspiring entrepreneurs are: “It’s not the right time” and “I can’t figure out my idea.” First, I always say it’s always the right time. You can’t plan everything perfectly; you have to start.
Second, I usually tell people to find a space they like and copy something. Start building, and you’ll land somewhere as long as you iterate and have good product instincts. Where you start is rarely what it looks like in the end. So, just get started, stay curious, and keep learning.
Can AI replace human intelligence?
Raj Singh: No, I don’t think so. I’ve heard that AI allows everyone to become more specialized, or even a “super individual contributor,” as I’ve heard it termed.
Does AI help the family doctor? Absolutely. Does it replace the family doctor? No. But now, the doctor can focus on higher-leverage tasks. That’s how I think of AI—automating lower-leverage tasks so humans can concentrate on higher-leverage ones.
Does the definition of “higher-leverage” change over time as AI improves? Maybe. But the work doesn’t go away. There’s always something to improve. That’s why it’s essential to be adaptable and stay curious. If you stop learning, you’re in trouble. But I don’t see AI replacing us anytime soon.
Key Takeaways
Raj Singh’s insights into Solo by Mozilla underscore the platform’s mission to simplify website creation for service providers. Solo is a powerful tool for solopreneurs looking to build a digital presence without the typical complexities by focusing on user-friendly design, free custom domain hosting, and AI-driven customization.
Solo was inspired by Raj’s personal experience during the pandemic when he struggled to build a simple website for his community project. This sparked the idea of creating a more straightforward solution.
As AI continues to evolve, Solo is well-positioned to create fast, efficient, and accessible websites for businesses of all sizes. Stay tuned for exclusive insights and interviews on AllAboutAI.com, where we continue exploring the latest AI-driven innovation!
