18VC Podcast Ep # 7 Building Invisible AI with Bubbl Founder Tony Xiong: The AI Assistant With No App — It Just Texts You

Tony Xiong has been building since he was 15 — first a portable drive 10x faster than anything on the market, then a camera he launched into the stratosphere for Sony. Now he's building Bubbl: an AI assistant that lives in your texts and pulls what actually matters out of your message chaos. No app to install — you just text it.On Episode 7 of 18VC, we sit down with Tony Xiong, founder & CEO of Bubbl, on why the real problem was never information overload, how his Action Context Engine learns who you are, and the on-campus growth stunt that taught him a hard lesson about virality.Highlights & Key Insights:- Why the real problem was never information overload — it's knowing which 100 of your 1,000 daily messages actually matter- The "invisible AI" thesis: why the best productivity tool has no app and no interface — you just text it- Inside the Action Context Engine (ACE): how your personal context, relationship graph, and messaging style decide what's worth interrupting you for- The numbers — 47% day-7 retention, 260 beta testers, and 60,000+ messages sent to Bubbl in two months- The growth mistake: hundreds of campus signups in a day who never came back — and what it taught him about viral distribution- Why he calls Bubbl "an introvert" — it listens in the background so it can strike at exactly the right moment- How Bubbl reads your Gmail and WhatsApp without storing a single messageTimestamps:(00:00) Episode highlights(00:58) Welcome to Episode 7(01:53) From product designer to founder(02:48) Building since 15 & a stratosphere stunt(06:32) Meeting his co-founder in a group chat(07:22) What Bubbl actually is(08:18) The origin story & 20 signups on the spot(09:50) No app — just text "Hi Bubble"(11:18) The real problem isn't overload(12:58) "Invisible AI" & why SMS(15:03) How Bubbl decides what matters(16:58) Inside the Action Context Engine(20:28) Privacy: what it stores (and doesn't)(21:19) Competitors & "not an iMessage product"(23:45) Traction, retention & the moat(25:47) Go-to-market & the viral-marketing mistake(30:26) Why Bubbl is "an introvert"(32:34) Hiring & a people-first culture(34:38) Decisions & the message you never knew you missed(37:54) Life beyond buildingSubscribe for the earliest signal on the founders worth watching.— Connect with Tony Xiong —LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haoyu-tony-xiong/— Bubbl —Website: https://bubblai.com/Try it: text "Hi Bubbl!" to +1 (949) 283-8690— Connect with 18VC —18VC Website: https://www.18-vc.com/18VC Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6b3YoAMLjZLziwqHWy3EXb18VC Podcast on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@18vcpodcast?si=l69vI6hHwLgIvw4N18VC Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/18venturecapital/18VC LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eighteenvc/18VC X: https://x.com/Official18VC