011: Bringing Trust Back to Online Shopping with Karli Kujawa from Hili

For anyone tired of tabs, TikTok rabbit holes, and sketchy Amazon reviews, Hili might be exactly what you’ve been waiting for. Founded by product and design leader Karli, Hili is a new kind of social discovery platform that puts people back at the centre of product recommendations — not algorithms, ad spend, or fake 5-star reviews.After 20 years in product, UX, and brand Karli started to see a pattern; search felt broken, platforms were optimised for ads over users, and the best recommendations still lived in messy group chats. So she set out to build something better — a place where you can ask real humans what they actually use and love, and save the answers in a way that’s searchable, shareable, and genuinely helpful.In this episode, we get into how she’s rethinking discovery online, what’s gone wrong with search and influencer marketing, and why the future of shopping is community-led, not algorithm-led.We cover:The “tabs + TikTok + texts” mess that inspired HiliHow search, reviews, and influencer marketing lost our trustWhy the best recommendations still come from friends, not feedsHili’s core loop: asks, recommendations, and saved collectionsHow Hili keeps things positive, human, and actually useful (not Reddit 2.0)Authenticity vs. growth-at-all-costs — and why Karli is bootstrappingThe role of AI in discovery (and why speed isn’t the real problem)How Hili plans to support tastemakers, curators, and niche communitiesKey Takeaways:Search is noisy, trust is low: People don’t feel confident that search results, reviews, or influencer content are unbiased — so they default back to texting friends.Word of mouth never died — it just got buried: The most trusted recs live in DMs, WhatsApps, and random notes apps. Hili’s goal is to give that behaviour a proper home.Hili = “have it, love it, highly recommend it”: The focus is on sharing what works, why you love it, and who it’s good for — not ranty reviews or rage posts.You stay in control: You choose who you’re asking (friends, groups, wider community) and how you use it — from travel recs to software, skincare, kids’ stuff and more.Community over algorithms: Hili is intentionally built around identity, first names, and real connections — not anonymous pile-ons or opaque ranking systems.Bootstrapped on purpose: Karli is funding Hili herself so she can prioritise trust, transparency, and product quality over ad real estate and vanity growth.AI won’t fix broken trust: Faster checkout isn’t the real problem — confidence is. Karli believes people will still want human-backed recommendations, even in an AI-first world.Small, intentional team; big ambition: With a lean team and smart tooling, Hili’s aim is to scale without sacrificing the values it was built on.Chapters / Timestamps:00:00 — Meet Karli & the story behind Hili03:26 — From Yahoo News & metalsmithing to founder life05:44 — What’s broken about how we find products online08:10 — Search, reviews, and the “personalised” algorithm problem11:03 — The advertising shift: growth vs. genuine usefulness14:40 — Why now is the moment for a new type of discovery17:10 — How Hili works: asks, recommendations, and collections20:26 — Notes apps, group chats, and turning chaos into structure22:26 — Designing Hili to feel personal, not transactional24:33 — Tastemakers, niche communities, and early superusers27:13 — Why Hili isn’t “just another Reddit”29:36 — Keeping things authentic as the platform scales33:09 — Bootstrapping, funding, and protecting the mission37:27 — How to join Hili and share your own recommendations38:27 — Karli’s startup recommendation: SoalLinks & Resources:Hili — Website / Waitlist | Instagram |TikTokDiscover Startups — TikTok | YouTube | Instagram | Newsletter

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