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Michael Truell is the co-founder and CEO of Anysphere, the company behind Cursor—the fastest-growing AI code editor in the world, reaching $300 million in annual recurring revenue just two years after its launch. In this conversation, Michael shares his vision for the future, lessons learned, and advice for preparing for the fast-approaching AI future.

What you’ll learn:

1. Cursor's early pivot from automating CAD to automating code

2. Michael’s vision for “what comes after code” and how programming will evolve

3. Why Cursor built their own custom AI models despite not starting there

4. Key lessons from Cursor’s rapid growth

5. Why “taste” and logic design will become more valuable engineering skills than technical coding ability

6. Why the market for AI coding tools is much larger than people realize—and why there will likely be one dominant winner

7. Michael’s advice for engineers and product teams preparing for the AI future

Some takeaways:

1. Early pivot: Cursor initially focused on mechanical engineering tools but pivoted to programming after identifying a larger opportunity and aligning with team expertise.

2. “What comes after code”: Michael envisions a future where programming shifts from traditional code to natural language or pseudocode, making software development accessible to non-coders while retaining precision for professionals.

3. Custom AI models as a competitive edge: Cursor’s success is driven by custom AI models tailored to specific tasks, such as advanced autocomplete for coding, which complement foundation models like GPT.

4. Taste as a core skill: In the future, engineers will focus on defining what should be built and how it should work, emphasizing high-level design over technical execution.

5. The power of dogfooding: Cursor’s rapid success was fueled by intense internal use (dogfooding) and iterative development, ensuring the product met real user needs.

6. Consumer-like moats in AI: Success in AI depends on continuous product innovation and user satisfaction, rather than traditional enterprise moats like lock-in.

7. The role of engineers in the AI era: Despite advancements in AI, the demand for engineers will grow as AI unlocks new opportunities for software development.

8. Hiring for intellectual curiosity: Cursor’s hiring strategy emphasizes intellectual curiosity, experimentation, and honesty, which are critical for building resilient and innovative teams.

Where to find Michael Truell:

• X: https://x.com/mntruell

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-t-5b1bbb122/

• Website: https://mntruell.com/

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction to Michael Truell and Cursor

(04:22) What comes after code

(08:35) The importance of taste

(12:41) Cursor’s origin story

(18:33) Why they chose to build an IDE

(22:41) Will everyone become engineering managers?

(24:34) How they decided it was time to ship

(26:47) Reflecting on Cursor's success

(32:06) Counterintuitive lessons on building AI products

(34:05) Inside Cursor's stack

(38:45) Defensibility and market dynamics in AI

(46:16) Tips for using Cursor

(51:30) Hiring and building a strong team

(59:13) Staying focused amid rapid AI advancements

(01:02:35) Final thoughts and advice for aspiring AI innovators

Referenced:

• Cursor: https://www.cursor.com/

• Microsoft Copilot: https://copilot.microsoft.com/

• Scaling laws for neural language models: https://openai.com/index/scaling-laws-for-neural-language-models/

• MIT: https://www.mit.edu/

• Telegram: https://telegram.org/

• Signal: https://signal.org/

• WhatsApp: https://www.whatsapp.com/

• Devin: https://devin.ai/

• Visual Studio Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/

• Chromium: https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/base/

• Exploring ChatGPT (GPT) Wrappers—What They Are and How They Work: https://learnprompting.org/blog/gpt_wrappers

• OpenAI’s CPO on how AI changes must-have skills, moats, coding, startup playbooks, more | Kevin Weil (CPO at OpenAI, ex-Instagram, Twitter): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/kevin-weil-open-ai

• Behind the founder: Marc Benioff: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-founder-marc-benioff

• DALL-E 3: https://openai.com/index/dall-e-3/

• Stable Diffusion 3: https://stability.ai/news/stable-diffusion-3

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.