MCPs: connect Claude to your tools

Carl introduces MCPs (Model Context Protocol) and shows adding Linear to Claude Code via a command.

Play episode from 10:15

chevron_right

Transcript

chevron_right

Transcript

Episode notes

Today's Episode

Carl Vellotti is back.

His first episode hit 30k views. My most popular episode in months.

Today, he’s giving you the advanced playbook for Claude Code.

Claude Code hit $1 billion ARR in December. Fastest product ever to reach that milestone. Under 6 months.

Carl has been building with Claude Code every single day. He’s made all the mistakes. He’s learned all the expert workflows and tips.

In today’s episode, he shares everything.

----

If you want access to my AI tool stack - Dovetail, Arize, Linear, Descript, Reforge Build, DeepSky, Relay.app, Magic Patterns, and Mobbin - for free, grab Aakash’s bundle.

Are you searching for a PM job? Join me + 29 others for an intensive 12-week experience to master getting a PM job.

----

Brought to you by:

Amplitude: The market-leader in product analytics

Pendo: the #1 Software Experience Management Platform

Jira Product Discovery: Move discovery and roadmapping out of spreadsheets

Miro: The innovation workspace

----

Key Takeaways

1. Claude Code hit $1B ARR in 6 months - fastest product ever. Anthropic optimized for power users doing deep work. Fewer users, insanely deep usage. Carl: "I spend all day in Claude Code. It gets to the point where you never really have to leave."

2. MCPs connect Claude to everything in 2 minutes - Model Context Protocol invented by Anthropic. One command to install Linear, Google Workspace, Slack. Essential stack: documents first, task management second, communication third, data sources fourth.

3. End-to-end PM workflow takes one morning instead of one week - Survey creation → analysis → PRD → presentation → 19 tickets. All through MCPs. Carl didn't use templates. Opus 4.5 handled everything.

4. Skills are pre-built templates but don't always auto-trigger yet - Solution: specify explicitly. "Create presentation using your presentation skill." Build Skills for anything you do more than twice. That's the compound effect.

5. Real Google Slides, not images - Carl's presentation skill created 19 fully editable slides from PRD. Takes a few minutes because Claude creates slides in parallel. "This is saving you hours. We used to spend entire afternoons turning PRDs into decks."

6. GitHub turns Claude into remote worker - Create issues from your phone. @mention Claude. It works while you're away. Carl's journal is a private GitHub repo. Voice transcriptions → issues → Claude updates markdown.

7. Workflows beat agents for production - Level 1 workflow: 5,000 tokens, 40 seconds. Level 3 agent: 90,000 tokens, 90 seconds. Carl's rule: "If something can be expressed as code, code it. Leave agents for cognitive work."

8. Production best practices separate hobbyists from pros - Set error workflows. Add retry logic (3 attempts, 1-second delays). Pin data during development. Use reasoning effort appropriately. Write detailed tool descriptions.

9. Real challenge is building reusable workflows - Learning basics takes a day. First workflow takes hours. But having 50 workflows built over months means everything is automated. Carl: "Because I have workflows for all these things already built, I can do it all in one shot."

10. Tools improve faster than you can learn them - Carl: "By the time you see this, there might be Claude 5." Your workflows from today will 10x when better models drop. PMs who started 6 months ago aren't just 6 months ahead, they're 100x ahead because systems compound with every improvement.

----

Where to Find Carl Vellotti

The AI-powered Podcast Player

Save insights by tapping your headphones, chat with episodes, discover the best highlights - and more!

Get the app

Home Top podcasts Popular guests Top books