Ryo Lu spent years watching his designs die in meetings. Then he discovered the tool that lets designers ship code at the speed of thought: Cursor, the company where Ryo is now Head of Design. In this episode, a16z General Partner Jennifer Li sits down with Ryo to discuss why "taste" is the wrong framework for understanding the future, why purposeful apps are "selfish," how System 7 holds secrets about AI interfaces, and the radical bet that one codebase can serve everyone if you design the concepts right instead of the buttons.

Timecodes:

00:01:45 - Design Becomes Approachable to Everyone

00:02:36 - From Years to Minutes: Product Feedback Loops Collapse

00:07:54 - "Each role used their own tool...their own lingo"

00:13:15 - "If you don't have an opinion, you’ll get AI slop"

00:17:18 - The Lost Art of Being a Complete Builder

00:21:42 - Design Is Not About Aesthetics

00:28:57 - User-Centric vs System-Centric Philosophy

00:34:00 - AI as Universal Interface, Not Chat Box

00:38:42 - "Simplicity is the Biggest Constraint"

00:43:42 - "I Don't Sit in Figma All Day Making Mocks"

00:46:33 - RyoOS: Building A Personal Operating System

00:48:45 - "We've been doing the same thing since 1984"

Resources:

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Follow Jennifer Li on X: https://x.com/JenniferHli

Follow Erik Torenberg on X: https://x.com/eriktorenberg

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Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

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