The AI-native startup: 5 products, 7-figure revenue, 100% AI-written code | Dan Shipper (co-founder/CEO of Every)

Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

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Unleashing AI for Everyone

This chapter explores the transformative potential of AI tools, particularly Claude code, highlighting its user-friendly command line interface suitable for both programmers and non-coders. It showcases how AI can autonomously perform tasks and analyze data, enhancing productivity and creativity in various fields, including literature and education. The discussion also addresses the balance between AI's increasing autonomy and maintaining human skills in the workplace while emphasizing the importance of accessibility and user feedback.

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Episode notes

Dan Shipper is the co-founder and CEO of Every. With just 15 people, Every publishes a daily AI newsletter, ships multiple AI products, and operates a million-dollar-a-year consulting arm—all while their engineers write virtually zero code. It’s the most radical example of AI-first operations, and Dan is a prolific writer who has become a leading voice on how AI is transforming the way we build and work.

Learn:

1. Why Dan thinks AI won’t steal jobs en masse—and may actually reshore many jobs to the U.S.

2. The most underrated AI tool for non-programmers

3. An inside look at Every’s AI-first workflow

4. Why every company needs an “AI operations lead”

5. How Dan’s team uses an arsenal of AI agents (Claude, Codex, “Friday,” “Charlie”) in parallel, treating each AI like a specialist with unique strengths

6. Why generalists will thrive in an AI-first world, as rigid job titles blur and everyone becomes a “manager” of AI tools

7. Dan’s playbook for making any company AI-first—from the CEO setting the example, to hosting internal prompt-sharing sessions, to upskilling teams on AI tools

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Brought to you by:

CodeRabbit—Cut code review time and bugs in half. Instantly: https://coderabbit.link/lenny

DX—A platform for measuring and improving developer productivity: https://getdx.com/lenny

PostHog—How developers build successful products: https://posthog.com/lenny

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Transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-every-dan-shipper

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My biggest takeaways (for paid newsletter subscribers): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/i/167681269/my-biggest-takeaways-from-this-conversation

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Where to find Dan Shipper:

• X: https://x.com/danshipper

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danshipper/

• Podcast: https://every.to/podcast

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Where to find Lenny:

• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/

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In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Welcome and introduction

(04:04) Hot takes on AI and job reshoring

(07:06) The power of Claude Code for non-coders

(14:35) The future of AI in business operations

(18:45) AI’s role in enhancing human skills

(22:26) The evolution of AI tools and their applications

(25:40) Building an AI-first company

(29:50) Innovative AI operations and team dynamics

(35:35) Dan's AI stack

(41:26) Compounding engineering

(48:29) The impact of AI on learning and development

(50:10) Accelerating career growth with AI

(51:36) Revolutionizing code review and workflow

(53:07) The importance of coding knowledge

(57:26) Building AI-driven products

(01:02:01) Innovative fundraising strategies

(01:08:45) Consulting and AI adoption in companies

(01:17:01) The allocation economy and future skills

(01:20:12) The value of generalists in the AI age

(01:24:07) Lightning round and final thoughts

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Referenced:

• Claude Code: https://www.anthropic.com/claude-code

• Gemini CLI: https://blog.google/technology/developers/introducing-gemini-cli-open-source-ai-agent/

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

• Cursor: https://www.cursor.com/

• Base44: https://base44.com/

• Solo founder, $80M exit, 6 months: The Base44 bootstrapped startup success story | Maor Shlomo: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-base44-bootstrapped-startup-success-story-maor-shlomo

• The rise of Cursor: The $300M ARR AI tool that engineers can’t stop using | Michael Truell (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-rise-of-cursor-michael-truell

• Plato’s Argument Against Writing: https://fs.blog/an-old-argument-against-writing/

• From ChatGPT to Instagram to Uber: The quiet architect behind the world’s most popular products | Peter Deng: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-quiet-architect-peter-deng

• Granola: https://www.granola.ai/

• Tobi Lutke’s post on X about context engineering: https://x.com/tobi/status/1935533422589399127

• Tobi Lütke’s leadership playbook: Playing infinite games, operating from first principles, and maximizing human potential (founder and CEO of Shopify): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/tobi-lutkes-leadership-playbook

• Every: https://every.to/

• Cora: https://www.cora.computer/

• Sparkle: https://makeitsparkle.co/

• Spiral: https://spiral.computer/

• Lex: https://lex.page/

• Nathan Baschez on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nbashaw/

• Kate Lee on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-lee-506768/

• Katie Parrott on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katieparrott/

• Animalz: https://www.animalz.co/

• Rachel Woods on X: https://x.com/rachel_l_woods

• Nityesh Agarwal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nityeshaga

• Claude Opus 4: https://www.anthropic.com/claude/opus