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Building a magical AI code editor used by over 1 million developers in four months: The untold story of Windsurf | Varun Mohan (co-founder & CEO)

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Apr 20, 2025

Guest

Varun Mohan

Varun Mohan, co-founder and CEO of Windsurf, discusses the rapid rise of their AI-powered code editor, which gained over 1 million users in just four months. He reveals why they pivoted from a profitable GPU business to focus on coding assistance. The conversation delves into surprising UI improvements that boosted adoption, their bold B2B sales strategy, and how non-tech staff built custom tools to save costs. Varun predicts a future where 90% of code is AI-generated while emphasizing the growing demand for skilled engineers.

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Episode notes

00:00 / 00:00

Windsurf's Transformative Journey

Windsurf began as a GPU virtualization company but pivoted twice due to changing AI landscapes. - They evolved into a standalone AI-powered IDE used by millions, illustrating their adaptability and vision.

00:00 / 00:00

Balancing Optimism and Realism

True startup success requires balancing irrational optimism with harsh realism. - Most ideas will be wrong, but focus and willingness to pivot rapidly are key.

00:00 / 00:00

Custom UI Triples Adoption

Building a custom IDE allowed Windsurf to triple adoption rates over existing editors. - Superior UI enables better AI integration and developer workflows than conventional IDEs.

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The Evolution of Codium: From GPU Virtualization to AI Coding Assistant

03:52 • 4min

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Navigating AI Value Creation

08:05 • 5min

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Revolutionizing Coding with Windsurf

12:40 • 7min

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Navigating Education and Hiring in Tech

19:33 • 15min

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Navigating the Transition: From Product Development to Sales Strategy

34:07 • 4min

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Revolutionizing AI Code Editing

37:37 • 23min

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Innovative Team Dynamics in Tech

01:00:40 • 13min

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Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution: A Handbook for Entrepreneurs

A Handbook for Entrepreneurs

Uri Levine

This book offers mentorship and insights from Uri Levine, a co-founder of Waze and Moovit, on how to build a successful business. It emphasizes the importance of identifying and solving the biggest problems faced by consumers and disrupting inefficient markets. The book covers various aspects of the startup journey, including fundraising, hiring and firing, understanding users, reaching product-market fit, scaling up, going global, and deciding when to sell. Levine shares practical advice and real-world examples from his own experiences, making the book a valuable resource for entrepreneurs, startup founders, CEOs, and other business leaders.

Varun Mohan is the co-founder and CEO of Windsurf (formerly Codeium), an AI-powered development environment (IDE) that has been used by over 1 million developers in just four months and has quickly emerged as a leader in transforming how developers build software. Prior to finding success with Windsurf, the company pivoted twice—first from GPU virtualization infrastructure to an IDE plugin, and then to their own standalone IDE.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

1. Why Windsurf walked away from a profitable GPU infrastructure business and bet the company on helping engineers code

2. The surprising UI discovery that tripled adoption rates overnight.

3. The secret behind Windsurf's B2B enterprise plan, and why they invested early in an 80-person sales team despite conventional startup wisdom.

4. How non-technical staff at Windsurf built their own custom tools instead of purchasing SaaS products, saving them over $500k in software costs

5. Why Varun believes 90% of code will be AI-generated, but engineering jobs will actually increase

6. How training on millions of incomplete code samples gives Windsurf an edge, and creates a moat long-term

7. Why agency is the most undervalued and important skill in the AI era

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Brought to you by:

• Brex—The banking solution for startups

• Productboard—Make products that matter

• Coda—The all-in-one collaborative workspace

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Where to find Varun Mohan:

• X: https://x.com/_mohansolo

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

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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) Varun’s background

(03:57) Building and scaling Windsurf

(12:58) Windsurf: The new purpose-built IDE to harness magic

(17:11) The future of engineering and AI

(21:30) Skills worth investing in

(23:07) Hiring philosophy and company culture

(35:22) Sales strategy and market position

(39:37) JetBrains vs. VS Code: extensibility and enterprise adoption

(41:20) Live demo: building an Airbnb for dogs with Windsurf

(42:46) Tips for using Windsurf effectively

(46:38) AI’s role in code modification and review

(48:56) Empowering non-developers to build custom software

(54:03) Training Windsurf

(01:00:43) Windsurf’s unique team structure and product strategy

(01:06:40) The importance of continuous innovation

(01:08:57) Final thoughts and advice for aspiring developers

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Referenced:

• Windsurf: https://windsurf.com/

• VS Code: https://code.visualstudio.com/

• JetBrains: https://www.jetbrains.com/

• Eclipse: https://eclipseide.org/

• Visual Studio: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/

• Vim: https://www.vim.org/

• Emacs: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/

• Lessons from a two-time unicorn builder, 50-time startup advisor, and 20-time company board member | Uri Levine (co-founder of Waze): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/lessons-from-uri-levine

• IntelliJ: https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/

• Julia: https://julialang.org/

• Parallel computing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_computing

• Douglas Chen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglaspchen/

• Carlos Delatorre on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cadelatorre/

• MongoDB: https://www.mongodb.com/

• Cursor: https://www.cursor.com/

• GitHub Copilot: https://github.com/features/copilot

• Llama: https://www.llama.com/

• Mistral: https://mistral.ai/

• Building Lovable: $10M ARR in 60 days with 15 people | Anton Osika (CEO and co-founder): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/building-lovable-anton-osika

• Inside Bolt: From near-death to ~$40m ARR in 5 months—one of the fastest-growing products in history | Eric Simons (founder & CEO of StackBlitz): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/inside-bolt-eric-simons

• Behind the product: Replit | Amjad Masad (co-founder and CEO): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/behind-the-product-replit-amjad-masad

• React: https://react.dev/

• Sonnet: https://www.anthropic.com/claude/sonnet

• OpenAI: https://openai.com/

• FedRamp: https://www.fedramp.gov/

• Dario Amodei on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dario-amodei-3934934/

• Amdahl’s law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amdahl%27s_law

• How to win in the AI era: Ship a feature every week, embrace technical debt, ruthlessly cut scope, and create magic your competitors can't copy | Gaurav Misra (CEO and co-founder of Captions): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-win-in-the-ai-era-gaurav-misra

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Recommended book:

• Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution: A Handbook for Entrepreneurs: https://www.amazon.com/Fall-Love-Problem-Solution-Entrepreneurs/dp/1637741987

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

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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe

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