Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth

chevron_right

The non-technical PM’s guide to building with Cursor | Zevi Arnovitz (Meta)

whatshot 244 snips

Jan 18, 2026

Guest

Zevi Arnovitz

Zevi Arnovitz, a Product Manager at Meta with a knack for building AI-driven products without a technical background, shares his innovative approach to product management. He discusses his complete AI workflow, emphasizing how non-technical individuals can utilize tools like Cursor and Cloud Code. Zevi dives into using multiple AI models for specific tasks and his unique peer review technique, allowing models to critique each other's work. He also highlights the current opportunities for junior tech professionals and shares insights on leveraging AI for interview preparation.

01:15:12

forum

Ask episode

web_stories

AI Snips

view_agenda

Chapters

menu_book

Books

auto_awesome

Transcript

info_circle

Episode notes

00:00 / 00:00

Graduate Into AI-Driven Development

Start with a GPT project as your “CTO” to learn and explore before touching code.
Gradually graduate to Bolt/Lovable then Cursor as you gain confidence and control.

00:00 / 00:00

AI Will Code Fast—Plan First

Vibe-coding tools often default to immediate coding which breaks planning for complex changes.
Treat AI as a CTO to force planning and push back on naive implementations.

00:00 / 00:00

Automate Workflow With Slash Commands

Create reusable slash commands (create issue, explore, plan, execute, review, peer review, update docs).
Use those commands to standardize a repeatable build workflow inside Cursor.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Zevi's non-technical background and AI discovery

04:46 • 3min

chevron_right

Overview of Zevi's AI workflow

07:50 • 5min

chevron_right

Why start small and graduate tools

12:24 • 2min

chevron_right

Cursor, Cloud Code and slash commands

14:47 • 3min

chevron_right

Demo: StudyMate app and feature idea

17:24 • 3min

chevron_right

Automating ticket capture in Linear

19:55 • 4min

chevron_right

Exploration phase: agent reads code and asks

23:45 • 6min

chevron_right

Creating a concise executable plan

29:17 • 56sec

chevron_right

Picking the right models for tasks

30:13 • 45sec

chevron_right

Execute plan: Composer writes code live

30:58 • 8min

chevron_right

Review: manual QA then AI self-review

38:34 • 5min

chevron_right

Peer review: multiple models critique code

43:46 • 2min

chevron_right

Iterating prompts and postmortems

45:53 • 6min

chevron_right

Adopting AI workflows at larger companies

51:28 • 2min

chevron_right

How AI changes the PM role

53:44 • 4min

chevron_right

Avoiding AI slop: guide the model well

57:14 • 1min

chevron_right

Using AI to prepare for interviews

58:21 • 5min

chevron_right

Failure corner: learning to be a great learner

01:03:06 • 3min

chevron_right

Final advice: best time to be a junior

01:06:26 • 1min

chevron_right

Lightning round: books, shows, mottos

01:07:50 • 6min

chevron_right

Where to find Zevi and call-to-action

• Mentioned in 105 episodes

The Fountainhead

Ayn Rand

Published in 1943, 'The Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand tells the story of Howard Roark, a young and innovative architect who refuses to compromise his artistic vision despite the opposition from society. The novel explores themes of individualism, egoism, and the conflict between those who think for themselves (the 'first-handers') and those who follow the opinions of others (the 'second-handers'). It also delves into the lives of other characters such as Dominique Francon, Peter Keating, Ellsworth Toohey, and Gail Wynand, each representing different aspects of Rand's philosophical ideas. The book is a defense of egoism and individualism, presenting a radical rethinking of basic moral concepts and challenging conventional notions of selfishness and altruism.

#113

• Mentioned in 144 episodes

Shoe Dog

Phil Knight

Shoe Dog is a memoir that chronicles the journey of Phil Knight as he builds Nike from its humble beginnings as Blue Ribbon Sports. The book is a personal and detailed account of Knight's experiences, from his early days selling Japanese running shoes out of the trunk of his car to the global brand Nike is today. It highlights his relentless work ethic, the challenges he faced, and the key relationships with his partners and employees that were crucial to the company's success. The memoir also touches on Knight's personal life, including his family and the emotional struggles he encountered along the way.

#506

• Mentioned in 54 episodes

Mindset

The New Psychology of Success

Carol S. Dweck

Carol S. Dweck's "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success" explores the profound impact of mindsets on achievement and well-being. Dweck distinguishes between a fixed mindset, which believes abilities are innate and unchangeable, and a growth mindset, which embraces challenges and sees abilities as malleable. The book presents compelling research demonstrating how a growth mindset fosters resilience, creativity, and greater success. Dweck's work has revolutionized our understanding of learning and motivation, inspiring educators, parents, and individuals to cultivate a growth mindset. The book offers practical strategies for fostering a growth mindset in oneself and others.

Zevi Arnovitz is a product manager at Meta with no technical background who has figured out how to build and ship real products using AI. His engineering team at Meta asks him to teach them how he does what he does. In this episode, Zevi breaks down his complete AI workflow that allows non-technical people to build sophisticated products with Cursor.

We discuss:

1. The complete AI workflow that lets non-technical people build real products in Cursor

2. How to use multiple AI models for different tasks (Claude for planning, Gemini for UI)

3. Using slash commands to automate prompts

4. Zevi’s “peer review” technique, which uses different AI models to review each other’s code

5. Why this might be the best time to be a junior in tech, despite the challenging job market

6. How Zevi used AI to prepare for his Meta PM interviews

—

Brought to you by:

10Web—Vibe coding platform as an API

DX—The developer intelligence platform designed by leading researchers

Framer—Build better websites faster

—

Episode transcript: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-non-technical-pms-guide-to-building-with-cursor

—

Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0

—

Where to find Zevi Arnovitz

• X: https://x.com/ArnovitzZevi

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zev-arnovitz

• Website: https://zeviarnovitz.com

—

Where to find Lenny:

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

• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan

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

—

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction to Zevi Arnovitz

(04:48) Zevi’s background and journey into AI

(07:41) Overview of Zevi’s AI workflow

(14:41) Screenshare: Exploring Zevi’s workflow in detail

(17:18) Building a feature live: StudyMate app

(30:52) Executing the plan with Cursor

(38:32) Using multiple AI models for code review

(40:40) Personifying AI models

(43:37) Peer review process

(45:40) The importance of postmortems

(51:05) Integrating AI in large companies

(53:42) How AI has impacted the PM role

(57:02) How to improve AI outputs

(58:15) AI-assisted job interviews

(01:02:57) Failure corner

(01:06:20) Lightning round and final thoughts

—

Referenced:

• Becoming a super IC: Lessons from 12 years as a PM individual contributor | Tal Raviv (Product Lead at Riverside): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-super-ic-pm-tal-raviv

• Wix: https://www.wix.com

• Building AI Apps: From Idea to Viral in 30 Days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2w4y7pDi8w

• Riley Brown on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMcoud_ZW7cfxeIugBflSBw

• Greg Isenberg on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GregIsenberg

• Bolt: https://bolt.new

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

• Lovable: https://lovable.dev

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

• StudyMate: https://studymate.live

• Dibur2text: https://dibur2text.app

• Claude: https://claude.ai

• Everyone should be using Claude Code more: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyone-should-be-using-claude-code

• Bun: https://bun.com

• Zustand: https://zustand.docs.pmnd.rs/getting-started/introduction

• Cursor: https://cursor.com

• 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

• Wispr Flow: https://wisprflow.ai

• Linear: https://linear.app

• Linear’s secret to building beloved B2B products | Nan Yu (Head of Product): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/linears-secret-to-building-beloved-b2b-products-nan-yu

• Cursor Composer: https://cursor.com/blog/composer

• Replit: https://replit.com

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

• 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

• v0: https://v0.app

• Everyone’s an engineer now: Inside v0’s mission to create a hundred million builders | Guillermo Rauch (founder & CEO of Vercel, creators of v0 and Next.js): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/everyones-an-engineer-now-guillermo-rauch

• Cursor Browser mode: https://cursor.com/docs/agent/browser

• Google Antigravity: https://antigravity.google

• Grok: https://grok.com

• Zapier: https://zapier.com

• Airtable: https://www.airtable.com

• Build Your Personal PM Productivity System & AI Copilot: https://maven.com/tal-raviv/product-manager-productivity-system

• The definitive guide to mastering analytical thinking interviews: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-definitive-guide-to-mastering-f81

• AI tools are overdelivering: results from our large-scale AI productivity survey: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/ai-tools-are-overdelivering-results-c08

• Yaara Asaf on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yaarasaf

• The Pitt on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/The-Pitt-Season-1/dp/B0DNRR8QWD

• Severance on AppleTV+: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/severance/umc.cmc.1srk2goyh2q2zdxcx605w8vtx

• Loom: https://www.loom.com

• Cap: https://cap.so

• Supercut: https://supercut.ai

...References continued at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-non-technical-pms-guide-to-building-with-cursor

—

Recommended books:

• The Fountainhead: https://www.amazon.com/Fountainhead-Ayn-Rand/dp/0451191153

• Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike: https://www.amazon.com/Shoe-Dog-Memoir-Creator-Nike/dp/1501135910

• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: https://www.amazon.com/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322

—

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.

To hear more, visit www.lennysnewsletter.com

Home Top podcasts Popular guests Top books