Behind the Craft

Ravi is a top AI instructor and former CPO of Tinder. In our episode, he did a live demo of using his 3-layer context engineering system (functional, visual, data) to build a beautiful music app instead of the usual AI slop. You’ll never build with AI the same way again after learning about Ravi’s approach.
Ravi and I talked about:
(00:00) Why most AI prototypes feel like slop
(01:08) Context engineering, explained from first principles
(05:12) Layer 1 demo: Functional context
(09:38) Layer 2 demo: Visual context
(13:31) Layer 3 demo: Data context
(15:47) Building a custom MCP server in Claude Code
(19:54) The full stack prompt: all 3 layers in one shot
(24:21) Why separating the data layer is the real unlock
(28:59) Should PMs prototype or just ship to production?
(33:51) Where PRDs still fit in AI native product development

Thanks to our sponsors:
Wispr Flow: Don't type, just speak https://ref.wisprflow.ai/peteryang
Linear: The AI agent platform for modern teams https://linear.app/behind-the-craft
Granola: The AI meeting notes app that saves you hours. https://granola.ai/peter

📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/three-layer-system-for-context-engineering-ravi-mehta
Where to find Ravi:
X: https://x.com/ravi_mehta
Website: https://www.ravi-mehta.com/

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Tibo is a solo founder making $1M+ a month (!) after bootstrapping 5 AI products. I got him to walk through his exact playbook for validating ideas fast, acquiring users, and pricing AI products. If you want to bootstrap an AI business from scratch, this interview is a must watch.

Tibo and I talked about:
(00:00) The right mindset for solo AI founders
(04:48) Tibo's 5-step playbook to reach $1M/month
(09:55) The product pivot that unlocked $600K/month
(13:08) Why you should charge right away
(20:50) The acquisition channel everyone says is dead (it's not)
(26:58) Running 5 businesses without a real team
(36:34) How to price your AI product
(37:20) What's a good churn rate for AI products?
(40:16) 9 products failed. The 10th hit $600K/month

Thanks to our sponsors:
Wispr Flow: Don't type, just speak https://ref.wisprflow.ai/peteryang
Linear: The AI agent platform for modern teams https://linear.app/behind-the-craft
Granola: The AI meeting notes app that saves you hours. https://granola.ai/peter

📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-this-solo-founder-bootstrapped-to-1m-a-month-tibo-louis-lucas

Where to find Tibo:
X: https://x.com/tibo_maker
Website: https://www.revid.ai/

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Ryan is the VP of Product at Mercury, my favorite fintech product. We covered three things that’s on every AI builder’s mind — how to build a Claude Code second brain, how to make your product agent-ready with APIs and MCPs, and what Mercury’s data reveals about OpenAI and Anthropic’s race for the enterprise.

Ryan and I talked about:
(00:00) Why APIs and MCPs are the primary interface
(04:40) How to get your product agent ready
(07:51) Will MCPs cannibalize your app DAU?
(10:36) How to decide between MCPs and CLIs
(13:10) Inside Ryan's Claude Code second brain
(18:40) Getting AI to coach you after every meeting
(20:46) Mercury data: Are startups switching to Anthropic?
(23:05) The product development process will never be the same

Thanks to our sponsors:
Wispr Flow: Don't type, just speak https://ref.wisprflow.ai/peteryang
Linear: The AI agent platform for modern teams https://linear.app/behind-the-craft
Granola: The AI meeting notes app that saves you hours. https://granola.ai/peter

Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-to-build-for-ai-agents-and-a-claude-code-second-brain

Where to find Ryan:
X: https://x.com/rywiggs
Website: https://mercury.com

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Dylan is the co-founder and CEO of Figma. I asked him some tough questions on whether AI can learn taste, how he plans to compete with AI startups, and whether design systems constrain creativity. Two thirds of Figma users are now non-designers and it was also super interesting to hear Dylan talk about where he’s taking Figma next.

We talked about:
(00:00) Taste, craft, and point of view: the 3 skills AI can't replace
(05:33) Can AI agents actually learn design taste?
(13:02) Figma MCP to go from design to code and back
(17:42) What vibe coding gets wrong about design
(22:17) Two thirds of Figma users are now non-designers
(29:13) The one trait Dylan hires for over AI fluency
(32:01) Why Dylan thinks design is the new code
(36:32) Dylan's personal AI workflow for writing and ideation

Thanks to our sponsors:
Linear: AI agents for modern teams https://linear.app/behind-the-craft
Granola: AI meeting notes that don't suck https://granola.ai/peter
Replit: From 0 to full stack app in 2 min https://replit.com/?utm_source=creator&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=creator_program&utm_content=peteryang📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/figma-ceo-on-how-anyone-can-get-good-at-design-in-ai-dylan-field

Where to find Dylan:
X: https://x.com/zoink
Website: https://github.com/figma/mcp-server-guide

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Alex is the product lead for Codex and Romain runs developer experience. They gave me a rare inside look at how the Codex team operates, including how they build products with Codex and how they ship without traditional specs and roadmaps. Alex also has some spicy takes on the future of PM and what actually matters when hiring.

We talked about:
(00:00) Live demo: Building a game in seconds with Codex Spark
(04:29) "For specs, we write like 10 bullets and that's it"
(08:09) "Our designers now write more code than eng 6 months ago"
(15:30) "We plan short and long term, never medium term"
(22:11) How Alex actually spends his day as Codex PM
(32:06) The traditional career ladder no longer makes sense
(39:20) What the Codex team looks for when hiring (it's not your resume)

Thanks to our sponsors:
Linear: AI agents for modern teams https://linear.app/behind-the-craft
Granola: AI meeting notes that don't suck https://granola.ai/peter
Replit: From 0 to full stack app in 2 min https://replit.com/?utm_source=creator&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=creator_program&utm_content=peteryang

📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/inside-openais-codex-team-how-they-ship-with-ai-agents-alex-romain

Where to find Alex and Romain:
Alex: https://x.com/embirico
Romain: https://x.com/romainhuet
Website: https://openai.com/codex/

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