First of Kind is the story of design and tech told by its pioneers • Powered by @framer @bot @vercel @profound @noondesign @tryramp @meetgranola
California
Joined December 2025
- Tweets240
- Following33
- Followers4.4K
- Likes218
Pinned Tweet
Can a designer-founder win the VC game by ignoring all of its rules?
Season 3, Episode 3 is here:
How @karrisaarinen built @linear to win through quality above all else – now available on 𝕏, YouTube, and Instagram
Powered by @framer @noondesign @bot @tryramp @vercel @meetgranola @profound
00:00 Winning by Your Own Rules
03:12 Quality Is Directional
06:24 Do You Design in Code?
15:45 Owning the Problem
22:45 Beyond the Issue Tracker
26:36 The Bull Case for Design
28:45 Do We Still Need UI?
33:02 The Car Designer of Software
37:37 School Feels Fake
40:59 Never Build the MVP
43:56 Clarity of Scope
45:37 Linear Recalibrates the Palate
Hosted by @soleio and coproduced with @Room3NYC
The only thing between you and success is being cringe.
“Just get over yourself. Nobody actually cares.” @dbabbs, the CTO and cofounder of @profound, on why you should go start the company before you look back and wish you had.
Dylan Babbs tried 12 to 15 ideas before Profound. The one that worked took three days.
Season 3, Episode 4, Part 1 is here:
LIVE from SPC – @dbabbs joins @soleio before a live audience at @spc, where @profound got its start. Now available on 𝕏, YouTube, and Instagram
Part 2 drops Thursday.
Powered by @framer @noondesign @bot @tryramp @vercel @meetgranola @profound
Hosted by @soleio and coproduced with @Room3NYC
Everyone in tech is talking about taste. @dbabbs thinks it’s simpler than that.
“With visual design, you don’t have to be that creative. I think you need to understand what looks good. And then just put in the reps to really nail it.”
The CTO and cofounder of @profound, recorded live at @SPC.
Dylan Babbs tried 12 to 15 ideas before Profound. The one that worked took three days.
Season 3, Episode 4, Part 1 is here:
LIVE from SPC – @dbabbs joins @soleio before a live audience at @spc, where @profound got its start. Now available on 𝕏, YouTube, and Instagram
Part 2 drops Thursday.
Powered by @framer @noondesign @bot @tryramp @vercel @meetgranola @profound
Hosted by @soleio and coproduced with @Room3NYC
Adjust a button’s border radius by one pixel. Watch millions of dollars made or lost in a day.
That’s the business-driven product design @dbabbs learned at Uber, before he started @profound: “It doesn’t matter how good it looks. Does it make money? Does it move the needle?”
Dylan Babbs tried 12 to 15 ideas before Profound. The one that worked took three days.
Season 3, Episode 4, Part 1 is here:
LIVE from SPC – @dbabbs joins @soleio before a live audience at @spc, where @profound got its start. Now available on 𝕏, YouTube, and Instagram
Part 2 drops Thursday.
Powered by @framer @noondesign @bot @tryramp @vercel @meetgranola @profound
Hosted by @soleio and coproduced with @Room3NYC
Every investor assembles an anti-portfolio. @soleio has @profound sitting high up on his wall.
In front of the @SPC community, he asks what @dbabbs and @thejamescad saw that he entirely missed: “We were just crazy. I don’t really think it’s that much more deep than that.”
Dylan Babbs tried 12 to 15 ideas before Profound. The one that worked took three days.
Season 3, Episode 4, Part 1 is here:
LIVE from SPC – @dbabbs joins @soleio before a live audience at @spc, where @profound got its start. Now available on 𝕏, YouTube, and Instagram
Part 2 drops Thursday.
Powered by @framer @noondesign @bot @tryramp @vercel @meetgranola @profound
Hosted by @soleio and coproduced with @Room3NYC
Dylan Babbs tried 12 to 15 ideas before Profound. The one that worked took three days.
Season 3, Episode 4, Part 1 is here:
LIVE from SPC – @dbabbs joins @soleio before a live audience at @spc, where @profound got its start. Now available on 𝕏, YouTube, and Instagram
Part 2 drops Thursday.
Powered by @framer @noondesign @bot @tryramp @vercel @meetgranola @profound
Hosted by @soleio and coproduced with @Room3NYC
Bug tracking isn’t exciting, but builders have to do it almost every day.
@karrisaarinen tells @soleio why he started @linear: “It just feels so bad that people have to use bad tools.” Why delivering a high quality experience is reward enough.
Full episode of HOW WE WIN: xitter.twitterapi.xyz/soleio/status/21183543…
First of Kind: The @karrisaarinen interview
Can a designer-founder win the VC game ignoring all its rules?
Karri Saarinen’s uncompromising and distinct approach to quality has made him an iconic designer/CEO. Will that same playbook hold up in the agentic age?
00:00 Winning by Your Own Rules
03:12 Quality Is Directional
06:24 Do You Design in Code?
15:45 Owning the Problem
22:45 Beyond the Issue Tracker
26:36 The Bull Case for Design
28:45 Do We Still Need UI?
33:02 The Car Designer of Software
37:37 School Feels Fake
40:59 Never Build the MVP
43:56 Clarity of Scope
45:37 Linear Recalibrates the Palate
—
Karri Saarinen: How We Win
First of Kind S3 E03
Powered by @bot @framer @tryramp @vercel @noondesign @meetgranola @profound
“I want to build a company I can be proud of, not just that the company is successful.”
@karrisaarinen tells @soleio about resisting the temptation to take morally questionable shortcuts to win.
Full episode of HOW WE WIN: xitter.twitterapi.xyz/soleio/status/21183543…
First of Kind: The @karrisaarinen interview
Can a designer-founder win the VC game ignoring all its rules?
Karri Saarinen’s uncompromising and distinct approach to quality has made him an iconic designer/CEO. Will that same playbook hold up in the agentic age?
00:00 Winning by Your Own Rules
03:12 Quality Is Directional
06:24 Do You Design in Code?
15:45 Owning the Problem
22:45 Beyond the Issue Tracker
26:36 The Bull Case for Design
28:45 Do We Still Need UI?
33:02 The Car Designer of Software
37:37 School Feels Fake
40:59 Never Build the MVP
43:56 Clarity of Scope
45:37 Linear Recalibrates the Palate
—
Karri Saarinen: How We Win
First of Kind S3 E03
Powered by @bot @framer @tryramp @vercel @noondesign @meetgranola @profound
“I think you can learn a lot about a person by how they arrange flowers.” @soleio opines.
@karrisaarinen then explains the more practical way @linear evaluates designers instead.
Full episode of HOW WE WIN: xitter.twitterapi.xyz/soleio/status/21183543…
First of Kind: The @karrisaarinen interview
Can a designer-founder win the VC game ignoring all its rules?
Karri Saarinen’s uncompromising and distinct approach to quality has made him an iconic designer/CEO. Will that same playbook hold up in the agentic age?
00:00 Winning by Your Own Rules
03:12 Quality Is Directional
06:24 Do You Design in Code?
15:45 Owning the Problem
22:45 Beyond the Issue Tracker
26:36 The Bull Case for Design
28:45 Do We Still Need UI?
33:02 The Car Designer of Software
37:37 School Feels Fake
40:59 Never Build the MVP
43:56 Clarity of Scope
45:37 Linear Recalibrates the Palate
—
Karri Saarinen: How We Win
First of Kind S3 E03
Powered by @bot @framer @tryramp @vercel @noondesign @meetgranola @profound
“Refusing to instrument your software is willful ignorance!”
@soleio and @karrisaarinen debate flying by the dials versus looking out the window, and why most companies fatally pick one.
Full episode of HOW WE WIN: xitter.twitterapi.xyz/soleio/status/21183543…
First of Kind: The @karrisaarinen interview
Can a designer-founder win the VC game ignoring all its rules?
Karri Saarinen’s uncompromising and distinct approach to quality has made him an iconic designer/CEO. Will that same playbook hold up in the agentic age?
00:00 Winning by Your Own Rules
03:12 Quality Is Directional
06:24 Do You Design in Code?
15:45 Owning the Problem
22:45 Beyond the Issue Tracker
26:36 The Bull Case for Design
28:45 Do We Still Need UI?
33:02 The Car Designer of Software
37:37 School Feels Fake
40:59 Never Build the MVP
43:56 Clarity of Scope
45:37 Linear Recalibrates the Palate
—
Karri Saarinen: How We Win
First of Kind S3 E03
Powered by @bot @framer @tryramp @vercel @noondesign @meetgranola @profound
One question sits at the heart of @firstofkind
@soleio asks @karrisaarinen how design pioneers come to see themselves as fit to build something new. Karri’s answer starts in a bicycle shop.
Full episode of HOW WE WIN: xitter.twitterapi.xyz/soleio/status/21183543…
First of Kind: The @karrisaarinen interview
Can a designer-founder win the VC game ignoring all its rules?
Karri Saarinen’s uncompromising and distinct approach to quality has made him an iconic designer/CEO. Will that same playbook hold up in the agentic age?
00:00 Winning by Your Own Rules
03:12 Quality Is Directional
06:24 Do You Design in Code?
15:45 Owning the Problem
22:45 Beyond the Issue Tracker
26:36 The Bull Case for Design
28:45 Do We Still Need UI?
33:02 The Car Designer of Software
37:37 School Feels Fake
40:59 Never Build the MVP
43:56 Clarity of Scope
45:37 Linear Recalibrates the Palate
—
Karri Saarinen: How We Win
First of Kind S3 E03
Powered by @bot @framer @tryramp @vercel @noondesign @meetgranola @profound
Just as good coffee ruins mediocre coffee, the same holds true for software.
@soleio with @karrisaarinen on how @linear recalibrates the palate: “Once you start experiencing good things, it’s kinda hard to go back to the bad things.”
Full episode of HOW WE WIN: xitter.twitterapi.xyz/soleio/status/21183543…
First of Kind: The @karrisaarinen interview
Can a designer-founder win the VC game ignoring all its rules?
Karri Saarinen’s uncompromising and distinct approach to quality has made him an iconic designer/CEO. Will that same playbook hold up in the agentic age?
00:00 Winning by Your Own Rules
03:12 Quality Is Directional
06:24 Do You Design in Code?
15:45 Owning the Problem
22:45 Beyond the Issue Tracker
26:36 The Bull Case for Design
28:45 Do We Still Need UI?
33:02 The Car Designer of Software
37:37 School Feels Fake
40:59 Never Build the MVP
43:56 Clarity of Scope
45:37 Linear Recalibrates the Palate
—
Karri Saarinen: How We Win
First of Kind S3 E03
Powered by @bot @framer @tryramp @vercel @noondesign @meetgranola @profound
Startups used to be faster than the market by nature. But now that dynamic has inverted.
@soleio with @karrisaarinen on why @linear now learns from real users sooner: “We do have more urgency of figuring things out because the market is moving so fast.”
Full episode of HOW WE WIN: xitter.twitterapi.xyz/soleio/status/21183543…
First of Kind: The @karrisaarinen interview
Can a designer-founder win the VC game ignoring all its rules?
Karri Saarinen’s uncompromising and distinct approach to quality has made him an iconic designer/CEO. Will that same playbook hold up in the agentic age?
00:00 Winning by Your Own Rules
03:12 Quality Is Directional
06:24 Do You Design in Code?
15:45 Owning the Problem
22:45 Beyond the Issue Tracker
26:36 The Bull Case for Design
28:45 Do We Still Need UI?
33:02 The Car Designer of Software
37:37 School Feels Fake
40:59 Never Build the MVP
43:56 Clarity of Scope
45:37 Linear Recalibrates the Palate
—
Karri Saarinen: How We Win
First of Kind S3 E03
Powered by @bot @framer @tryramp @vercel @noondesign @meetgranola @profound
Engineers are doing PM work. Designers are learning to code.
@karrisaarinen explains to @soleio why @linear isn’t playing musical chairs: “What is the benefit of reshuffling the roles?”
Full episode of HOW WE WIN: xitter.twitterapi.xyz/soleio/status/21183543…
First of Kind: The @karrisaarinen interview
Can a designer-founder win the VC game ignoring all its rules?
Karri Saarinen’s uncompromising and distinct approach to quality has made him an iconic designer/CEO. Will that same playbook hold up in the agentic age?
00:00 Winning by Your Own Rules
03:12 Quality Is Directional
06:24 Do You Design in Code?
15:45 Owning the Problem
22:45 Beyond the Issue Tracker
26:36 The Bull Case for Design
28:45 Do We Still Need UI?
33:02 The Car Designer of Software
37:37 School Feels Fake
40:59 Never Build the MVP
43:56 Clarity of Scope
45:37 Linear Recalibrates the Palate
—
Karri Saarinen: How We Win
First of Kind S3 E03
Powered by @bot @framer @tryramp @vercel @noondesign @meetgranola @profound
6
548
School felt fake to Karri Saarinen. Making things for other people did not.
@soleio with @karrisaarinen on where his drive comes from and how he found meaning making things for others.
Full episode of HOW WE WIN: xitter.twitterapi.xyz/soleio/status/21183543…
First of Kind: The @karrisaarinen interview
Can a designer-founder win the VC game ignoring all its rules?
Karri Saarinen’s uncompromising and distinct approach to quality has made him an iconic designer/CEO. Will that same playbook hold up in the agentic age?
00:00 Winning by Your Own Rules
03:12 Quality Is Directional
06:24 Do You Design in Code?
15:45 Owning the Problem
22:45 Beyond the Issue Tracker
26:36 The Bull Case for Design
28:45 Do We Still Need UI?
33:02 The Car Designer of Software
37:37 School Feels Fake
40:59 Never Build the MVP
43:56 Clarity of Scope
45:37 Linear Recalibrates the Palate
—
Karri Saarinen: How We Win
First of Kind S3 E03
Powered by @bot @framer @tryramp @vercel @noondesign @meetgranola @profound
Everyone knows AI can design something fast.
“No one says, is this actually better?”
@soleio asks @karrisaarinen about the 𝕏 debate with @ryolu_
Full episode is now available:
Can a designer-founder win the VC game by ignoring all of its rules?
Season 3, Episode 3 is here:
How @karrisaarinen built @linear to win through quality above all else – now available on 𝕏, YouTube, and Instagram
Powered by @framer @noondesign @bot @tryramp @vercel @meetgranola @profound
00:00 Winning by Your Own Rules
03:12 Quality Is Directional
06:24 Do You Design in Code?
15:45 Owning the Problem
22:45 Beyond the Issue Tracker
26:36 The Bull Case for Design
28:45 Do We Still Need UI?
33:02 The Car Designer of Software
37:37 School Feels Fake
40:59 Never Build the MVP
43:56 Clarity of Scope
45:37 Linear Recalibrates the Palate
Hosted by @soleio and coproduced with @Room3NYC
Tomorrow we release @firstofkind E03
“HOW WE WIN” is the story of how @karrisaarinen charted his own course in the venture ecosystem and built a design-led juggernaut in @linear
Follow along here on 𝕏, YouTube, Instagram or wherever you enjoy premium podcasts
Season 3 continues and we’re playing to win…
@karrisaarinen was the founding designer at Coinbase and a principal designer at Airbnb. Now he leads @linear as cofounder and CEO, building the product development system for teams and agents.
E03 “How We Win” drops tomorrow 11/4
Alexander McQueen was once asked: would you go for sincerity or irony?
“Sincerity every time.”
@jasonyuan on why irony is avoidant, and why he is putting all of his skin in the game with @hivemind
How can being a playwright prepare one for designing social intelligence?
Season 3, Episode 2 drops today:
How @jasonyuan went from playwright to Apple designer to founding @hivemind is now available on YouTube and wherever you enjoy podcasts
00:00 Own Your Story, Do It True
00:49 Costumes, Stages, then World-Building
03:03 Hivemind in the Wild
08:42 From MercuryOS to Dot
13:20 Did You Make a Startup to Fix Yourself?
16:47 Every Relationship is a Story
19:35 The Graveyard Before Hivemind
22:25 Can Jason See Gotham?
28:13 Do It for The Plot!
29:13 Designing the Hivemind launch
32:48 The Information Market
34:45 Making Work That Feels True
41:02 Being Known Is the Most Wonderful Thing
Sponsored by @framer @noondesign @bot @tryramp @vercel @meetgranola @profound
Hosted by @soleio and coproduced with @Room3NYC
“Being known is the most wonderful thing that can possibly happen. Not known in the sense of being famous, but deeply known.”
@jasonyuandesign on the courage it takes to put yourself out there, on First of Kind S3 E02.
How can being a playwright prepare one for designing social intelligence?
Season 3, Episode 2 drops today:
How @jasonyuan went from playwright to Apple designer to founding @hivemind is now available on YouTube and wherever you enjoy podcasts
00:00 Own Your Story, Do It True
00:49 Costumes, Stages, then World-Building
03:03 Hivemind in the Wild
08:42 From MercuryOS to Dot
13:20 Did You Make a Startup to Fix Yourself?
16:47 Every Relationship is a Story
19:35 The Graveyard Before Hivemind
22:25 Can Jason See Gotham?
28:13 Do It for The Plot!
29:13 Designing the Hivemind launch
32:48 The Information Market
34:45 Making Work That Feels True
41:02 Being Known Is the Most Wonderful Thing
Sponsored by @framer @noondesign @bot @tryramp @vercel @meetgranola @profound
Hosted by @soleio and coproduced with @Room3NYC