Behind the Craft

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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Jenny is the head of design for Claude. She gave me a rare inside look at how Anthropic operates — including how she uses Cowork to design and build products and the real story behind how Cowork was built. Anthropic is shipping new features almost everyday and it was fascinating to see how they do it.

Jenny and I talked about:
(00:00) How design work has changed at Anthropic
(04:30) "My secret is that I actually use Co-work for most things now"
(05:19) Cowork demo: From messy user feedback into product insights
(14:41) "Every Monday Cowork gives me 3 vetted product ideas"
(23:09) The real story behind Cowork's development (10 days?)
(27:18) Exclusive look: Cowork prototypes that didn't ship
(34:01) How product planning works at Anthropic
(38:10) "If you feel like the ground is shifting, it's because it is."

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-anthropic-claude-cowork-tutorial-jenny-wen

Where to find Jenny:
X: https://x.com/jenny_wen
Website: https://jennywen.ca/

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Felix is an expert at using Claude Code and Figma MCP to design and build apps. Watch as he demos how you can build apps that look exactly like their Figma designs, build a game from a FigJam flow cart, and convert code back to Figma components that you can tweak.

Felix and I talked about:
(00:00) 3 products Felix designed and built in Claude Code
(06:36) Building an animated world map from a screenshot
(7:50) Felix's app that analyzes how good your landing page is
(13:17) Demo: Figma design to working website in 15 min
(23:07) Demo: FigJam flowchart to a working game
(31:30) A UX reviewer skill for design feedback
(40:19) How to export code back to Figma as editable designs
(45:10) Why most designers aren't adapting fast enough

Thanks to our sponsors:
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
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/master-claude-code-figma-mcp-for-design-felix-lee

Where to find Felix:
X: https://x.com/felixleezd
Website: https://adplist.org/

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