A playbook for building deep tech startups

I joined Applied Intuition as a new-grad engineer back in early 2019, when it was just a handful of us working above a bar on Murphy Ave in Sunnyvale...

June 03, 2026

Firsthand: Seven Years Inside Applied Intuition, the Quietly Dominant Physical AI Company

“AI-Powered” Isn’t a Position

A playbook for building a distinctive brand when too many AI products sound the same, look the same and have the same positioning.

May 14, 2026

Why founders should bet on first-time executives | Praveer Melwani (CFO, Figma)

In this latest episode of Executive Function, Brett sits down with Praveer Melwani, CFO at Figma. Praveer joined Figma in 2017 as the company's first...

May 14, 2026

Guideline's Path to Product-Market Fit — The Early Decisions That Powered Its Acquisition by Gusto

Ten years after shaking up the retirement fund industry for SMBs, Guideline has been acquired by Gusto. Here, co-founder Kevin Busque shares the early...

March 24, 2026

35 Impactful Questions Managers Should Ask Themselves Regularly

We asked top startup leaders to share the questions they ask themselves to become better managers and assembled their answers into a can't-miss...

May 16, 2022

Radical Candor — The Surprising Secret to Being a Good Boss

Kim Scott cut her teeth as a manager at Apple and Google, and now helps create great leaders as an author and coach for companies like Twitter. Here's...

November 24, 2015

From 0 to $1B - Slack's Founder Shares Their Epic Launch Strategy

“HELL YEAH WE'RE USING @SlackHQ AT WORK I. LOVE. SLACK.”

February 27, 2015

So You Want to Hire a Forward Deployed Engineer: How to Know If You Need One and How to Get the Role Right

Founders and operators who’ve successfully built forward deployed engineering teams share the nuances that make this idiosyncratic role work, along...

February 24, 2026