Welcome to First Block, a Notion series where founders from the world’s leading companies tell us what it was like to navigate the many firsts of their startup journey — and what they learned from that experience.
In this episode, we spoke with Michael Truell, Co-founder and CEO of Cursor, an AI code editor that has gone from side project to one of the fastest-growing AI tools in the developer world in under a year.
Michael shares why they started with a solution in search of a problem, ignored conventional advice, and focused obsessively on product over everything else. From a 4-person founding team to hiring just one person every few months, their unorthodox path laid the foundation for breakout growth.
For video, transcripts, and custom Notion Cursor templates, please visit: https://ntn.so/2yr1lw)
To learn more about how Notion is supporting startups, please visit: https://ntn.so/9ipiek)
Timestamps
****00:00): Intro
02:18): The original spark and false start in mechanical engineering
05:53): The pivot moment to developer tools
06:45): The decision to fork VS Code
08:45): Building AI-native coding tools and the balance between speed and control
12:24): Cursor's explosive growth trajectory
13:41): Early mistakes and lessons learned
14:16): Hiring philosophy and building the first team
17:08): Internal tools and operational philosophy
19:01): Maintaining focus in a hyper-fast environment
20:53): Advice for founders building in the AI era
