Michael Truell: How Cursor Builds at the Speed of AI

Michael Truell, CEO of Cursor, discusses the company's origins, pivoting from a 3D company to focusing on AI coding tools, and the strategic decisions that fueled its rapid growth. Truell emphasizes the importance of focus, initially building a better product within the VS Code ecosystem before expanding into multi-product offerings like BugBot and CLI. He also shares insights on managing scale, stressing API providers, and the company's unique talent acquisition strategies, including two-day work trials and strategic M&A to acquire top talent and build out product suites. Truell touches on the philosophical question of Cursor, a software disrupting software, and the long, messy middle of automating software development.