Yana is Head of AI at Amplitude and a good friend. We had some real talk about how to stay scrappy inside a big company, including how to avoid decision by committee and endless internal debates. Yana also demoed her favorite AI workflows to triage her emails and aggregate customer feedback. I think you’ll love our banter 😅

Yana and I talked about:

(00:00) "By the time you've debated 2 ideas, I've already shipped 10"

(03:21) Think "how would I run this company?" not "what's my job?"

(05:22) Why we banned decisions by committee

(08:25) Cross-functional now means doing the work, not coordinating it

(11:22) Why frustrated users can become your biggest advocates

(15:19) Live demo: Using ChatGPT Atlas to triage emails and defuse emotional ones

(24:38) AI is still terrible at prompting (and what you can do about it)

(28:48) Live demo: Combining qualitative feedback with quantitative data

(37:38) Why AI analytics is lagging (and what needs to change)

Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/a-founders-playbook-for-shipping-10x-faster-with-ai-yana-welinder

Where to find Yana:

X: https://x.com/yanatweets

Website: https://amplitude.com/ai-feedback?utm_campaign=fy25q4-ai-feedback-launch&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=organic-social&utm_content=creator-economy

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As VP of Alexa, Daniel builds product for 600M Alexa devices. He had a great answer to my tough question: “Why has it taken so long to add AI to Alexa?” and then gave a live demo of what an AI-powered Alexa looks like. We also had a great chat about how to apply Amazon’s working backwards process to build useful AI products.

Daniel and I talked about:

(00:00) The real reason Amazon delayed adding AI to Alexa

(03:21) Live demo: Alexa uses AI to book Warriors tickets under $100

(09:21) Which AI model(s) power Alexa behind the scenes?

(11:50) How to build AI products using Amazon's PR/FAQ process

(18:30) Speed vs quality: When to ship fast vs when to wait

(23:00) Why Amazon pairs "invent" and "simplify" together

(26:00) The future of AI voice assistants beyond your home

Thanks to our sponsors:

Amplitude: See all your feedback in one place https://amplitude.com/ai-feedback?utm_campaign=fy25q4-ai-feedback-launch&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=organic-social&utm_content=creator-economy

Linear: The best platform for AI agents https://linear.app/partners/behind-the-craft

Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/an-inside-look-at-what-alexa-can-do-with-ai

Where to find Daniel:

X: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrausch/

Website: http://alexa.amazon.com/📌 Subscribe to this channel – more interviews coming soon!

Xinran is a top AI instructor who has taught 100s of product teams how to design and prototype with AI. He shared 5 practical techniques to avoid generating AI slop — from side-by-side exploration to reverse prompting to component libraries — that you can start trying today. If you want to level up on AI prototyping, this is a must watch.

Xinran and I talked about:

(00:00) The 5 gaps in vibe coding that lead to generic designs

(04:28) [Step 1] Custom GPT generates perfect specs before prompting

(12:04) [Step 2] Magic Patterns canvas for side-by-side iteration tracking

(15:56) [Step 3] Inspiration command generates 4 unique designs instantly

(20:45) [Step 4] Mix-match components across prototypes with Subframe

(24:10) [Step 5] Toggle between AI mode and manual design editing

(28:34) Reverse prompting: Make AI extract your design system

(32:19) Pair component libraries with instructions to avoid AI slop

Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/a-proven-5-step-system-to-prototype-apps-with-ai-xinran-ma

Where to find Xinran:

Newsletter: https://designwithai.substack.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmaxinran/

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