Behind the Craft

Google just announced Gemini 4 Carbon, and I wanted to see how Google's own product leaders use Gemini 4 day to day. Jaclyn is a product director at Google Labs. We talked about how Gemini 4 changed the PM job, how Labs decides what's worth building, and how she uses AI to make podcasts and games with her kids.

Jaclyn and I talked about:

(00:00) How Gemini 4 changed the PM job
(02:11) How Google Labs picks what to build
(09:16) The rule that keeps AI slop out of docs
(10:45) How Labs ideas end up in the Gemini app
(12:53) Keep the lessons, not the prototype
(17:43) Why your code is no longer a moat
(24:00) Raising kids to create with AI
(26:30) A Gemini 4 petting zoo game for her kids

Thanks to our sponsors:

Wispr Flow: 4x faster than typing with your voice https://ref.wisprflow.ai/peteryang
Riverside: All-in-one AI studio for podcasts and video https://creators.riverside.com/PeterYang

📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/gemini-4-changed-how-google-builds-products-jaclyn-konzelmann

Where to find Jaclyn:

X: https://x.com/jacalulu
Substack: https://substack.com/@jacalulu

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Pomp and I worked together at Facebook a decade ago before he became an investor, best-selling author, and public company CEO with an audience of 3.3M. We had a great chat about how to build an extraordinary career and life and how he's building Silvia, an AI CFO for independent investors, to take on the AI labs.

Pomp and I talked about:

(00:00) Why Pomp never had a career plan
(04:43) Why an audience is the best way to win deal flow
(10:33) Paid work trials instead of job interviews
(18:35) Hire for revenue, not margins
(20:32) Silvia: An AI CFO for independent investors
(25:00) How AI found a tax strategy worth $100Ks a year
(32:05) How a team of under 10 plans to compete with the AI labs
(35:58) Pomp’s latest take on Bitcoin
(39:21) How Pomp teaches his four kids to solve problems

Thanks to our sponsors:

Riverside: All-in-one AI studio for podcasts and video https://creators.riverside.com/PeterYang

📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/we-built-an-ai-cfo-to-help-you-grow-net-worth-anthony-pompliano

Where to find Pomp:

X: https://x.com/APompliano
Silvia: https://www.cfosilvia.com/

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Micky is a full-stack engineer who has taught 100K+ people how to build with AI. In our episode, he walked me through his 4-step agentic engineering workflow to avoid pumping out slop: Isolate every task, build to a clear structure, prove via validation loops, and ship after agents review your PRs or escalate to you for a manual look.

Micky and I talked about:

(00:00) Why most software factories pump out slop
(02:06) Step 1 (Isolate): How to run multiple agents at once
(07:18) Step 2 (Build): Give agents a structure to build on
(10:44) Step 3 (Prove): Build agentic validation loops
(16:48) The one step Micky never hands to agents
(21:30) Step 4 (Ship): Getting agents to review PRs reliably
(28:20) Why Micky doesn't write specs
(33:08) Comparing Astra and Fable for coding
(43:08) Are AI skills obsolete with today's models?

Thanks to our sponsors:

Wispr Flow: 4x faster than typing with your voice https://ref.wisprflow.ai/peteryang
Riverside: All-in-one AI studio for podcasts and video https://creators.riverside.com/PeterYang

📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/agentic-engineering-workflow-ras-mic

Where to find Micky:

X: https://x.com/Rasmic
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RasMic
Skills: https://github.com/michaelshimeles/skills

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Sam is the co-founder of Granola, the AI meeting notes app now valued at $1.5B. Granola has helped me survive (and even enjoy) countless meetings, so I was excited to learn how Sam uses AI to show up prepared. We also talked about building an AI-native company without the 996 grind and what design means when agents skip your app entirely.

Sam and I talked about:

(00:00) The AI brief Sam now relies on before every new meeting
(01:27) “What did I miss?”: Granola’s most used recipe
(03:45) Why Granola hides the transcript despite user complaints
(09:37) A Granola recipe to get feedback from founders
(13:54) Why Sam feels a pang of sadness when agents skip your UI
(19:30) Why Sam’s Figma use fell to 20% and how Granola stops slop
(26:14) Nacho: The agent every Granola employee asks first
(30:58) Why most people stop improving their product way too early

Thanks to our sponsors:

Linear: The AI agent platform for modern teams https://linear.app/behind-the-craft
Riverside: All-in-one AI studio for podcasts and video https://creators.riverside.com/PeterYang

📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/how-to-use-ai-to-survive-meetings-sam-stephenson

Where to find Sam:

X: https://x.com/samstphenson
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephensonsam/

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Copy my best AI workflows to save time and automate busywork: https://www.behindthecraft.com
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Peng and Lauren are the lead designer and engineer for Grok Bot at SpaceXAI. In our interview, they showed me 14 bots that they use for work and life, from a design bot that helps Peng mock up designs to an entire team of engineering bots that help Lauren ship faster.

Peng, Lauren, and I talked about:

(00:00) The bots that the Grok Bot team actually uses
(01:23) Peng’s chief of staff bot buys supplies and lists gear
(06:31) Putting PM, design, and eng bots in the same room
(10:07) Turning a street photo into a diorama on Peng’s website
(14:16) How Lauren’s bots test their own work before merging
(17:59) Dr. Eggbot, Lauren’s bot that designs and audits your bots
(21:27) The assistant bot that booked Lauren’s multi-city trip
(25:22) Eng bots that sometimes land PRs before Lauren reads them
(38:59) How to trust your bots with more work, one skill at a time

Thanks to our sponsors:

Granola: AI meeting notes that don’t suck https://granola.ai/peter
Riverside: All-in-one AI studio for podcasts and video https://creators.riverside.com/PeterYang

📌 Get the takeaways: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/grok-bot-team-14-best-bots-peng-zheng-lauren-tan

Where to find Peng Zheng:

X: https://x.com/pengzheng_
Website: https://www.pengzhe.ng/

Where to find Lauren Tan:

X: https://x.com/poteto
Dr. Eggbot: https://x.ai/bot/marketplace/bots/dr-eggbot-v2

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