Inside Cursor

This piece about Cursor's culture will be one studied years from now. I switched to Cursor in June 2024 and haven't looked back (I'm even writing this post in Cursor). It's been clear to me that this is a generational company, and whatever they've been doing to ship at the velocity and quality they've achieved is special.

It reads like an ethnographic version of Valve's New Employee Handbook, and it's clear that Cursor's leadership has been very diligent about creating a culture that delivers on mission-vision-values rather than just talking about them. When Brie mention's the references that folks at Cursor use (deep Silicon Valley lore, etc), I imagine many people at the company actually have read Valve's handbook. Hiring Very Online People has it's perks, mainly that people have a greater understanding of what's possible, so they can pick and choose the best ideas for themselves.

Brie captures the essence perfectly, and just like her essay What I Miss About Working at Stripe (about the perils of Looks Good to Me culture), I'll be referencing ideas from Inside Cursor for years to come.