First of Kind

What if you designed a new class of vehicle from the ground up?Joseph Cohen first cofounded Universe, the mobile-first website builder, before turning his attention to the physical world. He and his brother Eddie Cohen now run Infinite Machine, an automotive company reimagining how people move through cities — not with cars, but with something entirely new, starting with the electric motorcycle.We met at Infinite Machine's headquarters in New York City, where Joe walked us through the design philosophy behind “non-car” vehicles, why electrification unlocks radical new form factors, and what it means to bet on autonomous people over autonomous cars.00:00 – Intro: Color Outside the Lines01:50 – A New Symbol for Freedom05:52 – The Stolen Vespa09:49 – The P1 vs. The Vision Pro12:52 – Hard Modernism17:26 – Painters Who Paint Factories19:42 – Ten Times the Trips23:33 – The Vespa Has No Engine27:51 – Ask New Questions32:00 – The Company as Medium34:11 – Outro: What Memories Will You MakeS2:E5 Joseph Cohen: Infinite RideHosted by Soleio and produced by Room 3: room3nyc.com @room3nycFirst of Kind is powered by our sponsors:Framer — framer.comCursor — cursor.comVercel — vercel.comProfound — tryprofound.comWebsite: firstofkind.comYouTube: youtube.com/@firstofkind𝕏: x.com/firstofkindThreads: threads.com/firstofkind_Instagram: instagram.com/firstofkind_Hashtag: #FirstofKind

When do you know to pivot or surrender?Koen Bok and Jorn van Dijk co-founded Framer, the web design platform that helps designers ship beautiful sites fast. 55% of YC companies run on it. Designers love it. But Framer almost didn't make it.What began as a high-fidelity prototyping tool born inside Facebook's design culture became—after a near-death pivot five years in—the premier site builder for designers who ship. Over drinks at the Lone Palm in San Francisco, Koen and Jorn recall what it took to step back from the brink of oblivion and chart a new course — for themselves and the field of digital design.00:00 Intro: Lone Palm, Last Call01:34 What is Framer Today?02:39 Pick a Problem You Love06:14 Three Interactions to Fifty08:20 Rough Riding / Why VC is Good11:38 Three Options Left14:31 The Pivotal Lunch20:46 Act III: Solving the Walkie-Talkie29:08 Artistry meets Wall Street32:20 Stay Weird, Keep BuildingSpecial thanks to Jane Seabrook and the Lone Palm team for permitting us to film the first ever video podcast at their storied bar.–Koen Bok & Jorn van Dijk: Framer ReloadedFirst of Kind, S2:E4Hosted by Soleio and produced by Room 3: room3nyc.comFirst of Kind is powered by our sponsors:Framer — framer.comCursor — cursor.comVercel — vercel.comProfound — tryprofound.comWebsite: www.firstofkind.com𝕏: x.com/firstofkindThreads: threads.com/firstofkind_Instagram: instagram.com/firstofkind_Hashtag: #FirstofKind

What can flying teach us about software design?Katie Dill has built world-class teams at three iconic companies—Stripe, Lyft and Airbnb—proving that thoughtful design can shape quality at industrial scale.In this conversation with Soleio, Katie describes her winding path into technology and how fields as disparate as architecture and aviation shape her approach to leading design at Stripe.00:00 – Intro: It's All About Mileage02:18 – What Flying Teaches You About Design07:01 – From History to Design School10:30 – The IDEO Moment18:01 – Saying Yes to the Scary Thing19:46 – The Chair Pullback21:16 – The Gray Room at Airbnb25:47 – Breaking Down the Ivory Tower30:05 – Put In the Mileage33:35 – Beauty Builds Trust36:53 – Steam Gauges and Simple Systems38:53 – The Best Checkout in the WorldKatie Dill: Quality ControlFirst of Kind, S2:E3Hosted by Soleio and produced by Room 3: room3nyc.comFirst of Kind is powered by our sponsors:Framer — framer.comCursor — cursor.comVercel — vercel.comProfound — tryprofound.comWebsite: www.firstofkind.com𝕏: x.com/firstofkind_Threads: threads.com/firstofkind_Instagram: instagram.com/firstofkind_Hashtag: #FirstofKind

What is the future of design in a post-AI world?Ryo Lu pioneered new patterns for collaboration as founding designer at Notion. He now leads design at Cursor, shaping how software gets built through a fusion of design and engineering. In this conversation with Soleio, he explains Cursor's approach to design and how the product will evolve to empower designers who build.00:00 – Intro: The future of design01:49 – What is design at Cursor?02:50 – How the team actually works04:46 – Generalists, Self-Starters, Ex-Founders07:34 – Building Cursor inside Cursor10:45 – The next level: Agents & Abstraction13:48 – Pattern language18:24 – A lingua franca for builders20:34 – Baby Cursor23:45 – The new shape of designer26:10 – Does AI distribute or concentrate power?29:43 – Why Cursor is the tool you should learn30:54 – A new design philosophy32:36 – Where the path leadsS2:E2 Ryo Lu: The WayHosted by Soleio and produced by Room 3 (www.room3nyc.com)First of Kind is powered by our sponsors:Framer: framer.comCursor: cursor.comVercel: vercel.comProfound: tryprofound.comWebsite: www.firstofkind.comThreads: threads.com/firstofkind_Instagram: instagram.com/firstofkind_X: x.com/firstofkind_Hashtag: #FirstofKind

Why did Joe Gebbia go to Washington? I spoke with America’s first-ever Chief Design Officer last fall to find out. We met on the White House grounds to discuss his newly created role, the formation of @ndstudio, and how Joe plans to weave design into the frabic of U.S. federal government.00:00 - Intro / Eisenhower Exec Office Bldg01:34 - From Airbnb to Washington04:39 - The Federal Retirement Problem06:31 - The Mine in the Mountain08:29 - Do Things That Don’t Scale11:35 - The Julie Prototype14:20 - Down to 60 Seconds16:33 - Consumer-Grade Government18:31 - Nixon’s Federal Beautification20:22 - The National Design Studio24:24 - Trust Through Design27:43 - Building the Dream Team31:22 - The Silicon Valley Coalition35:33 - A Golden Age of DesignSpecial thanks to Joe Gebbia and his team for making this conversation possible.S2:E1 Joe Gebbia, Designer-in-ChiefHosted by Soleio: x.com/soleioProduced by Room 3: room3nyc.comFirst of Kind is powered by our sponsors:Framer: framer.comCursor: cursor.comVercel: vercel.comProfound: tryprofound.comWebsite: www.firstofkind.comThreads: threads.com/firstofkind_Instagram: instagram.com/firstofkind_X: x.com/firstofkind_Hashtag: #FirstofKind

Explore our Conversational Show Notes, brought to you by Granola.ai — https://notes.granola.ai/f/ee3b12a6-82bb-4662-940a-d4270871994a Thank you to our partners!Cursor — https://cursor.comFramer — https://framer.comGranola — https://granola.aiLinear — https://linear.appPerplexity — https://perplexity.com

Explore our Conversational Show Notes, brought to you by Granola.ai — https://notes.granola.ai/f/ee3b12a6-82bb-4662-940a-d4270871994a Thank you to our partners!Cursor — https://cursor.comFramer — https://framer.comGranola — https://granola.aiLinear — https://linear.appPerplexity — https://perplexity.com

Explore our Conversational Show Notes, brought to you by Granola.ai — https://notes.granola.ai/f/ee3b12a6-82bb-4662-940a-d4270871994a Thank you to our partners!Cursor — https://cursor.comFramer — https://framer.comGranola — https://granola.aiLinear — https://linear.appPerplexity — https://perplexity.com

Explore our Conversational Show Notes, brought to you by Granola.ai — https://notes.granola.ai/f/ee3b12a6-82bb-4662-940a-d4270871994a Thank you to our partners!Cursor — https://cursor.comFramer — https://framer.comGranola — https://granola.aiLinear — https://linear.appPerplexity — https://perplexity.com

Explore our Conversational Show Notes, brought to you by Granola.ai — https://notes.granola.ai/f/ee3b12a6-82bb-4662-940a-d4270871994a Thank you to our partners!Cursor — https://cursor.comFramer — https://framer.comGranola — https://granola.aiLinear — https://linear.appPerplexity — https://perplexity.com

Explore our Conversational Show Notes, brought to you by Granola.ai — https://notes.granola.ai/f/ee3b12a6-82bb-4662-940a-d4270871994a Thank you to our partners!Cursor — https://cursor.comFramer — https://framer.comGranola — https://granola.aiLinear — https://linear.appPerplexity — https://perplexity.com

Explore our Conversational Show Notes, brought to you by Granola.ai — https://notes.granola.ai/f/ee3b12a6-82bb-4662-940a-d4270871994a Thank you to our partners!Cursor — https://cursor.comFramer — https://framer.comGranola — https://granola.aiLinear — https://linear.appPerplexity — https://perplexity.com"Last winter in the dappled light of a redwood grove, I met @bryce for the first time in front of a camera..." reads the tweet from @soleio.At the conclusion of our conversation last winter in that dappled forest, I was struck by this new profile of founder he was describing. There were new tools opening new avenues for a creative to build and explore opportunities in entirely new ways. As someone who has an insatiable appetite for the new, this felt like a founder profile worth exploring.So when our three hour chat (edited down to about an hour) in the woods was winding down, we made a proposition — "Do you want to develop a show with us?"We left the question of format open, but the general idea of exploring the edges of designers as founders and builders was something we all got excited about digging into deeper. As we dug in, the ideas and format became clearer. And if you were to stop Soleio on the street, here’s the pitch for this series —This project came together around a simple question: Who are the designers in tech that are the first to pioneer a new way of doing things? What does that archetype look like in practice?In music, we have genre-defining artists. In software, we have first-of-kind designers.This is a show where we talk to the people pushing the frontiers of design into new directions and capabilities—whether at the helms of new businesses or as practitioners of a new craft.The series is called First of Kind, capturing the emergent and evolving nature these first of kind founders and creatives across a wide range of mediums. We let Soleio take the lead on guests, and nearly all six were his immediate ideas for dream conversations. We’re releasing them all at once, in their entireties, and plan to share a supercut of themes we saw across them once a week for the next month. Guests this season include:— Henry Modisett, Head of Design at Perplexity— Colin Dunn, Cofounder of Visual Electric— Jessica Hische, Cofounder of Studioworks— Julie Zhuo, Cofounder of Sundial— Nicholas Jitkoff, Cofounder of /dev/agents— Susan Kare, Design IconThis is all new for us. We’ve never done a series like this before. We’ve never collaborated with someone creatively like this before. And we’ve never had support from sponsors before. On all fronts, it's been a home run of an experience.These focused conversations were incredibly fun to facilitate. The guests were gracious, insightful, and have entered seamlessly into the world of indie. As for collaboration, we could not have hoped for a better partner in crime than Soleio. Given that our first meeting was recorded, it felt natural to continue building that friendship in front of, and behind, the lens. Seeing his creative process in action was both eye opening and inspiring. His ambition and cadence across all aspects of his life put a battery in all of our backs — a true First of Kind himself in so many ways. Building together over the last few months has been a tremendous privilege and honor.When we started this, our plan to was simply underwrite it as indie. But as word spread, companies we deeply admire offered their support as well. So, with much gratitude, we welcome Linear, Cursor, and Perplexity to the First of Kind family. Each has deep roots in the worlds we’re exploring here, and we’re incredibly grateful for their support.So, that’s First of Kind. I hope you enjoy watching and learning from these as much as we enjoyed making them.