Colin Dunn

One of the many things I learned from @gentry about design is the idea of *informed simplicity*

I'm looking for a technical cofounder. I would love to meet you if you: - Are based in SF or willing to relocate - Have experience building agentic systems - Appreciate well crafted products - Want to work really hard DMs are open.

Looking for a full-stack web engineer to do an 8-week contract. Full time, remote. If you’re interested send me something you’ve built that you’re proud of!

@Support I'm trying to upgrade to Premium+ on the web it won't let me—it says my subscription is managed in the iOS app but I cancelled my subscription in January

Open roles: Head of Product Design, Creative Director, Design Engineer, Head of Operations.

Last year we sold Visual Electric to Perplexity. The product was sunset shortly after. I knew then I had another company in me, I just didn't expect my next idea to come along so quickly. Working on something new and looking for exceptional people to join the founding team. DMs are open.

@josephcohen @koenbok This is just perfect

We designed Olto to be the ultimate bike lane vehicle. Two passengers. 40 miles of range. Cargo capacity. Theft proof. No license, no registration, no insurance. $3,495, about a quarter of what the average used car costs. Bike-lane legal in 50 states. Olto is now shipping nationwide. To celebrate, we’re launching our Spring Campaign featuring ~100 New Yorkers from all walks of life. It goes live today around NYC and on the internet. We’re very excited for Olto to be in the world and for all kinds of people to make it a part of their lives. Oh the places you will go.

The fact that its even close is wild

Honest question for product designers You can only pick one, what do you choose?

Lovely

@rsms @jsngr To me it feels like the difference between designing and directing design. Different things for sure, but when done well, both follow the design process you described IMO. And ultimately directing design is much more leveraged.

This is really neat but it’s not a design tool as much as it’s a design _production_ tool. The practice of design is mostly about what comes before production. There’s no doubt in my mind that all parts of software production will become automated very soon. Writing code, making web pages, putting pieces of a design system together etc. And that’s fine. I think few people actually enjoy this kind of production work. Wouldn’t it be better if we spent our precious time in life on what is more meaningful?! At the core, the practice of design is methodical; like architecture, not like art. In a nutshell: We find constraints, form comprehension of the whole and propose solutions that honor those constraints. First after that do we enter some form of production phase, usually prototypes first, learn about some constraints that were hidden before, loop back, prototype and then build the production-grade “final” artifact. These last few tasks are quickly losing value because AI tools can do it much faster (not yet better though) than humans. It’s simply just what has the best RoI for a business. Some companies and individuals will continue to spend human time on certain parts of the “production line” as a market differentiator, but it will cost them a relatively high price compared to competitors. Anyhow, I still haven’t seen a tool better than Figma that supports the actually-interesting part of the design process. I wouldn’t be surprised if Figma focused their products on that, maybe separating “products for production” of “products for ideation & exploration.” The latter would obviously still leverage AI, but not to do the work for me but rather to support my efforts the way a therapist helps me live a better life (not living my life for me.)

@joshpuckett Well now you don’t have to!

@colindunn Claude; but the first tool I’d make is a canvas on which to sketch

@tonydevincenzi 💀

Ok since I'm here posting anyway (rare), here's a video I took last night of Town making it's first phone call which... was answered by another ai. COOKED.

Excited to share what the VE team has been working on at Perplexity

@jaltma Wow! Congrats Jack. Benchmark is lucky to have you.

I’m really excited to share that I’m joining Benchmark. The past two years as a full time investor have been the most rewarding of my career. I really love venture capital, which is not something I ever imagined I’d say when I was kid, but here we are. I love new ideas and being part of a team with a mission. I love getting to be there for people who are struggling towards goals they really care about. I love learning from people who are better CEOs than I ever was. I love the texture of the work, the competition, and the way the job lets you invest in relationships. I love it so much that I’ve even turned into a little venture nerd with a podcast who goes around harassing great investors and founders, trying to learn as much as I can as fast as possible. I’ve certainly learned what I care most about, and what kind of investor I want to be. What I’ve realized is that I love investing at the Series A, when there’s enough going on that an investor can be useful but not so much that you can’t have an impact. I think there are many amazing ways to practice venture, it’s just the way that most speaks to me. And as I came to realize that, I started to think about how to best set myself up to do that craft as well as possible. It became clear to me there is nowhere better for this than Benchmark; the way they’re structured, their principles, their overall approach to investing, and their track record all create an environment that I believe will let me do my best work as an investor and help founders the most I possibly can. As I’ve gotten to know the team at Benchmark I’ve come to admire so much about each of them. Peter is truly playing his own game. A lot of what he says sounds like poetry at first, but as the ideas roll around in your head for a while you realize how much depth they have. I first heard about Eric many years ago from my friend Saji at Benchling while I was building Lattice, who described him as the most amazing board member and attributed him with a lot of the company’s success. That’s the kind of partner I want to be one day. Chetan is brilliant and truly thinks for himself; I’ve realized over time what a courageous guy he is. And then there’s my friend Ev, whose skills complement mine and who I just love to be around. I can’t wait to have him as a partner in crime. When given the chance to work with this group I just knew I had to go. One of my motivating north stars with Alt Capital was to build a firm and be a partner that I most would have wanted as an entrepreneur. Although I haven’t gotten everywhere I want to be yet, I’m proud of the work so far. And now I’m excited to build on that work at Benchmark, where I hope to increase my rate of learning and get armed with the power of a partnership so I can help founders reach their dreams even more. Thank you to the companies who’ve let me invest with them at Alt Cap. I’m keeping all my board seats and supporting everyone just the same as before. Thank you to the LPs who’ve backed me as well. I am so excited about the portfolio we have and am grateful I can stick with all those companies. And finally thank you to my teammates, Bala, Vivek, and Nate. Bala took a bet on me and started investing with me before it was remotely obvious, and we’ve been able to grow so much figuring it out together as investors. I credit Nate with helping Alt start feeling like a firm. He joined us from First Round over a year ago and made everything run smoothly. And while Vivek joined just a little while ago, even in the short time we’ve worked together he’s had a meaningful impact on how we think and invest. They’re all joining Benchmark with me. So pumped for this chapter.

@jmtrivedi @OpenAI Congrats Janum!

Delighted to share that I’ve joined the @OpenAI × LoveFrom design team, working on io products!

Colin Dunn @colindunn predicts a future where branding is liquid: generative, adaptive, and personal to each individual. A future where the designer’s role shifts from precision crafting to becoming a “vibe director.” Check out our full Design Fireside at @southpkcommons

@josephcohen Thanks for your support Joe - I don’t think VE would have happened without you!

A big congrats to @colindunn and the VE team on their acquisition by Perplexity. Proud to be a supporter from the beginning. Can’t wait to see what you guys build there.

@soleio Thank you for being an early believer and steadfast mentor and friend 🫂

@colindunn Proud of you. Can’t wait to see what you ship at Perplexity and how VE lives on therein! Godspeed.

Bittersweet moment. Visual Electric has been acquired by Perplexity and will be sunset over the coming weeks. Becoming a founder has long been a dream of mine, and getting to work on Visual Electric for nearly three years has been the most rewarding experience of my career. Thank you to the team, our investors, and customers who have supported us along the way. The VE team is leading agentic experiences at Perplexity, working on new kinds of products that have only recently become possible. Excited for this next chapter.