How Cursor Grew from $1M to $100M ARR in a Year
Hello!
I’m torn between two views on AI. It represents the most significant business transformation of our time, but is it a revolutionary force, or the greatest unfulfilled promise?
For roles that use AI effectively, like marketers, developers, and salespeople, AI can create a 10x impact. At Pagepro, we've seen this potential with tools like Cursor. My team uses it to avoid repetitive tasks, get useful suggestions, and write documentation and code comments faster.
Despite that, this tool still hasn’t completely taken over our development process. Why? Because the true art of software engineering still requires human creativity, architectural thinking, and deep problem-solving AI is yet to master.
Even with billions in investment, GPT-4.5, Grok3, and Claude3.7 haven’t shown much more than marginal improvements. Could we be reaching the limits of what AI’s pattern recognition can achieve?
After giving it some thought I came to a conclusion that no matter how powerful it is, AI isn’t a competitive advantage on its own. It’s more of an operational efficiency that every company will adopt soon. The businesses that will thrive with AI are the ones that already have a solid foundation and clear differentiators. AI can accelerate those strengths, but it won’t replace them.
AI is only one of the topics we’ll be discussing today. Have a look at what else you can expect in this issue of Frictionless:
In the Queue
Reduce Friction
AI Agents and The Missing Link in DevOps
AI in DevOps can cut hours of work down to minutes, but it often faces an unexpected blocker - the people. For many leaders getting developers to trust and integrate it might be a battle of its own.
Defining Our Priorities as the CTO of a Tech Company
A CTO’s to-do list is endless, but here’s a simple framework to help you: prioritize tasks that drive revenue, improve team well-being, or set up future success. Everything else can wait.
Good Teams Ship Great Products. Great Teams Kill Bad Ones.
Shipping great products is the goal, but knowing when to kill a bad one can save your business. Don't be afraid of the “kill-or-commit” mindset? - it can keep you focused on what delivers real value.
Deepen Your Expertise
Next.js 15.2
The Next.js 15.2 update delivers a redesigned error UI with improved stack traces alongside streaming metadata that no longer blocks rendering. Turbopack performance also sees major gains with up to 57.6% faster compile times.
State of React Native 2024
2024 was a great year for React Native, with updates like the New Architecture pushing the ecosystem forward. Let’s look at what the community thinks of it through the results of the new State of React Native survey.
How Preply improved INP on a Next.js application (without React Server Components and App Router)
I’ve been recommended this article on improving INP in Next.js without relying on React Server Components and the App Router. It’s a great read with clever tips like using Concurrent Mode, selective hydration, and offloading tasks to Web Workers.
The Deployment Bottleneck No One Talks About
Slow pipelines or failed builds aren't the only bottlenecks you should worry about in deployment. The mismatch between development and production environments can cause even more pain, so learn how to address it before it hits you.
Optimizing Vercel Hosting Costs
Could Vercel Enterprise be cheaper than the Pro plan? If you're looking for ways to make your Vercel hosting more affordable, Jakub Dakowicz wrote a guide on code-level optimizations and strategies that can help you save on hosting costs
High Vercel Bills? Try Self-Hosting!
Join me and Jakub Dakowicz on March 20th at 11 AM (EST) and learn how to replace Vercel’s built-in services with self-hosted alternatives and configure serverless functions for a frictionless, cost-effective migration. Save Your Seat
Increase Scalability
Cursor Went from 1–100m ARR in 12 Months: The Fastest SAAS to Achieve This
I never thought a company could grow from $1 million to $100 million in a year, but Cursor proved me wrong. With a smart product-led growth strategy, a developer-first approach, and a powerful freemium model, they became a household name and a staple in many teams, including mine.
?? The Creator of WordPress Opens Up About Becoming an Internet Villain | Matt Mullenweg
After facing criticism for his leadership style and business choices, Matt Mullenweg, the CEO of Automattic, finally gives his side of the story. I might not agree with Matt on everything, but his thoughts on the future of open-source and AI are worth hearing.
How Google Does It: How We Secure Our Own Cloud
Ever wondered how Google keeps its cloud secure? Have a look behind the scenes to understand their practices, certifications, and commitment to protecting user data.
Slack: Takeaways From This Week’s Service Outage
Slack had a rough day last week when a major outage caused many teams to panic. While we might not know the exact reasons, some theories are floating around and plenty of lessons to be learned.
Just Cool
Klarna CEO Doubts That Other Companies Will Replace Salesforce With AI
Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski has stated that he doesn’t think AI will replace Salesforce anytime soon, something of a surprise considering his company abandoned the CRM in favor of its own AI. Now he's warning others from following in his footsteps.
“It’s a Lemon”—OpenAI’s Largest AI Model Ever Arrives To Mixed Reviews
OpenAI called GPT-4.5 their "biggest release ever", but the reactions have been mixed. While it promises better emotional intelligence and broader knowledge, some users feel the improvements don’t offset the higher costs and coding capabilities that haven’t quite lived up to expectations.
??? Let’s Stay in Touch!
Do you have any comments about this newsletter issue or questions you want to ask? Drop me a message at Chris Lojniewski or book a meeting.