Chris Lee

Head of product design @Ashbyhq. Founding designer backed by Accel, Max Levchin. Enjoys playing poker and eating chips, though not particularly good at either.

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

Analysts still look at gross margins as an important SaaS metric - but with LLMs won’t they get worse, while operating margins significantly improve?

AKA won’t software businesses use more LLM calls and replace headcount as a result?

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

@BeeeRaj I can only speak for the companies I've been a part of - for fast-growing startups, we generally do the first cut via App form questions, experience matching (we want folks who don't just coast in big cos), and then go straight to portfolio.

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

If you want to get a product/ux design job at a fast-growing startup...

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

4. Show tough stuff. Especially if you have some years under your belt, I want to see you redesign a huge product that barely has any prior art. Don't show another onboarding flow.

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

3. Sweat the details. I want to know why you chose to put a button there, and how it helped your users get their jobs done better. "Because this is the industry standard" is not a good reason.

Most portfolios show "here was the design" and leave it at that.

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

Grit doesn’t matter.

Whether you continue to work at something depends on how badly you want it minus what effort it costs you.

If you want to succeed, just increase how badly you want it and you’ll always keep going.

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

So I guess it’s settled? Designers don’t need to code after all

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

A great way to level up: every time you meet with your boss or someone else who changes the trajectory of your work for the better, think - how could I have caught that or have come up with it myself?

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

What folks are missing with Gemini 3 is that it’s the first model with taste. It’s not just another, slightly smarter model. This has far reaching implications I think

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

Gemini 3 reinvented the theatre seat picker - one prompt, not bad. Fun!

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

So many designers in interviews keep saying what they did. Shockingly few explain why, and fewer still have good rationale when probed.

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

A counterintuitive thing when job hunting. (I’m hiring product designers!)

Most folks play up the years of experience they have. This works against them. If you have 15yoe, your evaluation will be much tougher than if you only have 5!

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

@shl Everyday, multiple times a day as a pm/designer (fast way to point things out on your screen to coworkers/customers)

https://t.co/8wlHMnGzVt

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

@lennysan Late to the party! This one is for PMs/designers. It’s the fastest way to point out something on your screen to customers/coworkers. I use it every day! https://t.co/dGKH4nUc6V

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

@vickeddesign @MrNick_Buzz "No, but they should be able to build their designs with AI"

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

@bentossell Yep. And I’ve never coded in my life (product designer by trade). Have built no-code apps in the past with bubble. If curious (weekend project) https://t.co/6n8R6oSptG

[Chris Lee @Chkrlee]

@MrNick_Buzz The cool thing about not Cursor but GenAI for designers is that we generally understand how programming works, but get tripped up in low level syntax. Now that’s abstracted, and it’s incredibly empowering.