Cristina Cordova

COO at @linear. previously building at @stripe, @NotionHQ & @firstround. angel investor to ~80 early-stage startups

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

People used to say a company has two jobs (1) build and (2) sell.

AI is making building easier. That means selling may become more valuable, not less. When everyone can make at least a fine/mediocre product quickly, you need to get the right people to care, trust you, and choose it over something else.

An AI agent can find candidates and send a recruiting email. But the people you most want to hire won't join because an agent reached out. They'll join because a person made them believe in the team, the ambition, and the work.

An agent can answer questions in your homepage chat bot. But when a purchase has to get through finance, procurement, and a room full of stakeholders, someone still has to understand what each person needs, make the case, and keep the decision moving.

AI can make building cheaper. It can make selling more important.

When everyone can build something, the advantage goes to the people who can persuade.

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

@mrsnhl @LauraHoang I would have wanted to know what problem the product solves that my current stack doesn’t. Basically, what am I missing (in my GTM stack, not in my kitchen)?

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

Today I was offered Dom Pérignon, caviar, an Ooni, and a Ninja Creami to take sales calls with software companies.

One perk of building something people want... you never have to learn what kitchen appliance they want first.

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

@Kellen_the_man As a customer of all those products, I demand a Breville!

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

@unnanouncedvc Yes, but not the only one!

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

@stevekrouse grateful I got to be a tiny part of it 💔

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

@ieattoomunch @linear Pro-AI. Anti-AI slop.

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

Linear has officially crossed the pond. 🇬🇧

New London office, standing-room-only launch event, and a lot more to come.

Turns out good software travels well.

[vanessa yuri chung @ciruyv]

standing room only at tonight’s @linear launch event with @Pragmatic_Eng @GergelyOrosz @artman @raycast @thomaspaulmann @meetgranola @NikolaOtasevic @swissbeatz 🖤

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

First we gave agents intelligence. Now @inkbox_ai is giving them computers, phones, and inboxes.

I first started using Inkbox because I was missing agent messages in a sea of push notifications. Now my most critical messages come through the right inbox for my needs. 📫

[Ray Liao @rayruizhiliao]

We raised $5.3M to give AI agents a computer to run on, with their own email, phone, iMessage, and WhatsApp

Led by @peakxvpartners, with @rauchg, @sternhenri, @jefrankle, @cjc, and @daniel_levine

Today we’re launching hosted agents on @inkbox_ai. Your agent runs next to its communication channels, so it never misses a reply. It sleeps when idle, so you don’t pay for downtime.

In the 4 months since our YC launch, we’ve processed millions of messages for AI agents.

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

I know far too many startups that have spent countless hours translating strings so their products could work in multiple languages.

Imagine translating a video pixel by pixel with an API -- it's now possible with what @archiemckenzie_ and the @generaltxn team are building!

[Archie McKenzie @archiemckenzie_]

General Translation has raised $27m led by @martin_casado at @a16z to localize the world’s best companies.

Today, @generaltxn serves Ramp, Cursor, and Sierra by translating apps, sites, docs, slide decks, and even product videos into dozens of languages.

a16z invested alongside @upfrontvc, Peter Thiel, Fei-Fei Li, and more. 🧵

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

@LauraHoang It did not work. Straight to the archive

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

I used to think sales was icky. What I actually disliked wasn’t sales. It was *bad* sales. Selling an undifferentiated product through increasingly desperate outbound tactics is icky.

Selling a great product to a large company is very different work than doing PLG to small companies.

The product doesn’t sell itself. Someone has to navigate procurement, convince finance, win over skeptical executives, and keep a deal alive through a dozen people who can kill it but can’t approve it.

Even the best products encounter this.

Founders sometimes think a great product makes sales unnecessary. In reality, a great product makes a great sales team much more valuable.

[Jason ✨👾SaaStr.Ai✨ Lemkin @jasonlk]

A company I invested in fired its entire sales team.

"From $5 million to $1 million today because they fired the sales team. The founders didn't like sales. They thought it was icky."

From my conversation with Lenny Rachitsky on Lenny's Podcast.

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

@Wiallen1228 I’m rarely the direct buyer for software internally, so no. But I have forwarded a rep’s email to the likely buyer internally if I think it may be a fit for us.

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

@stevehind I doubt it

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

At this point I’m not sure if we’re organizing a conference or assembling an unfair concentration of product taste.

Excited to have leaders from @nothing, @Meta, @stripe and @SierraPlatform at Orbit!

[Linear @linear]

Announcing the next round of speakers for Orbit (by Linear):

> Carl Pei (@getpeid)
> Alex Cornell (@alexcornell)
> Michelle Bu (@hazelcough)
> Zack Reneau-Wedeen (@ZackRW)

See the full agenda and request your ticket: https://t.co/ZuhzWvFOJ9

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

@michlimlim I've always liked "retrospective"

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

There’s a long American tradition of industry titans turning their fortunes into public goods. Carnegie built libraries and Rockefeller funded universities and public health. Others built parks, museums, and civic institutions.

Great to see @bchesky carrying that tradition forward in SF.

[J.D. Morris @thejdmorris]

New: Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky is committing $100 million to SF parks in what Mayor Lurie's administration says will be the largest contribution the city has ever received from 1 donor. https://t.co/kZyN7K5GjW

[Linear @linear]

Announcing the next round of speakers for Orbit (by Linear):

> Carl Pei (@getpeid)
> Alex Cornell (@alexcornell)
> Michelle Bu (@hazelcough)
> Zack Reneau-Wedeen (@ZackRW)

See the full agenda and request your ticket: https://t.co/ZuhzWvFOJ9

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

@jgreze Sending this to Dan and going to tell him you can’t get crepes together anymore 😆

[Cristina Cordova @cjc]

@pacocoursey @linear We'll miss you!