Last Received
geeksoutfit Wed, 13 May 2026 18:58
worldwithoutexploitation Wed, 13 May 2026 17:35
cnn Wed, 13 May 2026 16:36
bookbub Wed, 13 May 2026 16:28
fpaworkshop Wed, 13 May 2026 16:11
theepochtimes Wed, 13 May 2026 13:20
snopes Wed, 13 May 2026 13:10
thedeepview Wed, 13 May 2026 12:36
fjart Wed, 13 May 2026 12:35
techradar Wed, 13 May 2026 11:10
Newest Addresses
bookbub Wed, 06 May 2026 22:08
supportsumupteam04 Wed, 22 Apr 2026 10:26
jtondreau Wed, 22 Apr 2026 07:35
jill Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:54
theepochtimes Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:24
writerswrite.co.za Sun, 12 Apr 2026 21:01
techradar Sun, 12 Apr 2026 17:53
teepublic Wed, 08 Apr 2026 12:22
iwkym Thu, 02 Apr 2026 22:20
liameon Wed, 18 Mar 2026 15:02
Last Read
ztr Wed, 13 May 2026 19:18
snopes Wed, 13 May 2026 19:17
6 Wed, 13 May 2026 19:17
ail Wed, 13 May 2026 19:17
technique Wed, 13 May 2026 19:16
liamont Wed, 13 May 2026 19:16
jonbobby Wed, 13 May 2026 19:16
da2e3305 Wed, 13 May 2026 19:16
funnyordie Wed, 13 May 2026 19:15
nbobby Wed, 13 May 2026 19:13
Most Received
ail 129490
gp6 110844
jonbobby 85099
gp6dd 84476
bobby 64066
mydailymoment 61036
cb322c5 57051
vanchina2 56280
liamont 53723
funnyordie 52245
RSS Feed

Available Messages

The following is a list of recent messages for ztr. Select one to see the content. Messages are removed frequently. Check early. Check often.

Subject Received
How Clay builds roles around people Wed, 06 May 2026 18:46:28 GMT
You don't know Lenny Rachitsky Sun, 19 Apr 2026 15:07:36 GMT
What really motivates Lenny Rachitsky? Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:15:09 GMT
How fixing 401(k) the hard way led Guideline's founder to a major exit Tue, 24 Mar 2026 15:50:14 GMT
Listen: Why crazy deadlines produce better products than strategy docs Sun, 22 Mar 2026 15:10:54 GMT
Stop asking “What’s your biggest pain point? ” in customer discovery Tue, 10 Mar 2026 15:53:38 GMT
Listen: Snowflake’s former CRO on scaling from $0 to $3 .5B (and surviving 4 CEOs) Sun, 01 Mar 2026 15:13:27 GMT
Do you really need a forward deployed engineer? Tue, 24 Feb 2026 16:57:21 GMT
Listen: Most CROs are salespeople. Vanta’s CRO says tha t's changing Sun, 22 Feb 2026 16:10:14 GMT
Listen: Why Rippling’s VP of Design thinks speed improv es quality Sun, 15 Feb 2026 16:04:14 GMT

Selected Message

From: review@...
To: [email protected]
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2026 16:04:14 GMT
Subject: Listen: Why Rippling’s VP of Design thinks speed improves quality
  • HTML Content
  • HTML Source
  • Plain Text

HTML Content

HTML Source

                                    <!doctype html>
<html>
    <head>
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width">
        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
        <!--[if mso]><xml><o:OfficeDocumentSettings><o:PixelsPerInch>96</o:PixelsPerInch><o:AllowPNG/></o:OfficeDocumentSettings></xml><![endif]-->
        <title>Listen: Why Rippling&#x2019;s VP of Design thinks speed improves quality</title>
        <style>
.post-title-link {
  display: block;
  margin-top: 32px;
  color: #15212A;
  text-align: center;
  line-height: 1.1em;
}
.post-title-link-left {
  text-align: left;
}
.view-online-link {
  word-wrap: none;
  white-space: nowrap;
  color: #73818c;
  text-decoration: underline !important;
}
.kg-nft-link {
  display: block;
  text-decoration: none !important;
  color: #15212A !important;
  font-family: inherit !important;
  font-size: 14px;
  line-height: 1.3em;
  padding-top: 4px;
  padding-right: 20px;
  padding-left: 20px;
  padding-bottom: 4px;
}
.kg-twitter-link {
  display: block;
  text-decoration: none !important;
  color: #15212A !important;
  font-family: inherit !important;
  font-size: 15px;
  padding: 8px;
  line-height: 1.3em;
}
.kg-cta-link-accent .kg-cta-sponsor-label a {
  color: #62DCAD !important;
}
.kg-cta-link-accent .kg-cta-text a {
  color: #62DCAD !important;
}
.kg-audio-link {
  color: #73818c !important;
}
@media only screen and (max-width: 620px) {
  table.body {
    width: 100%;
    min-width: 100%;
  }

  .hide-mobile {
    display: none;
  }

  .mobile-only {
    display: initial !important;
  }

  .hide-desktop {
    display: initial !important;
  }

  .desktop-only {
    display: none !important;
  }

  table.body p,
table.body ul,
table.body ol,
table.body td {
    font-size: 16px;
  }

  table.body .post-excerpt {
    font-size: 16px !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-callout-card {
    padding: 16px 24px !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-callout-text {
    font-size: 16px !important;
    line-height: 1.5em !important;
  }

  table.body pre {
    white-space: pre-wrap !important;
    word-break: break-word !important;
  }

  table.body .content {
    padding: 0 !important;
  }

  table.body .container {
    padding: 0 !important;
    width: 100% !important;
  }

  table.body .main {
    border-spacing: 10px 0 !important;
    border-left-width: 0 !important;
    border-radius: 0 !important;
    border-right-width: 0 !important;
  }

  table.body .btn table {
    width: 100% !important;
  }

  table.body .btn a {
    width: 100% !important;
  }

  table.body .img-responsive {
    height: auto !important;
    max-width: 100% !important;
    width: auto !important;
  }

  table.body .site-icon {
    padding-top: 0 !important;
  }

  table.body .site-info {
    padding-top: 24px !important;
  }

  table.body .post-title-link {
    margin-top: 24px !important;
  }

  table.body .post-meta-wrapper {
    padding-bottom: 24px !important;
  }

  table.body .site-icon img {
    width: 36px !important;
    height: 36px !important;
  }

  table.body .site-url a {
    font-size: 13px !important;
    padding-bottom: 16px !important;
  }

  table.body .post-meta,
table.body .post-meta-date {
    white-space: normal !important;
    font-size: 13px !important;
    line-height: 1.2em;
  }

  table.body .post-meta,
table.body .view-online {
    width: 100% !important;
  }

  table.body .post-meta-left,
table.body .post-meta-left.view-online {
    width: 100% !important;
    text-align: left !important;
  }

  table.body .post-meta.view-online-mobile {
    display: table-row !important;
  }

  table.body .post-meta-left.view-online-mobile,
table.body .post-meta-left.view-online-mobile .view-online {
    text-align: left !important;
  }

  table.body .post-meta.view-online.desktop {
    display: none !important;
  }

  table.body .view-online {
    text-decoration: underline;
  }

  table.body .footer p,
table.body .footer p span {
    font-size: 13px !important;
  }

  table.body .view-online-link,
table.body .footer,
table.body .footer a {
    font-size: 13px !important;
  }

  table.body .post-title a {
    font-size: 26px !important;
    line-height: 1.1em !important;
  }

  table.feedback-buttons {
    display: table !important;
    width: 100% !important;
    max-width: 390px;
  }

  table.feedback-buttons img {
    display: inherit !important;
  }

  table.body .feedback-button-text {
    display: none!important;
  }

  table.body .latest-posts-header {
    font-size: 12px !important;
  }

  table.body .latest-post-title {
    padding-right: 8px !important;
  }

  table.body .latest-post h4,
table.body .latest-post h4 span {
    padding: 4px 0 6px !important;
    font-size: 15px !important;
  }

  table.body .latest-post-excerpt,
table.body .latest-post-excerpt a,
table.body .latest-post-excerpt span {
    font-size: 13px !important;
    line-height: 1.2 !important;
  }

  table.body .subscription-box h3 {
    font-size: 14px !important;
  }

  table.body .subscription-box p,
table.body .subscription-box p span {
    font-size: 13px !important;
  }

  table.body .subscription-details,
table.body .manage-subscription {
    display: inline-block;
    width: 100%;
    text-align: left !important;
    font-size: 13px !important;
  }

  table.body .subscription-details {
    padding-bottom: 12px;
  }

  table.body .kg-bookmark-card {
    width: 90vw;
  }

  table.body .kg-bookmark-thumbnail {
    display: none !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-bookmark-metadata span {
    font-size: 13px !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-embed-card {
    max-width: 90vw !important;
  }

  table.body h1 {
    font-size: 32px !important;
    line-height: 1.3em !important;
  }

  table.body h2,
table.body h2 span {
    font-size: 26px !important;
    line-height: 1.22em !important;
  }

  table.body h3 {
    font-size: 21px !important;
    line-height: 1.25em !important;
  }

  table.body h4 {
    font-size: 19px !important;
    line-height: 1.3em !important;
  }

  table.body h5 {
    font-size: 16px !important;
    line-height: 1.4em !important;
  }

  table.body h6 {
    font-size: 16px !important;
    line-height: 1.4em !important;
  }

  table.body blockquote {
    font-size: 16px !important;
    line-height: 1.6em;
    margin-bottom: 0;
  }

  table.body blockquote p {
    margin-right: 15px !important;
    margin-left: 15px !important;
  }

  table.body blockquote.kg-blockquote-alt {
    border-left: 0 none !important;
    margin: 0 !important;
    font-size: 18px !important;
    line-height: 1.4em !important;
  }

  table.body blockquote.kg-blockquote-alt p {
    margin-right: 20px !important;
    margin-left: 20px !important;
  }

  table.body hr {
    margin: 2em 0 !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-header-card.kg-v2 span {
    font-size: inherit !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-header-card.kg-v2 .kg-header-card-content {
    padding-top: 64px !important;
    padding-bottom: 64px !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-header-card.kg-v2 .kg-header-card-image + .kg-header-card-content {
    padding-top: 52px !important;
    padding-bottom: 52px !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-header-card.kg-v2 .kg-header-card-heading {
    font-size: 2.2em !important;
    line-height: 1.1 !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-header-card.kg-v2 .kg-header-card-subheading {
    line-height: 1.3em !important;
  }

  .feature-image-caption {
    font-size: 13px!important;
  }

  .kg-card-figcaption {
    font-size: 13px!important;
  }

  .kg-card-figcaption p,
.kg-card-figcaption p span {
    font-size: 13px!important;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-card {
    padding: 0 20px;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-card.kg-cta-bg-none {
    padding: 0;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-sponsor-label {
    padding: 10px 0;
  }

  table.body table.kg-cta-content-wrapper {
    padding: 20px 0;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-immersive.kg-cta-has-img:not(.kg-cta-bg-none):not(.kg-cta-no-label) table.kg-cta-content-wrapper {
    padding-top: 0;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-minimal .kg-cta-image-container {
    padding-right: 20px;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-immersive .kg-cta-image-container {
    padding-bottom: 20px;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-immersive.kg-cta-no-text .kg-cta-image-container {
    padding-bottom: 0;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-button-container {
    padding-top: 16px;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-minimal .kg-cta-image-container {
    display: inline-block !important;
    width: 100% !important;
    padding: 0 !important;
    padding-bottom: 16px !important;
    padding-right: 0 !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-minimal .kg-cta-content-inner {
    display: inline-block !important;
    width: 100% !important;
    padding: 0 !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-minimal img.kg-cta-image {
    width: 52px !important;
    height: 52px !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-minimal a.kg-cta-button {
    display: inline-block !important;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-minimal table.kg-cta-button-wrapper td {
    padding: 4px 16px 5px;
  }

  table.body .kg-cta-immersive .kg-cta-button-wrapper {
    padding: 6px 18px 7px;
  }
}
@media all {
  .subscription-details p.hidden {
    display: none !important;
  }

  .ExternalClass {
    width: 100%;
  }

  .ExternalClass,
.ExternalClass p,
.ExternalClass span,
.ExternalClass font,
.ExternalClass td,
.ExternalClass div {
    line-height: 100%;
  }

  .apple-link a {
    color: inherit !important;
    font-family: inherit !important;
    font-size: inherit !important;
    font-weight: inherit !important;
    line-height: inherit !important;
    text-decoration: none !important;
  }

  #MessageViewBody a {
    color: inherit;
    text-decoration: none;
    font-size: inherit;
    font-family: inherit;
    font-weight: inherit;
    line-height: inherit;
  }

  .btn-primary table td:hover {
    background-color: #34495e !important;
  }

  .btn-primary a:hover {
    background-color: #34495e !important;
    border-color: #34495e !important;
  }
}
</style>
    </head>
    <body style="background-color: #fff; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.4; margin: 0; padding: 0; -ms-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; color: #15212A;">
        <span class="preheader" style="color: transparent; display: none; height: 0; max-height: 0; max-width: 0; opacity: 0; overflow: hidden; mso-hide: all; visibility: hidden; width: 0;">Ryan Lucas joins Executive Function</span>
        <table role="presentation" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="body" width="100%" style="border-collapse: separate; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; background-color: #fff; width: 100%;" bgcolor="#fff">
            <!-- Outlook doesn't respect max-width so we need an extra centered table -->
            <!--[if mso]>
            <tr>
                <td>
                    <center>
                        <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600">
            <![endif]-->
            <tr>
                <td style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #15212A;" valign="top">&#xA0;</td>
                <td class="container" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #15212A; display: block; max-width: 600px; margin: 0 auto;" valign="top">
                    <div class="content" style="box-sizing: border-box; display: block; margin: 0 auto; max-width: 600px;">
                        <!-- START CENTERED WHITE CONTAINER -->
                        <table role="presentation" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="main" width="100%" style="border-collapse: separate; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; background: #ffffff; border-radius: 3px; border-spacing: 20px 0; width: 100%;">

                            <!-- START MAIN CONTENT AREA -->
                            <tr>
                                <td class="wrapper" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #15212A; box-sizing: border-box;" valign="top">
                                    <table role="presentation" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse: separate; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%;">



                                        <tr class="post-content-row">
                                            <td class="post-content-sans-serif" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: top; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.5em; color: #15212A; padding-bottom: 20px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e0e7eb; padding-top: 32px; max-width: 600px;" valign="top">
                                                <!-- POST CONTENT START -->
                                                <p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em;"><em>On our second episode of Executive Function, Rippling&#x2019;s VP of Design, Ryan Lucas, discusses how to build a fast, demanding, supportive place for designers to do their best work.</em></p><div class="kg-card kg-image-card" style="margin: 0 0 1.5em; padding: 0;"><a href="https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj0tq6zAYRlcjzRT-l14DDS5cvA_JkhpROy6OkkJXXxo66fD7OHA4NZWCTnRL6D2iR7Gg257HZkZNLkZstWLmwOwAADlyYNHXVChnaN7HLAwFYxGbAVonh8w1OD0SATkgtOhAIFwcOWpdLJRCudiuBPo47_M8Hrd6WY9db-k658dd8T9Fi6LlbM_RPi9_qZ9f0WJXKw4tKV52xf-5dAi0gqm4OiNdgonE3fTV-4iRqwerz_Q1TyWwjbwft5dypvLY3s2rWM_0dj3u83c9E30HAAD__y3EUto" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #62DCAD; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"><img src="https://review.firstround.com/content/images/size/w1600/2026/02/Ryan-3.jpg" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="600" height="338" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; height: auto; width: auto;"></a></div><h3 id="listen-now-youtube-apple-spotify" style="margin-top: 0; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 1.11em; font-weight: 700; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; margin: 1.5em 0 0.5em 0; font-size: 26px;">Listen now: <a href="https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj01q6zAURlcjzRzuj3RlDTR48PA-JEu3EbXj4igpdPWloZMOv48Dh1NTKSjOtoQhIAZ0Hmzbc9-mXpPEiK1WzDwzCwAgR57Z2WsigpijcNYG0lQ9VS--SMjoo9dgeyIgAUKPAg7mi5BQU-ehFMrFq3Gg_byP83jc6mU9drul6xgfd8P_DC2GlrM9e_u8_KV-fkNL5tycztnwshv-z0VhphWmiqtMTt08RWKddA0hYuQawNszfY3TONh63o_bSzlSeWzv06vYjvR2Pe7jdz0TfQcAAP__i-5TuQ" rel="noreferrer" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #62DCAD; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj0tq6zAYRlcjzRT-lyRroMGFi_ehZyNqx8VRUujqS0MnHX4fBw6nxpzRiW4RvUf0KBZ029PYzKjRhYCtVky8MDsAQA68sOhrDLYXT01sws4guScn7FsBwdYCWT0iATkgtOhAYLk4ctS6WMiZUrZdCfRx3ud5PG71Uo5db_E658dd8T9Fq6L1bM_RPi9_qZ9f0cpYfBYExeuu-D_nDgsVMBWLM9JlMYG4m168Dxi4erD6jF_zVALbSPtxeylnzI_t3byK9Yxv1-M-f9cz0ncAAAD__3BsU0M" rel="noreferrer" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #62DCAD; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Apple</a> | <a href="https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj8tq6zAURb9Gmjmch54DDS5c_B96HDWidlwcJYV-fWnopMO9WbBYLZWCzmhJ6D2iR2NBy57HtoyWXIworWHmwOwAADlyYKOvqYAVitJ9a0xSa5OKUmso2Kv0EPRIBOSA0KIDA-HiyJF0Y6EUysV2ZaCP8z7P43Frl3rsekvXOT_uiv8pWhWtpzyHfF7-Uj-_ojX7aGMuTvG6K_7PpUOgCkvD6hbTTVgicV969T5i5ObB6jN9zVMZ2Ebej9tLOVN5bO_Lq1jP9HY97vN3PRN9BwAA___K31UN" rel="noreferrer" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #62DCAD; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Spotify</a></h3><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em;">&#x201C;Figma is not the source of truth. It&#x2019;s a bunch of rectangles in a vector drawing program,&#x201D; says <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Ryan Lucas</strong>, VP of Design at <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Rippling</strong>. &#x201C;The source of truth is the thing that customers experience.&#x201D;</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em;">This exemplifies Lucas&#x2019;s approach to building products, teams and cultures &#x2014; utility above all else. In conversation with First Round partner Brett Berson, Lucas explores why you can&#x2019;t scale taste, how his background as an industrial designer shaped his thinking and how to create a demanding yet supportive environment as a manager.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em;">Here are a few of our favorite moments from the conversation:</p><ul style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; padding-left: 1.3em; padding-right: 1.5em; list-style: disc; max-width: 100%;"><li style="margin: 0.5em 0; padding-left: 0.3em; line-height: 1.6em;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">A holistic framework for how designers should think about their jobs</strong>: &#x201C;Useful, usable and desirable are the three things we need to deliver. People often forget about the last bit. Dreyfuss said the designer&#x2019;s job is not done if the product doesn&#x2019;t sell &#x2014; you need to know a balance sheet, be able to write copy, talk to customers. The idea behind it is you basically can&#x2019;t deliver a well-formed product unless you have an understanding of all those things.&#x201D;</li><li style="margin: 0.5em 0; padding-left: 0.3em; line-height: 1.6em;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Creating a demanding yet supportive environment</strong>: &#x201C;People can&#x2019;t do great work unless you push them. You have to put people in a position of being somewhat uncomfortable. And I want it to be backed up by feeling like the feedback I&#x2019;m giving them is really substantive. The supportive piece is that good creative work of any kind doesn&#x2019;t come from fear. It&#x2019;s hard to balance pushing people and keeping them out of that fight-or-flight zone.&#x201D;</li><li style="margin: 0.5em 0; padding-left: 0.3em; line-height: 1.6em;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">If scaling judgement is possible</strong>: &#x201C;How do you as a design leader scale quality and do it in a way that&#x2019;s repeatable? You can define quality and get specific about it. But at some point, it&#x2019;s still a little intangible. I think there&#x2019;s a lot you can do to spread the ability to build better products across an org. But to get to the highest point on the mountain, you probably need the opinionated, tasteful, benevolent dictator.&#x201D;</li></ul><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em;"></p><div class="btn btn-accent" style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 100%; display: table;"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" style="border-collapse: separate; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: auto;" width="auto"><tr><td align="center" style="font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #15212A; border-radius: 5px; text-align: center; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: #2CC58A;" valign="top" bgcolor="#2CC58A"><a href="https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj8tq6zAURb9Gmimch54DDS5c_B8-ejSidlwcJYV-fWnopMO9WbBYNYugt7plDAExoHWg276OzYyafUrYasWVI7MHAOTEka2-5hjJQm2hFyLxIaxe2EpEKgzUxOmRCcgDoUMPFuLFk6fWrQMRWsV1ZaGP8z7P43Grl3LsesvXOT_uiv8pWhQtZ3uO9nn5S_38ipaOEj2yU7zsiv-zdIhUwFQs3thuo0nE3fQSQsLENYDTZ_6ap7KwjXU_bi_lzPLY3s2rWM_8dj3u83c9M30HAAD__0UKUxc" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; border: solid 1px #3498db; border-radius: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 12px 25px; text-decoration: none; background-color: #2CC58A; border-color: #2CC58A; color: #FFFFFF;" target="_blank">Listen to the episode</a></td></tr></table></div><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em;"></p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em;">We&#x2019;ve got a lot more interviews lined up in the coming weeks. Here are some of the incredible execs you&#x2019;ll be able to learn from:</p><ul style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em; padding-left: 1.3em; padding-right: 1.5em; list-style: disc; max-width: 100%;"><li style="margin: 0.5em 0; padding-left: 0.3em; line-height: 1.6em;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">David Singleton</strong>, former CTO at <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Stripe</strong></li><li style="margin: 0.5em 0; padding-left: 0.3em; line-height: 1.6em;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Chris Degnan</strong>, former COO at DoorDash</li><li style="margin: 0.5em 0; padding-left: 0.3em; line-height: 1.6em;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Stevie Case</strong>, CRO at <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Vanta</strong></li><li style="margin: 0.5em 0; padding-left: 0.3em; line-height: 1.6em;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Katie Burke</strong>, COO at <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Harvey</strong></li><li style="margin: 0.5em 0; padding-left: 0.3em; line-height: 1.6em;"><strong style="font-weight: 700;">Sheila Joglekar Vashee</strong>, CMO at <strong style="font-weight: 700;">Figma</strong></li></ul><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em;">Whether you&#x2019;re a senior IC who wants to know what it takes to get to the top, or a founder building out your C-suite, we hope you&#x2019;ll walk away from these conversations with a new model for what executive excellence looks like.</p><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em;"></p><div class="btn btn-accent" style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 100%; display: table;"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" style="border-collapse: separate; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: auto;" width="auto"><tr><td align="center" style="font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #15212A; border-radius: 5px; text-align: center; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; background-color: #2CC58A;" valign="top" bgcolor="#2CC58A"><a href="https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj8tq6zAURb9Gmjmch54DDS5c_B96nUbUjoujpNCvLw2ddLg3CxarpVLQGd0Teo_o0VjQfc9jW0ZLLkbsrWHmwOwAADlyYKOvSWKohbhbl6uAD4GzjUS5x2gEs9cjEZADQosODISLI0ddjIVSKBcryoCM8z7P43Frl3rsekvXOT_uiv8pWhWtZ3-O_nn5S_38ilapwYuUoHjdFf_nIhCowtKwusWICUsklkWq9xEjNw9Wn-lrnsrANvJ-3F7Kmcpje19exXqmt-txn7_rmeg7AAD__8FkU_4" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; border: solid 1px #3498db; border-radius: 5px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 12px 25px; text-decoration: none; background-color: #2CC58A; border-color: #2CC58A; color: #FFFFFF;" target="_blank">Take me to Executive Function</a></td></tr></table></div><p style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em;"></p>
                                                <!-- POST CONTENT END -->

                                            </td>
                                        </tr>
                                    </table>
                                </td>
                            </tr>

                            <!-- END MAIN CONTENT AREA -->

                                <tr>
                                    <td dir="ltr" width="100%" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #15212A; background-color: #ffffff; text-align: center; padding: 32px 0 24px; border-bottom: 1px solid #e0e7eb;" align="center" bgcolor="#ffffff" valign="top">
                                        <table class="feedback-buttons" role="presentation" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: separate; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; margin: auto; width: 100%;" width="100%">
                                            <tr>
                                                    <td dir="ltr" valign="top" align="center" style="font-size: 18px; color: #15212A; display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; font-family: inherit; text-align: center; padding: 0 4px 4px; cursor: pointer; width: 30%;" width="30%">
                                                        <a href="https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUkU2u4yAQhE-Dd0R0g_lZsBjpyfcAuolRHNtj4zxlTj-aaDZvWdKnkqo-ijmDNQNHcA7AgRnVwM_UFtko2hCAiSBpr7VVSoEO2mszzDF7BaFkD4HZKeMzWqBUgyqFPZk8tIgKrUIYwSqj_M2iRa5mVDljymMVRtV2nP3YrpVuZXsOS5x730-hfwmcBE4Hvxp_335SAqelnZ1X-T2_5dH2fWnr_ZSvXW5VEp_tvso-t_VxynNnJtme-7G9-JS_r7S0_v6Ua4FTZaacykPgZIMnoDL-WArGCJzgH6-n62ok9JfOVXksShIUK001XgbUVdbiXICgyalRoH3wW-gvQrBcAyZdEugxpVLH0aAKHEwgp9FbhmDRO0xOUdA15AQUnEulZp2GI_7phzBqaem5rZ-TeszX8pAfR0OP93k7-__0ivg3AAD__3ChiyA" target="_blank" style="color: #62DCAD; text-decoration: none; overflow-wrap: anywhere;">
                                                            <img src="https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/more-like-this-mobile.png" border="0" width="42" height="42" alt="More like this" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; vertical-align: middle;">
                                                            <p class="feedback-button-text" style="display: inline-block; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #15212A; font-weight: 500; margin: 1em 0 0 0; line-height: 1.4em; word-break: break-word; font-size: 13px;">More like this</p>
                                                        </a>
                                                    </td>                                                    <td dir="ltr" valign="top" align="center" style="font-size: 18px; color: #15212A; display: inline-block; vertical-align: top; font-family: inherit; text-align: center; padding: 0 4px 4px; cursor: pointer; width: 30%;" width="30%">
                                                        <a href="https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUkU2q4zAQhE8j7xTU3fpdaDHw8D0ktZSIOLbHVvLInH6YMJu3LPgoqPo45gxWTzWCcwAOtFFTfaS-yM7RhgCVGRJ5IquUAgrkSU-3aILKNSSfiYICa5vzTMkQF4bEvk49okKrEAxYpZW_WLRYmzYqZ0zZNKFV68c5ju258qVsj2mJtzH2U9AvgbPA-aivXr8vPymB89LPUVf5fXvLo-_70tfrKV-73JrkevbrKsetr_dTnnutLPtjP7ZXPeXvZ1r6eH_KSeDcauWcyl3gbINn4GJ-LAWtBc7qH0_z89lZ0BflpjwWJRmKlbppLwNSk604FyAQO2UE2nt9C_piBFtbwEQlAZmUSjNGowo16MCO0NsKwaJ3mJziQC3kBBycS6VlStMR_4xDaLX09NjWz0kj5udylx9H04jX23aO_-kV8W8AAAD__yumivM" target="_blank" style="color: #62DCAD; text-decoration: none; overflow-wrap: anywhere;">
                                                            <img src="https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/less-like-this-mobile.png" border="0" width="42" height="42" alt="Less like this" style="border: none; -ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; max-width: 100%; display: block; margin: 0 auto; vertical-align: middle;">
                                                            <p class="feedback-button-text" style="display: inline-block; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #15212A; font-weight: 500; margin: 1em 0 0 0; line-height: 1.4em; word-break: break-word; font-size: 13px;">Less like this</p>
                                                        </a>
                                                    </td>                                            </tr>
                                        </table>
                                    </td>
                                </tr>



                            <tr>
                                <td class="wrapper" align="center" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #15212A; box-sizing: border-box;" valign="top">
                                    <table role="presentation" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%" style="border-collapse: separate; mso-table-lspace: 0pt; mso-table-rspace: 0pt; width: 100%; padding-top: 40px; padding-bottom: 30px;">
                                            <tr><td class="footer" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: top; color: #73818c; margin-top: 20px; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 10px; padding-left: 30px; padding-right: 30px; line-height: 1.5em; font-size: 13px;" valign="top" align="center"><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0 0 1.5em 0; line-height: 1.6em;"><span>&#xA0;Made with&#xA0;&#x2728; by&#xA0;</span><a href="https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj8tq6zAURb9Gmjmch54DDS5c_B-SjtSI2nFxlBT69aWhkw73ZsFiSSoFndEtofeIHo0F3fY8tmVIcjFiE8HMgdkBAHLkwEZfU8BIWLs0AO-zdF-BguXga7XZ2a5HIiAHhBYdGAgXR45aNxZKoVxsVwb6OO_zPB43udRj11u6zvlxV_xP0apoPdtztM_LX-rnV7QaaUIoTvG6K_7PpUOgCotgdYvpJiyRuC-9eh8xsniw-kxf81QGtpH34_ZSzlQe2_vyKtYzvV2P-_xdz0TfAQAA__-a2FOz" target="_blank" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #73818c; text-decoration: underline; font-size: 13px;"><span>First Round Capital</span></a><span>.</span></p></td></tr>
                                        <tr>
                                            <td class="footer" style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; vertical-align: top; color: #73818c; margin-top: 20px; text-align: center; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-top: 10px; padding-left: 30px; padding-right: 30px; line-height: 1.5em; font-size: 13px;" valign="top" align="center">First Round &#xA9; 2026 &#x2013; <a href="https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxU0DuO2zAUheHVUB2N--DrFiwCGN4HH5exMLIdSNQMktUHMdJMeYCvOX_PtWJwi2aMETGi87Doo6ybXXsOIqi9Y-HEHAAAWTixW-5Zh8PBFWrwUQF0SJMIpaMQgEO_rJmAAhB6DOAgXQIF0uE81Eql-mEcjHU_5v46n_3SXo9ly_c5fx2Gfxi6Gbrt-rnq1-W7MnQ7n8dZj7avVf9Bvp3n2g1fuQ5I1MB2bMG64ZIV4mFHi1FQuEfwhsKH_jZ87YRBh1DhVpB9KW147whExUmPTCkoSqAUqUTowkNqwS4xljYqF0PhqV_HpnPqbvgKzXmGQNZjataFJLb4VC2PqDTIEWJb9vxn7sbBtpbH6_k-PXM9tw_7br7M_PP-Oub_9ZnpbwAAAP__iWt4uA" style="overflow-wrap: anywhere; color: #73818c; text-decoration: underline; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank">Unsubscribe</a></td>
                                        </tr>

                                    </table>
                                </td>
                            </tr>

                        </table>
                        <!-- END CENTERED WHITE CONTAINER -->
                    </div>
                </td>
                <td style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; vertical-align: top; color: #15212A;" valign="top">&#xA0;</td>
            </tr>

            <!--[if mso]>
                            </table>
                        </center>
                    </td>
                </tr>
            <![endif]-->
        </table>
    <img width="1" height="1" alt="" src="https://email2.firstround.com/o/eJwszk1uwyAQQOHThF2i-YHBXsxhZgxuUO0gEdJFT1_J6vK91VfUHSWGqpgzYsaYINTT2nFvRWVdsZaCxguzAADyygvH8FSqOyVJnK2a-WaVjZK7ZMqbg3NoSkAChAkFIiwPIaG6xwTuZJ72W4S9jfcc_fMqj62fYejvHLcIR7Ozv6411T_H9_0Shalfz_6e__Wj9BcAAP__eos4Mg"></body>
</html>

Plain Text

                                    







 





















On our second episode of Executive Function, Rippling’s VP of Design, Ryan Lucas, discusses how to build a fast, demanding, supportive place for designers to do their best work.

https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj0tq6zAYRlcjzRT-l14DDS5cvA_JkhpROy6OkkJXXxo66fD7OHA4NZWCTnRL6D2iR7Gg257HZkZNLkZstWLmwOwAADlyYNHXVChnaN7HLAwFYxGbAVonh8w1OD0SATkgtOhAIFwcOWpdLJRCudiuBPo47_M8Hrd6WY9db-k658dd8T9Fi6LlbM_RPi9_qZ9f0WJXKw4tKV52xf-5dAi0gqm4OiNdgonE3fTV-4iRqwerz_Q1TyWwjbwft5dypvLY3s2rWM_0dj3u83c9E30HAAD__y3EUto


Listen now: YouTube [https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj01q6zAURlcjzRzuj3RlDTR48PA-JEu3EbXj4igpdPWloZMOv48Dh1NTKSjOtoQhIAZ0Hmzbc9-mXpPEiK1WzDwzCwAgR57Z2WsigpijcNYG0lQ9VS--SMjoo9dgeyIgAUKPAg7mi5BQU-ehFMrFq3Gg_byP83jc6mU9drul6xgfd8P_DC2GlrM9e_u8_KV-fkNL5tycztnwshv-z0VhphWmiqtMTt08RWKddA0hYuQawNszfY3TONh63o_bSzlSeWzv06vYjvR2Pe7jdz0TfQcAAP__i-5TuQ] | Apple [https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj0tq6zAYRlcjzRT-lyRroMGFi_ehZyNqx8VRUujqS0MnHX4fBw6nxpzRiW4RvUf0KBZ029PYzKjRhYCtVky8MDsAQA68sOhrDLYXT01sws4guScn7FsBwdYCWT0iATkgtOhAYLk4ctS6WMiZUrZdCfRx3ud5PG71Uo5db_E658dd8T9Fq6L1bM_RPi9_qZ9f0cpYfBYExeuu-D_nDgsVMBWLM9JlMYG4m168Dxi4erD6jF_zVALbSPtxeylnzI_t3byK9Yxv1-M-f9cz0ncAAAD__3BsU0M] | Spotify [https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj8tq6zAURb9Gmjmch54DDS5c_B96HDWidlwcJYV-fWnopMO9WbBYLZWCzmhJ6D2iR2NBy57HtoyWXIworWHmwOwAADlyYKOvqYAVitJ9a0xSa5OKUmso2Kv0EPRIBOSA0KIDA-HiyJF0Y6EUysV2ZaCP8z7P43Frl3rsekvXOT_uiv8pWhWtpzyHfF7-Uj-_ojX7aGMuTvG6K_7PpUOgCkvD6hbTTVgicV969T5i5ObB6jN9zVMZ2Ebej9tLOVN5bO_Lq1jP9HY97vN3PRN9BwAA___K31UN]

“Figma is not the source of truth. It’s a bunch of rectangles in a vector drawing program,” says Ryan Lucas, VP of Design at Rippling. “The source of truth is the thing that customers experience.”

This exemplifies Lucas’s approach to building products, teams and cultures — utility above all else. In conversation with First Round partner Brett Berson, Lucas explores why you can’t scale taste, how his background as an industrial designer shaped his thinking and how to create a demanding yet supportive environment as a manager.

Here are a few of our favorite moments from the conversation:

 * A holistic framework for how designers should think about their jobs: “Useful, usable and desirable are the three things we need to deliver. People often forget about the last bit. Dreyfuss said the designer’s job is not done if the product doesn’t sell — you need to know a balance sheet, be able to write copy, talk to customers. The idea behind it is you basically can’t deliver a well-formed product unless you have an understanding of all those things.”
 * Creating a demanding yet supportive environment: “People can’t do great work unless you push them. You have to put people in a position of being somewhat uncomfortable. And I want it to be backed up by feeling like the feedback I’m giving them is really substantive. The supportive piece is that good creative work of any kind doesn’t come from fear. It’s hard to balance pushing people and keeping them out of that fight-or-flight zone.”
 * If scaling judgement is possible: “How do you as a design leader scale quality and do it in a way that’s repeatable? You can define quality and get specific about it. But at some point, it’s still a little intangible. I think there’s a lot you can do to spread the ability to build better products across an org. But to get to the highest point on the mountain, you probably need the opinionated, tasteful, benevolent dictator.”



Listen to the episode [https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj8tq6zAURb9Gmimch54DDS5c_B8-ejSidlwcJYV-fWnopMO9WbBYNYugt7plDAExoHWg276OzYyafUrYasWVI7MHAOTEka2-5hjJQm2hFyLxIaxe2EpEKgzUxOmRCcgDoUMPFuLFk6fWrQMRWsV1ZaGP8z7P43Grl3LsesvXOT_uiv8pWhQtZ3uO9nn5S_38ipaOEj2yU7zsiv-zdIhUwFQs3thuo0nE3fQSQsLENYDTZ_6ap7KwjXU_bi_lzPLY3s2rWM_8dj3u83c9M30HAAD__0UKUxc]



We’ve got a lot more interviews lined up in the coming weeks. Here are some of the incredible execs you’ll be able to learn from:

 * David Singleton, former CTO at Stripe
 * Chris Degnan, former COO at DoorDash
 * Stevie Case, CRO at Vanta
 * Katie Burke, COO at Harvey
 * Sheila Joglekar Vashee, CMO at Figma

Whether you’re a senior IC who wants to know what it takes to get to the top, or a founder building out your C-suite, we hope you’ll walk away from these conversations with a new model for what executive excellence looks like.



Take me to Executive Function [https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj8tq6zAURb9Gmjmch54DDS5c_B96nUbUjoujpNCvLw2ddLg3CxarpVLQGd0Teo_o0VjQfc9jW0ZLLkbsrWHmwOwAADlyYKOvSWKohbhbl6uAD4GzjUS5x2gEs9cjEZADQosODISLI0ddjIVSKBcryoCM8z7P43Frl3rsekvXOT_uiv8pWhWtZ3-O_nn5S_38ilapwYuUoHjdFf_nIhCowtKwusWICUsklkWq9xEjNw9Wn-lrnsrANvJ-3F7Kmcpje19exXqmt-txn7_rmeg7AAD__8FkU_4]























More like this


[https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUkU2u4yAQhE-Dd0R0g_lZsBjpyfcAuolRHNtj4zxlTj-aaDZvWdKnkqo-ijmDNQNHcA7AgRnVwM_UFtko2hCAiSBpr7VVSoEO2mszzDF7BaFkD4HZKeMzWqBUgyqFPZk8tIgKrUIYwSqj_M2iRa5mVDljymMVRtV2nP3YrpVuZXsOS5x730-hfwmcBE4Hvxp_335SAqelnZ1X-T2_5dH2fWnr_ZSvXW5VEp_tvso-t_VxynNnJtme-7G9-JS_r7S0_v6Ua4FTZaacykPgZIMnoDL-WArGCJzgH6-n62ok9JfOVXksShIUK001XgbUVdbiXICgyalRoH3wW-gvQrBcAyZdEugxpVLH0aAKHEwgp9FbhmDRO0xOUdA15AQUnEulZp2GI_7phzBqaem5rZ-TeszX8pAfR0OP93k7-__0ivg3AAD__3ChiyA]





Less like this


[https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUkU2q4zAQhE8j7xTU3fpdaDHw8D0ktZSIOLbHVvLInH6YMJu3LPgoqPo45gxWTzWCcwAOtFFTfaS-yM7RhgCVGRJ5IquUAgrkSU-3aILKNSSfiYICa5vzTMkQF4bEvk49okKrEAxYpZW_WLRYmzYqZ0zZNKFV68c5ju258qVsj2mJtzH2U9AvgbPA-aivXr8vPymB89LPUVf5fXvLo-_70tfrKV-73JrkevbrKsetr_dTnnutLPtjP7ZXPeXvZ1r6eH_KSeDcauWcyl3gbINn4GJ-LAWtBc7qH0_z89lZ0BflpjwWJRmKlbppLwNSk604FyAQO2UE2nt9C_piBFtbwEQlAZmUSjNGowo16MCO0NsKwaJ3mJziQC3kBBycS6VlStMR_4xDaLX09NjWz0kj5udylx9H04jX23aO_-kV8W8AAAD__yumivM]














 Made with ✨ by First Round Capital [https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxUj8tq6zAURb9Gmjmch54DDS5c_B-SjtSI2nFxlBT69aWhkw73ZsFiSSoFndEtofeIHo0F3fY8tmVIcjFiE8HMgdkBAHLkwEZfU8BIWLs0AO-zdF-BguXga7XZ2a5HIiAHhBYdGAgXR45aNxZKoVxsVwb6OO_zPB43udRj11u6zvlxV_xP0apoPdtztM_LX-rnV7QaaUIoTvG6K_7PpUOgCotgdYvpJiyRuC-9eh8xsniw-kxf81QGtpH34_ZSzlQe2_vyKtYzvV2P-_xdz0TfAQAA__-a2FOz].



First Round © 2026 – Unsubscribe [https://email2.firstround.com/c/eJxU0DuO2zAUheHVUB2N--DrFiwCGN4HH5exMLIdSNQMktUHMdJMeYCvOX_PtWJwi2aMETGi87Doo6ybXXsOIqi9Y-HEHAAAWTixW-5Zh8PBFWrwUQF0SJMIpaMQgEO_rJmAAhB6DOAgXQIF0uE81Eql-mEcjHU_5v46n_3SXo9ly_c5fx2Gfxi6Gbrt-rnq1-W7MnQ7n8dZj7avVf9Bvp3n2g1fuQ5I1MB2bMG64ZIV4mFHi1FQuEfwhsKH_jZ87YRBh1DhVpB9KW147whExUmPTCkoSqAUqUTowkNqwS4xljYqF0PhqV_HpnPqbvgKzXmGQNZjataFJLb4VC2PqDTIEWJb9vxn7sbBtpbH6_k-PXM9tw_7br7M_PP-Oub_9ZnpbwAAAP__iWt4uA]












 

Warning

Almost all the messages that arrive here are garbage! Resist the urge to click on any unexpected or questionable links.

It may happen that e-mail will claim to come from liamon.com, perhaps from some administrative role or process. There are no users with liamon.com addresses that should be sending anyone e-mail. There are no accounts to expire. There are no passwords to leak. These are certainly garbage messages. These are certainly phishing attempts in some messages.

Absolutely ignore those links!