Nov 20, 2025 · 35m · y-combinator
Cursor Head of Design Roasts Startup Websites · Y Combinator
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of Design Review, host Aaron Epstein and Rio Lu, Head of Design at Cursor, review user-submitted startup landing pages and AI apps created by Y Combinator founders. They provide candid feedback on messaging, visual hierarchy, branding flaws, and AI-generated design traps while sharing actionable tips to improve conversion and user experience.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. How this is scored →
speaking balance: gold is the partners, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Rio forcefully calls out companies that speak in made-up concepts and obscure jargon rather than clear user language.
Hardest push from the partners ▶ 15:03 Aaron challenging negative headline copyAaron firmly explains why starting a landing page with negative directives like 'Stop doing this' fails to communicate product value.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 31:23 Rio teaching LLM wait state UX designRio breaks down expert principles from Cursor on showing active tool execution states rather than distracting spinner animations.
The partners hold their own ▶ 19:40 Aaron outlining landing page messaging hierarchyAaron systematically outlines the three questions every homepage must answer before relying on social proof and investor badges.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | The partners as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | The partners pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Design Review Title Sequence | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Aaron and Rio collaboratively audit Crunched, highlighting motion distraction and messaging ambiguity. Rio provides tactical advice on foundational design tokens to avoid typical AI slop. | |
| Website Review: Velvet | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | The review of Velvet focuses on missing copy and lack of product differentiation. Aaron notes essential questions landing pages must answer to convert visitors. | |
| Website Review: Klavis AI | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Both critique Clavis AI for confusing split branding, excessive CTAs, and internal jargon. Rio strongly recommends framing copy around customer problem language. | |
| Website Review: CodeCrafters | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | Reviewing CodeCrafters, Aaron articulates why negative hero framing fails and cautions against over-relying on YC branding over product identity. | |
| Y Combinator Batch Application Promo | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Following a brief batch application promo, Aaron and Rio evaluate Slashy, with Rio pointing out unpolished markdown styling and borrowed design assets. | |
| Lightning Round: Freya | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | The hosts test Freya's voice agent live in Chinese and praise the clarity, while penalizing scroll hijacking and ambiguous CTA copy. | |
| Lightning Round: Finta | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Aaron and Rio review Finta, admiring its dynamic time element while diagnosing visual hierarchy issues caused by overlapping cards. | |
| Reviewing VibeFlow Landing Page and Initial Prompting | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 | While waiting on VibeFlow to generate code, Rio shares Cursor's product philosophy on handling LLM latency by rendering active tool states rather than empty spinners. | |
| Debugging Code Errors and Critiquing 'Vibe Coded' UI | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | Rio dissects why VibeFlow feels vibe coded due to inconsistent border radii and iframe fragmentation, while Aaron diagnoses underlying runtime library issues. |