Inside Linear: Building with taste, craft, and focus | Karri Saarinen (co-founder, designer, CEO)
Kari Saarinen, co-founder & CEO of Linear, discusses building a product-led company with a strong focus on craft and quality. He shares insights on Linear's unique approach to product development (no A/B tests, opinionated software, cycles), hiring (paid work trials, product-minded engineers), and growth (selective beta, segment-focused PMF).
Deep Dive Analysis
22 Topic Outline
Karri's Background and Linear Overview
Linear's Design Process and Quality Focus
Building a Craft-Oriented Company Culture
Product Management Approach at Linear
Design and Brand as Competitive Advantages
Authenticity in Branding and Messaging
Linear's Design Review Process
The Linear Method for Software Development
Opinionated Software and Workflow Cycles
Thriving Without Metrics or A/B Testing
Customer-Focused Product Building Approach
Karri's Techniques for Maintaining Focus
Linear's Unique Hiring Practices
Paid Work Trials for Candidates
Assessing Candidate Product Sense
Linear's Early Growth and Milestones
Finding Product-Market Fit in Segments
Building Online Presence and Authenticity
Linear's Corporate Culture and Activities
Lessons from CEO Transition
Sneak Peek: Upcoming 'Asks' Feature
Lightning Round Questions
5 Key Concepts
Opinionated Software
This refers to productivity software that provides strong defaults and predefined workflows, rather than being overly flexible. The goal is to reduce the time users spend configuring the tool, allowing them to focus on their actual work by offering what the creators believe is the most optimized solution.
Cycles
Linear's alternative to sprints, cycles are a way for teams to define a specific set of tasks to focus on for a set timeframe (e.g., one or two weeks). This helps teams prioritize and avoid distraction from an infinite list of potential tasks, providing clarity on current priorities.
Magic and Science (Linear's Product Approach)
Linear's internal philosophy for product development, balancing user research and understanding ('science') with intuition and judgment ('magic'). The 'science' involves extensive user conversations and understanding problems, which then informs the 'magic' of making intuitive product decisions without relying heavily on A/B testing or strict metrics.
Product Market Fit as a Spectrum
This concept views product market fit not as a binary 'have it or don't have it' state, but as a continuous spectrum. A company might have strong product market fit within a specific customer segment (e.g., early-stage startups) and then work to expand and strengthen that fit across other segments (e.g., larger companies) over time.
Paid Work Trial
A unique hiring practice at Linear where candidates, after initial interviews, work as mini-contractors on a real problem for a short, paid period. This allows both the company and the candidate to assess working compatibility, team dynamics, and problem-solving approaches in a practical setting.
8 Questions Answered
Design is increasingly critical; as markets become crowded, a high level of design is almost a basic requirement for people to even pay attention or consider a product seriously. It sets expectations and can be a strong differentiator, especially early on.
Linear operates with one Head of Product who focuses on defining product direction and aligning teams, rather than managing day-to-day tasks. Project ownership is given to engineering and design teams, who are expected to have a broader scope and product sensibility, taking on responsibilities often handled by PMs.
Linear emphasizes deep customer understanding through frequent user conversations and internal team empathy. Decisions are made based on this collective understanding and intuition, focusing on solving problems and delighting customers rather than optimizing specific metrics.
Prioritizing craft starts with hiring people who genuinely care about quality and ensuring it's a valued aspect of the company culture. It also involves giving project teams ownership and space to identify and implement improvements during the building phase, rather than solely perfecting designs upfront.
Linear seeks candidates who are 'more than their title,' possessing a broader perspective, product thinking, and the ability to articulate opinions and judgments about product choices. They look for individuals interested in taking on more scope than their specific skillset might suggest.
Linear used a waitlist with a survey to select smaller, early-stage companies using supported tools. They invited users in small cohorts (e.g., 10 people a week), gathered feedback, fixed issues, and then invited the next cohort, ensuring the product matured effectively before public launch.
Product market fit should be viewed as a spectrum, not a binary state, often existing within specific market segments. Companies should focus on achieving strong fit in one category (e.g., early-stage startups) and then strategically expand to new areas, following where there is clear 'pull' from customers.
The 'Asks' feature is an integration with Slack designed to allow non-product team members (or those not using Linear) to easily submit requests or questions to product teams. These requests can be triaged in Linear, and teams can communicate back through Slack, making product operations more inclusive.
26 Actionable Insights
1. Prioritize High-Level Design Early
Ensure your product has a high level of design from the very beginning, as the bar for user attention and serious consideration is now very high across most domains. This is crucial because crowded markets demand superior design to stand out against numerous existing solutions.
2. Cultivate Craft-Focused Hiring
When hiring, actively seek individuals who deeply care about product quality and craft, as this foundational value is essential for the business’s success. A product with friction or ‘paper cuts’ will annoy users, hindering collaboration and overall adoption.
3. Iterate Early, Polish Later
Instead of perfecting designs upfront, launch early versions of features to internal teams or opt-in beta customers to gather feedback and discover improvements. This approach balances the need for quick iteration with the goal of delivering a highly polished experience for general release.
4. Empower Project Team Ownership
Foster craft and quality by giving project teams, consisting of engineers and designers, full ownership over their work. This enables them to identify and implement detailed improvements, as they are intimately involved in the building process.
5. Align Founders on Quality
Founders must align on the importance of quality and craft to establish a consistent company culture. This alignment ensures that these values are instilled throughout the organization and consistently prioritized.
6. Hire Product-Minded Engineers & Designers
Reduce reliance on numerous Product Managers by hiring engineers and designers who possess strong product thinking, decision-making skills, and an interest in a broader scope beyond their specific technical role. This approach empowers builders to contribute more holistically to the product.
7. Interview for Product Sensibility
When interviewing non-PM roles, specifically inquire about candidates’ opinions on past product decisions, why they were made, and what they would have done differently. Look for candidates who can articulate reasoned arguments and demonstrate deep product judgment.
8. Leverage Design as a Differentiator
In crowded and mature markets, invest heavily in design and user experience, as it becomes a significant differentiator to attract and retain users. A strong brand and good design set high expectations and draw people to your product.
9. Build an Authentic Brand Gradually
Develop your brand authentically over time through consistent actions, communication, customer treatment, and product/website design, rather than just focusing on logos or colors. This builds a strong identity that resonates with your target audience and sets expectations.
10. Review Designs by Hands-On Testing
Conduct design reviews by personally interacting with the product, testing different states, and clicking around to identify janky animations or subtle flaws. This hands-on approach often reveals execution issues that demos might miss, ensuring the desired quality before release.
11. Implement Work Cycles for Focus
Utilize ‘cycles’ (similar to sprints) to define a focused set of priorities for a specific timeframe, such as one or two weeks. This helps teams concentrate on a few key tasks and avoid distractions from an ever-growing list of potential work.
12. Skip Metrics Goals for Features
Avoid setting specific numerical metrics goals for individual features or launches, as product success in complex systems is not always reducible to single metrics. Instead, focus on solving problems and ensuring customer satisfaction with the solution.
13. Balance Intuition with Research
Combine user research and customer interaction (‘science’) with informed intuition and judgment (‘magic’) when making product decisions. This approach ensures a deep understanding of customer needs while allowing for decisive action without being solely driven by data.
14. Encourage Team-Wide Customer Engagement
Foster a culture where the entire team, including engineers and designers, regularly interacts with customers, answers questions, and gains a deep understanding of their problems. This shared empathy and understanding inform better product decisions.
15. Embrace Mistakes, Prioritize Fixing
Cultivate an organizational mindset that is comfortable with making mistakes, viewing them as opportunities for learning and quick correction. This encourages decisive action rather than paralysis from fear of making the wrong choice.
16. Focus on the Main Quest
Prioritize tasks that directly advance the core mission of building and improving the product for customers, consciously avoiding ‘side quests’ or non-essential activities. This ensures sustained focus and efficient progress on high-impact work.
17. Delay Non-Essential Certifications
Postpone non-critical tasks, such as obtaining security certifications (e.g., SOC 2), until they are genuinely necessary for business operations or customer requirements. This maintains focus on core product development in early stages.
18. Hire Fewer, High-Scope Individuals
Build a lean team by hiring fewer, highly capable individuals who are willing and able to take on a broader scope of responsibilities than their specific job title suggests. This fosters a more agile and interconnected team where people rarely limit themselves to ‘it’s not my job’.
19. Utilize Paid Work Trials for Hiring
Implement paid work trials as the final step in the hiring process, allowing candidates to work on a real problem with the team, gaining access to the codebase and internal communications. This provides both the company and the candidate a realistic assessment of fit and working style.
20. Segment-Specific Product Market Fit
View product market fit not as a binary state, but as a spectrum across different market segments, focusing on achieving strong fit within one segment before expanding. This allows for targeted development and maximizes impact in specific customer groups.
21. Double Down on Market Pull
When you observe strong traction or ‘pull’ from a specific customer category (e.g., AI companies, crypto companies), actively focus on acquiring more customers from that segment. This strategy leverages existing success and market demand.
22. Launch Authentically to Target Audience
When announcing your company, craft direct and authentic messages that clearly explain ‘what’ you are building and ‘why,’ tailored to resonate with your initial target audience. This helps attract the right early users and builds a genuine connection.
23. Engage Remote Teams with Shared Activities
For fully remote and distributed teams, organize engaging group activities like a baking or cooking competition via video call. This fosters team bonding, provides a fun shared experience, and can even reinforce company values like craft.
24. CEO: Delegate and Empower Leaders
As a CEO, recognize the wide range of responsibilities and actively learn to delegate tasks by hiring and empowering other leaders to take ownership of specific areas. This helps manage diverse demands and allows for personal focus.
25. Go Slow to Go Fast
Adopt the motto ‘go slow to go fast,’ emphasizing the importance of taking sufficient time to think and plan before rushing into tasks. This approach minimizes rework and ultimately leads to faster, higher-quality execution.
26. Practice Respect for People and Things
Cultivate a mindset of respect not only for people but also for the things you use, taking good care of them by cleaning and putting them away properly. This promotes a culture of appreciation and longevity.
5 Key Quotes
My belief is that like any domain or industry, the more it matters, the more the design matters.
Karri Saarinen
You cannot run a company with multiple different kinds of cultures.
Karri Saarinen
Avoid the side quests. Like, like there's always like ideas people have and it's a good thing. And it's like, people have ideas, but then it might be like, yeah, let's make like this t-shirt. So like, let's make this thing. And then we're like, well, is it, does it help the customers? Does it help the product? Like, this sounds like a side quest to me. And like, basically means like we shouldn't do it.
Karri Saarinen
Go slow to go fast.
Karri Saarinen
Quality is so hard to define. It is like, if you actually like start thinking about it, it's like, how do you define it? It's, it's like, it's kind of like, it's really hard to pin, pin down, but it's all kind of like when you try something or see it, then you kind of know if it's quality or not.
Karri Saarinen
4 Protocols
Linear's Design Review Process
Karri Saarinen- Start with design explorations to consider different approaches or clarify clear paths.
- Move into the building phase as quickly as possible to test the direction and identify problems or general feel.
- Conduct informal checks on projects weekly or bi-weekly with a sponsor (Karri, co-founders, or Head of Product).
- Before a full general release, conduct a thorough review and internal testing of the product, trying different states and interactions.
- If issues are found (e.g., janky animations, incorrect scrolling), pull back the release until they are fixed.
- For features with uncertain functionality, launch to a small group of opt-in customers or a specific company to gather early feedback and co-create the solution.
Linear's Early-Stage Customer Feedback Loop
Karri Saarinen- Launch a waitlist with survey questions to understand current tools, company size, and interest.
- Selectively invite smaller companies using currently supported tools, prioritizing those showing high interest.
- Invite users in small cohorts (e.g., ~10 people a week) to manage feedback effectively.
- Gather feedback from each cohort, addressing bugs or problems they encounter.
- Fix identified issues before inviting the next cohort of users.
- Continuously iterate based on cohort feedback, ensuring the product matures effectively.
Karri's Focus Maintenance Techniques
Karri Saarinen- Adhere to the core startup focus: talk to customers, build the product, and exercise.
- Evaluate tasks by asking: 'Is this important to do now, or can it be done later?'
- Avoid 'side quests' – ideas or tasks that don't directly progress the main goal of building the product and making it awesome for customers.
- Operate with a personal and company-wide mindset of 'main quest lines' versus 'side quest lines'.
- Be comfortable saying 'no' to things that are not immediately essential, even if they might be needed eventually (e.g., certain certifications).
Linear's Hiring Process with Paid Work Trial
Karri Saarinen- Conduct fairly standard interview loops, including hiring manager and skill-based interviews/tests.
- The final step is a paid work trial, where the candidate acts as a mini-contractor.
- Provide a vague problem statement (e.g., 'build this feature') to the candidate.
- The candidate must understand the problem, scope it down, and build a version within a given timeframe.
- Grant the candidate access to the codebase, Slack, Notion, and allow them to join meetings and have one-on-one chats with team members.
- At the end, the candidate presents their work and reasoning.
- Evaluate the candidate's operation in the environment, problem-solving approach, thinking process, and ability to make progress quickly.