Cursor Head of Design Roasts Startup Websites

Reviewing Crunch, Rio and the host found the hero vague and its motion distracting. They recommended a literal subheadline that explains the product for investment bankers, investors, and consultants. Rio also advised using consistent design tokens and components, and avoiding default AI styles such as purple gradients and oversized shadows.

Velvet’s videos looked striking, but the page did not explain what a brand video was, who the product served, or how it differed from tools such as Sora. Clavis AI added confusion with two product names, many competing calls to action, and jargon such as “progressive discovery.” Rio recommended describing customer problems in familiar language and showing which tools the product connects.

CodeCrafters’ pages changed styles and colors, and its company name was hard to find. Slashy had clear messaging, but inconsistent screenshot sizes, borders, and alignment weakened the presentation. Rio and the host also advised prioritizing what a product does before emphasizing YC backing or other credibility signals.

Freya clearly explained its AI voice agents for customer service and offered an accessible demo, though the page hijacked scrolling and its main call to action, “Meet the team,” was unclear. Finta’s accounting and tax service looked polished, but the audience of U.S.-based C corps, LLCs, and PBCs could appear earlier. For Vibe Flow, Rio recommended showing example projects and letting visitors try a constrained demo before requiring sign-in.

While trying Vibe Flow, Rio explained that AI products should show what is happening during a wait, including running actions and any user confirmations. Progress information should focus attention without becoming a wall of text; random messages and multiple unexplained spinners can distract. The demo’s inconsistent details, unclear controls, repeated failures, and sign-up wall made it harder to understand or try.