{"slug": "no-figma-no-jira-no-docs-how-gusto-built-a-new-product-line-with-claude-code-kim", "title": "No Figma. No Jira. No docs. How Gusto built a new product line with Claude Code | Eddie Kim (CTO)", "summary": "Gusto CTO Eddie Kim and a team of four built a new AI product, Gusto Cofounder, from scratch in 10 weeks using Claude Code and a radical process that eliminated Figma, Jira, and documentation. The team relied on a two-tool agent stack, a \"trash-can method\" for product decisions, and a perma-Zoom setup to replace standups and retros, enabling a designer without engineering background to reach the 94th percentile in shipping code.", "body_md": "**Eddie Kim** is the co-founder and CTO of the payroll and HR platform Gusto, which just crossed $1 billion in revenue and serves more than 500,000 small businesses. Recently he did something most CTOs don’t: he went back to writing code. With three other engineers and one designer, Eddie built Gusto Cofounder, a net-new AI product, from zero code to a tier-one launch in 10 weeks. He walks through how that team actually worked, why they threw out nearly every process, and how anyone can copy the approach.\n\n**Listen or watch on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts**\n\n### What you’ll learn:\n\nThe trash-can method: how to write, review, and delete a full PR as a product decision instead of a planning doc\n\nThe two-tool agent stack behind Gusto Cofounder\n\nThe exact “perma-Zoom” setup that replaced standups, retros, and Slack threads for 10 weeks\n\nHow a designer with no engineering background hit the 94th percentile for shipping code\n\nThe eval-first workflow Eddie uses to fix real customer bugs with Claude Code\n\nHow a non-technical leader can prototype an idea to win buy-in, then carry it all the way to production-quality code\n\n### Brought to you by:\n\n** Magic Patterns**—Prototypes that look like your product\n\n** Jira Product Discovery**—Prioritize with insights, build with confidence\n\n### In this episode, we cover:\n\n([00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8)) Intro: five people, 10 weeks\n\n([02:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=158s)) The origins of Cofounder\n\n([08:32](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=512s)) Inside the 10-week build process\n\n([12:50](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=770s)) Building with no PMs\n\n([14:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=878s)) The “trash can” method\n\n([17:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=1035s)) The stack architecture\n\n([19:10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=1150s)) Shipping to production from day one\n\n([22:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=1323s)) How a designer became a top engineer\n\n([29:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=1745s)) Demo: Cofounder over text and Slack\n\n([31:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=1905s)) Demo: running a real payroll\n\n([36:26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=2186s)) Live coding with evals in Claude Code\n\n([39:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=2379s)) Recap: prototype, small team, permission\n\n([43:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=2597s)) Lightning round\n\n([48:44](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FKBkUCaLa8&t=2924s)) Where to find Eddie and Cofounder\n\n### Tools referenced:\n\n• Gusto Cofounder (early access/waitlist): [https://gusto.com/cofounder](https://gusto.com/cofounder)\n\n• Claude Code (Anthropic): [https://claude.ai/code](https://claude.ai/code)\n\n• Cloudflare Workers: [https://workers.cloudflare.com/](https://workers.cloudflare.com/)\n\n• Vercel AI SDK: [https://sdk.vercel.ai/](https://sdk.vercel.ai/)\n\n• DX (engineering analytics): [https://getdx.com/](https://getdx.com/)\n\n• Wispr Flow (voice-to-text): [https://wisprflow.ai](https://wisprflow.ai)\n\n• OpenClaw: [https://openclaw.ai/](https://openclaw.ai/)\n\n### Other references:\n\n• Gusto (the main product, “Gusto Classic”): [https://gusto.com](https://gusto.com)\n\n• Mindbody (referenced as customer data source): [https://www.mindbodyonline.com/](https://www.mindbodyonline.com/)\n\n### Where to find Eddie Kim:\n\nLinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/edawerd/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/edawerd/)\n\n### Where to find Claire Vo:\n\nChatPRD: [https://www.chatprd.ai/](https://www.chatprd.ai/)\n\nWebsite: [https://clairevo.com/](https://clairevo.com/)\n\nLinkedIn: [https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/](https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/)\n\nProduction and marketing by [https://penname.co/](https://penname.co/). For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email [[email protected]](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection).", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/no-figma-no-jira-no-docs-how-gusto-built-a-new-product-line-with-claude-code-kim", "canonical_source": "https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/no-figma-no-jira-no-docs-how-gusto", "published_at": "2026-06-29 12:03:38+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-29 12:39:31.835998+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-products", "ai-tools", "generative-ai", "ai-agents"], "entities": ["Gusto", "Eddie Kim", "Claude Code", "Anthropic", "Cloudflare Workers", "Vercel AI SDK", "Gusto Cofounder", "Mindbody"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/no-figma-no-jira-no-docs-how-gusto-built-a-new-product-line-with-claude-code-kim", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/no-figma-no-jira-no-docs-how-gusto-built-a-new-product-line-with-claude-code-kim.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/no-figma-no-jira-no-docs-how-gusto-built-a-new-product-line-with-claude-code-kim.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/no-figma-no-jira-no-docs-how-gusto-built-a-new-product-line-with-claude-code-kim.jsonld"}}