Meta launched Muse on September 8. Ten days later it passed ChatGPT at the top of the App Store.
It took seven months and a team of under 200 people.
For most people, it’s the first time an AI does the work for them.
The person behind it? Alexandr Wang, co-founder of Scale AI and Meta’s Chief AI Officer since 2025. This week he explained how Muse was built:
A first prototype ready in two weeks
A spreadsheet of 100+ behaviours that decided the launch date
Memes from his own X account as the main marketing
More than 200 researchers reporting directly to him
📚 In this newsletter, we break down the 9 rules behind Muse. Each one comes with a clip from Wang and one action you can take in your own startup this week!
Inside you will find:
Build Where Your Company Has an Unfair AdvantageLearn why Meta stayed out of the coding race and bet on personal AI.Ship a Prototype in Two Weeks, Then Spend Seven Months Making It WorkSee how the first Muse demo reached the board in days and what the rest of the year was for.Decide What “Ready to Launch” Means Before You BuildThe 100-row spreadsheet that decided when Muse shipped, and how to build yours.Why Great Products Need One Point of ViewHow Muse stayed under 200 people and kept every PM from adding their own feature.Your Ads Should Show What the Product Does for the CustomerWhy the big AI labs’ campaigns missed, and the screenshot test every consumer product must pass.How the Founder’s Memes Drove Muse’s GrowthThe posting strategy behind “make Meta cool again” and why the internet rewards risk.Get Users to a Wow Moment, Then Make Every Task a Little BiggerFind out how the “trust fall” turns first-time users into daily users.When the Company Is Broken, Rebuild It From ScratchWhat Meta did after Llama 4, and the small flat team Wang built in its place.Do Every Job at Your First Company, Then Become the CoachHow Wang went from running every decision at Scale to managing 200+ direct reports at Meta.
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