Cursor Head of Design Roasts Startup Websites

Design Review with Rio Lou: Website Critiques Built with Cursor

Key Concepts:

• Cursor: An AI coding tool used for website development.
• Vibe Coding: A term used to describe designs heavily reliant on AI-generated aesthetics, often resulting in generic or visually inconsistent results (characterized by purple gradients, excessive shadows, and poor typography).
• UI/UX Principles: Focus on clarity, user flow, visual hierarchy, and avoiding distractions in web design.
• Messaging & Value Proposition: Clearly communicating what a product does and who it’s for.
• Visual Hierarchy: Arranging elements to guide the user's eye and emphasize important information.
• CTAs (Call to Actions): Prominent buttons or links encouraging specific user actions.
• MCP (Model Call Proxy): A server for AI agents to reliably use tools at scale (mentioned in the Clavis AI review).

1. Crunch: AI for Excel

Main Points: Crunch aims to bring AI-powered analysis to Excel, targeting finance professionals. The website attempts to establish credibility through logos of recognizable companies (BCG, Harvard, NCAD).

Critiques:

• Visuals: The New York City imagery felt arbitrary and didn’t immediately connect to the product. Buttons appeared prematurely, grabbing attention before context was established.
• Messaging: The hero section lacked clarity. The phrase "Excel native AI analyst" was unclear. The site relied on jargon (DCFs - Discounted Cash Flows) without sufficient explanation for a general audience.
• UI/UX: Hover states on logos were inconsistent and jarring. Tab navigation was subtle and easily missed.
• Technical Detail: Rio noted the importance of continuous animation for hover effects rather than abrupt snapping.

Quote: “Not sure what I'm getting from the hero at all.” – Rio Lou

Actionable Insight: Prioritize clear, concise messaging that explains the value proposition in layman’s terms. Focus on smooth, intuitive UI interactions.

2. Velvet: AI Brand Videos

Main Points: Velvet offers AI-powered tools for creating brand videos, showcasing dynamic model changes as a key feature.

Critiques:

• Messaging: The website lacked a clear explanation of what Velvet does and how it differs from other video generation tools (like Sora). The focus was on showing videos rather than explaining the product.
• UI/UX: The "Book a Demo" button was below the fold. The demo request form lacked detail about the process. The YC logo was more prominent than Velvet’s own logo.
• Technical Detail: Rio highlighted the importance of providing context when using dynamic visuals (model changes) to avoid confusion.

Quote: “There's not enough information here to understand what this is.” – Rio Lou

Actionable Insight: Lead with a clear value proposition. Provide more information about the product's capabilities and target audience. Ensure the brand logo is prominent.

3. Clavis AI / Strata: AI Agent Infrastructure

Main Points: Clavis AI (and its productized version, Strata) provides infrastructure for AI agents to reliably connect to and use various tools.

Critiques:

• Branding: The dual naming (Clavis AI and Strata) created confusion.
• Messaging: The website was overly technical and used jargon that wouldn’t resonate with a general audience. It focused on how it works rather than why someone would need it.
• UI/UX: The homepage was cluttered with numerous CTAs and elements, creating a distracting experience. The gray box was unexplained. The chart was visually unappealing.
• Technical Detail: Rio emphasized the importance of avoiding AI-generated default styles ("AI slop") and establishing a robust design token system.

Quote: “Kill all the distractions. Make sure that like every single scroll there's only one main CTA.” – Rio Lou

Actionable Insight: Simplify messaging, focus on solving user problems in their language, and prioritize a clean, focused UI. Consolidate branding under a single name.

4. Code Crafters: Deliberate Practice for Engineers

Main Points: Code Crafters offers practice projects designed to help software engineers improve their skills.

Critiques:

• Branding: The logo was generic and the company name wasn’t immediately visible on the homepage.
• Messaging: The initial messaging focused on what not to do rather than what the product does.
• UI/UX: The website had inconsistent styling and a disjointed visual experience. The investor logos were outdated and presented in a visually jarring manner.
• Technical Detail: Rio pointed out the prevalence of AI-generated design elements ("vibe coding") and the importance of creating a unique brand identity.

Quote: “You want to avoid say all the typical AI slop say like massive shadows, purple gradients, bad typography.” – Rio Lou

Actionable Insight: Clearly communicate the product's value proposition. Develop a strong brand identity and avoid relying on generic AI-generated aesthetics.

5. Slashy: AI-Powered Email

Main Points: Slashy integrates AI (ChatGPT) into email workflows.

Critiques:

• UI/UX: The website felt unfinished, with inconsistent styling and visual details (misaligned elements, varying image sizes). The use of Cursor’s branding in its description felt derivative.
• Technical Detail: Rio noted the importance of showing every state during loading/processing to keep users engaged.

Quote: “They're actually stealing like a notion picture here.” – Rio Lou

Actionable Insight: Pay attention to detail and ensure visual consistency. Focus on clearly defining the product's unique value proposition.

6. Freya: Voice AI for Enterprise

Main Points: Freya provides AI-powered voice agents for customer service, sales, and support.

Critiques:

• Demo: The demo was well-executed and clearly showcased the product's capabilities.
• Messaging: The messaging was clear and concise, effectively communicating the value proposition.
• UI/UX: The website was generally well-designed and easy to navigate.

Quote: “This is actually probably the best one we've seen today.” – Rio Lou

Actionable Insight: Prioritize clear messaging and a compelling demo.

7. Finta: Accounting & Taxes for Businesses

Main Points: Finta simplifies accounting and tax filing for US-based businesses.

Critiques:

• Messaging: The initial messaging was somewhat abstract.
• UI/UX: The website had a generally clean design, but some elements felt disjointed.
• Technical Detail: Rio suggested streamlining the visual hierarchy and focusing on a consistent design language.

Quote: “If you look at each of the pieces, it's actually pretty well built.” – Rio Lou

Actionable Insight: Refine the messaging to clearly articulate the target audience and value proposition.

8. Vibe Flow: Visual Prompting for AI

Main Points: Vibe Flow allows users to visually prompt AI for design generation.

Critiques:

• Functionality: The website was largely non-functional during the review, resulting in errors and loading issues.
• UI/UX: The website felt heavily reliant on AI-generated aesthetics ("vibe coding") and lacked a cohesive design.
• Technical Detail: Rio highlighted the importance of providing feedback during loading/processing to keep users engaged.

Quote: “This is what I do. [referring to the error state]” – Rio Lou

Actionable Insight: Ensure the website is fully functional and provides a smooth user experience. Avoid relying on generic AI-generated design elements. Prioritize clear communication and user feedback.

Conclusion:

The review consistently emphasized the importance of clear messaging, a focused UI/UX, and avoiding the pitfalls of "vibe coding." Successful websites clearly communicated their value proposition, targeted a specific audience, and prioritized usability. The most common issues were cluttered designs, jargon-heavy language, and a lack of clarity about what the product actually does. Rio’s feedback underscored the need for deliberate design choices and a strong brand identity, rather than relying on generic AI-generated aesthetics.