Brie Wolfson (@zebriez) / X

Brie Wolfson

5,192 posts

Brie Wolfson

@zebriez

ghostwriter and early days with @camillericketts, investing @psumvc / story @colossusmag, used to @cursor_ai @stripe @stripepress @figma

Seattle, WA

earlydaysbymerlin.substack.com

Joined August 2012

Pinned
Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Oct 22, 2024
I'm writing a book for early career operators. More bright ambitious people should experience the magic of being successful at work. If you're in the first 5 years of your career, not a manager, and want to help shape the book / get your burning worklife questions answered,
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Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Oct 4, 2019
I recently left Stripe after 4.5 formative and magical years. Some reflections on what made working at Stripe feel different than working other places: 1/Turpentine 2/Writing 3/Meticulousness 4/Principled decision-making 5/Ambition 6/Talking up 7/The API metaphor
Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Aug 14, 2025
Interviewed a top performer today. His lessons: -copy the right people -no matter how charged up you are, communicate in a measured tone -you can survive picking the wrong job or messing up a lot of times, but you can’t survive a loss of enthusiasm and self-belief
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Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
May 20, 2021
Had too much fun and too much gin making this. Do your thing, Twitter. Who’s missing? Who’d I get wrong?
Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Nov 6, 2025
I spent the last 60 days working at Cursor. It's been one of the most thrilling phases of my professional life. There's a lot of mystique around the company. Over the last two months, some things matched my expectations; many did not. I wrote an essay for @joincolossus
Inside Cursor
From colossus.com
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Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Oct 4, 2019
Replying to @zebriez
1/Turpentine: Picasso said, “when art critics get together they talk about Form and Structure and Meaning. When artists get together they talk about where you can buy cheap turpentine.” Stripe is obsessed with turpentine.
Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Nov 26, 2024
Talking to a lot of top performers lately. Shocking % say they got the foot-in-the-door job by going way over the top on their job application / interview prep. it didn’t only get them the job. It earned them special attention from others on the hiring panel + company leaders
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Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Sep 24, 2025
I think many high-ambition people underrate fun and humor. And I’d even go so far as it say it holds them back
555K
Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Oct 4, 2019
Replying to @zebriez
Overall, Stripe changed the way I think and changed my outlook on how a company could operate. It was a magical place to spend the majority of my career and if you ever want to talk about life at Stripe, get in touch. DM’s are open.
Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Oct 4, 2019
Replying to @zebriez
In his words, “the reason writing a good 4 page memo is harder than ‘writing’ a 20 page powerpoint is because the narrative structure of a good memo forces better thought and better understanding of what’s more important than what, and how things are related.”
Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Sep 27, 2021
SF is a really easy city to hate on, but when I'm here, I get more veggies, exercise, sleep, and time outside. I drink less, buy local more, and feel more motivated by/about my work. It may sound kind of parochial, but I can't deny that I'm the best version of myself here.
Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Oct 4, 2019
Replying to @zebriez
Good API’s make things easier by providing a layer of abstraction between complex systems and I think it’s a pretty good metaphor for collaboration and communication. Abstract away the crufty bits so the interfaces are clean and interactions are more elegant (and more pleasant).
Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Oct 4, 2019
Replying to @zebriez
First, clarity of writing reflects clarity in thinking. Surely writing is not the only proxy for clarity in thinking, but I think it’s a good one. Jeff Besos famously banned presentations at Amazon in favor of “Narratives.”
Brie Wolfson
@zebriez
Feb 4, 2024
Early career advice keeps boiling down to Do what you say you’re going to do Be the kind of person that’s easy to root for (attitude, integrity, work ethic) Know how to talk about yourself (particularly strengths and what you want)
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