Jason Yuan: For the Plot

How can being a playwright prepare one for designing social intelligence?Jason Yuan is the CEO and founder of Hivemind. A former Apple designer, he pioneered MercuryOS, an early vision of intent-based computing, then cofounded Dot, a personal AI companion with long-term narrative memory. He now sets off to build a second AI startup inspired by the Madonna song “Future Lovers.”In this conversation with Soleio, Jason explains why Hivemind runs on principles instead of rules, why every relationship is a story with shared authorship, and why his product motto is “for the plot.”Jason makes the case that the best products, like the best stories, are based on truth. A truth that is fundamentally plural.00:00 Own Your Story, Do It True00:49 Costumes, Stages, then World-Building03:03 Hivemind in the Wild08:42 From MercuryOS to Dot13:20 Did You Make a Startup to Fix Yourself?16:47 Every Relationship is a Story19:35 The Graveyard Before Hivemind22:25 Can Jason See Gotham?28:13 Do It for The Plot!29:13 Designing the Hivemind launch32:48 The Information Market34:45 Making Work That Feels True41:02 Being Known Is the Most Wonderful ThingS3:E02 Jason Yuan: For the PlotHosted by Soleio https://x.com/soleio @soleioCoproduced with Room 3: https://room3nyc.com @room3nycJason Yuan: https://x.com/jasonyuanFirst of Kind is powered by our sponsors:Framer – https://framer.comNoon – https://noon.designGrok Bot – https://x.ai/botRamp – https://ramp.comVercel – https://vercel.comGranola – https://granola.aiProfound – https://tryprofound.comYouTube: https://youtube.com/@firstofkind𝕏: https://x.com/firstofkindThreads: https://threads.com/firstofkindInstagram: https://instagram.com/firstofkindWebsite: https://firstofkind.comHashtag: #FirstofKind