Breakout products rarely hinge on a single moment of luck. They’re shaped by countless decisions — what to prioritize, what to cut, and how deeply you understand the people you’re building for. Few builders have navigated those decisions at the scale of Mike Krieger, co-founder of Instagram and now Chief Product Officer at Anthropic.
Instagram reshaped how billions communicate visually. Today, Mike is helping redefine how we interact with technology again — this time through one of the world’s leading AI assistants. At first glance, building a global social network and building Claude might seem worlds apart. In practice, the parallels run deep.
In this episode of Building One, host Tomer Cohen talks with Mike about scaling, knowing when to pivot, and why the rise of AI is transforming the craft of product-building.
Tomer and Mike discuss:
- The inflection point that turned Instagram into a global phenomenon — and the crisis that sparked it
- Why Mike decided to shut down Artifact, and the lesson he believes every founder should know about when to stop vs. persevere
- The surprising similarities between building Instagram and building Claude
- How working at Anthropic changed his thinking about product design and user interfaces
This conversation is for anyone building products, leading teams, or shaping AI-powered experiences — and for every builder who believes that great products come from clarity, intuition, and the willingness to evolve.
Follow Tomer Cohen on LinkedIn and check out his newsletter, Building LinkedIn.
Follow Mike Krieger on Linkedin.
