December 20, 2021 • 37min

Qasar Younis and Peter Ludwig of Applied Intuition: A Startup Designed to Win

Pattern Breakers

Qasar Younis and Peter Ludwig are the co-founders of Applied Intuition, a fast-growing startup that provides advanced simulation software for autonomous vehicles. Both grew up near Detroit with deep roots in the automotive industry before meeting as product managers at Google. They combined their automotive expertise and Silicon Valley experience to build Applied Intuition into a successful company in just a few years. In this episode, Younis and Ludwig discuss their intentional approach to designing every aspect of their startup from the founding team to the business model to company culture. They share insights on how to increase the probability of startup success through careful planning and execution.

0:00

-0:00

Key Takeaways

Intentional design is crucial for startup success - not just for products, but for the founding team, business model, and company culture
Having complementary skills and shared values between co-founders creates a strong foundation
Be methodical in choosing a business with the right market timing and properties like defensibility
Carefully design the first 10 employee roles based on critical skills needed, not just who's available
Codify company values early to guide decision-making and performance as you scale
Implement regular feedback cycles to maintain alignment and make organizational improvements
As founders, focus on developing strong managers as the company grows
Balance being intentional and methodical with flexibility to adapt to changing conditions

Introduction

Qasar Younis and Peter Ludwig are the co-founders of Applied Intuition, a fast-growing startup that provides advanced simulation software for autonomous vehicles. Both grew up near Detroit with deep roots in the automotive industry before meeting as product managers at Google. They combined their automotive expertise and Silicon Valley experience to build Applied Intuition into a successful company in just a few years.

In this episode, Younis and Ludwig discuss their intentional approach to designing every aspect of their startup from the founding team to the business model to company culture. They share insights on how to increase the probability of startup success through careful planning and execution.

Topics Discussed

Founders' Backgrounds and Meeting at Google (0:00)

Younis and Ludwig both grew up in the Detroit area with family connections to the automotive industry:

Younis's family immigrated to the US sponsored by his uncle who worked at General Motors. He lived near GM headquarters and worked as an automotive engineer for 7 years.
Ludwig's family were mostly automotive engineers and it was a constant topic of discussion growing up. His first job in high school was as a software engineer at an automotive tooling company.

They met at Google after Younis's startup TalkBin was acquired:

Ludwig was an associate product manager (APM) at Google looking for a manager to learn about company building from
He met with Younis and they connected over their shared backgrounds and complementary skills

"We actually met at Google, even though we're from like the same area in Michigan, we actually didn't know each other in Michigan." - Qasar Younis

Designing the Founding Team (14:40)

Younis and Ludwig took an intentional approach to forming their founding partnership:

Younis maintained a list of potential co-founders for years, with Ludwig at the top
They focused on having complementary skills - Younis's business/strategy expertise and Ludwig's engineering/product skills
Shared background and values created a strong foundation beyond just business

"I think our shared background, our parents, our houses are like a quarter mile from each other...It anchors us, I think, in a set of values which transcend Silicon Valley, transcend the economic, transactional nature of being co-founders." - Qasar Younis

Designing the Business (18:16)

The founders were methodical in choosing a business with specific properties:

Software-based to leverage their skills and Silicon Valley expertise
Defensible with high technical complexity
Immediate market demand and willingness to pay
Right timing - not too early or too late for the market

They spent months ideating and analyzing ideas before settling on simulation software for autonomous vehicles.

"This didn't come to us in a dream. This came to us in hundreds of pages of notes. And then, like, chasing down ideas and debating. It is an incredibly intentional business that was created." - Qasar Younis

Designing the First 10 Employees (21:37)

The founders took a strategic approach to early hiring:

Mapped out the 10 critical skills needed to build their product
Searched for people with those specific skills rather than hiring opportunistically
Focused on both skills fit and culture fit
Viewed first 10 hires as a major risk to mitigate

"If you get those skills, not people, but those skills, then you have a real shot at it." - Qasar Younis

Scaling to 200 Employees (25:03)

As Applied Intuition grew rapidly, the founders implemented systems to maintain quality and alignment:

Codified 10 company values when they had ~10 employees
Use values as framework for performance evaluation
Run on 5-week release cycles with regular reflection
Conduct company-wide organizational reviews every 6 months
Focus on developing strong managers

"As founders, your roles will change over time...We're at the phase right now where very much we are creating and setting the bar for all of our managers and all of our TLs and ultimately the individual contributors." - Qasar Younis

Defining and Using Company Values (29:57)

The founders created values to codify what was making them successful early on:

Defined 10 values when they had ~10 employees
Values address things that could degrade over time as they scaled
Top 5 values: Speed, customer orientation, high technical bar, output focus, self-management
Use values as decision-making framework
Evaluate performance against values quantitatively

"It's establishing those operating principles...Make your compensation attached to adherence to the values, and then you'll get more aligned culture rather than a kind of a sporadic, random culture." - Qasar Younis

Maintaining Alignment as You Scale (32:12)

The founders shared approaches for keeping the company on track as it grows:

Use values framework to baseline decisions
Explain reasoning behind decisions to build understanding
Have explicit framework to orient entire company
Conduct regular organizational reviews

"We often deviate from the framework, and we are often recentering on that framework. We talk about our values every day in the company." - Qasar Younis

Advice for Aspiring Founders (34:58)

Key advice for founders building the next big thing:

Be dynamic and flexible like "water" to adapt to challenges
Balance being intentional/methodical with flexibility
Strive to be simultaneously aggressive and humble as a company

"The great founders have that ability...to be flexible to the environment and the challenges that you face." - Qasar Younis

Conclusion

Qasar Younis and Peter Ludwig's success with Applied Intuition demonstrates the power of taking an intentional, design-oriented approach to building a startup. By carefully designing their founding team, business model, early hires, and company culture, they were able to create a strong foundation for rapid growth. Their methodical yet flexible mindset, combined with complementary skills and shared values, allowed them to navigate the challenges of scaling to 200 employees in just a few years.

Key lessons for founders include the importance of choosing co-founders and early employees strategically, defining company values early to guide decision-making, implementing regular feedback cycles, and maintaining a balance between careful planning and adaptability. By applying intentional design principles beyond just products to all aspects of company-building, founders can significantly increase their chances of startup success.