"Cursor is Dead" is Total BS: Here is Why | Miles Clements

By 20VC

Categories: VC, Startup

Summary

Despite the 'cursor is dead' meme, Cursor has grown 15x in agents and now has 35% of all merged PRs on its cloud agent product - showing a growing, not shrinking, market for AI-powered dev tools.

Key Takeaways

1. The market for AI-powered dev tools like Cursor and Codeium is expanding, not just shifting between vendors - driven by bringing new cohorts online and exponential consumption growth.
2. Cursor's agent product now has 2x more users than the tab feature, with 90% being daily active, showing a shift to AI agents over traditional IDEs.
3. Cursor's new cloud agent product, launched just 3 months ago, now accounts for 35% of all merged PRs, demonstrating rapid adoption.
4. Investing in AI dev tools requires evaluating a company's 'time to value' and 'durability of value' - with Cursor scoring highly on both metrics.
5. Successful investing in this market often means 'hitting singles and doubles' rather than chasing the 'home runs' - focusing on consistent execution over flashy headlines.
6. The 'cursor is dead' meme is likely an oversimplification, with Cursor still experiencing significant growth across multiple product areas despite new competitors.

Topics

• AI-Powered Dev Tools
• Cursor Growth Metrics
• Market Expansion vs. Shift
• Investing in Transient Tech
• Consistent Execution over Hype

Transcript Excerpt

Sometimes getting overly fixated on the financial metrics in this environment can leave you with an unsatisfying taste in your mouth. Growth can obscure and blind you to a lot of underlying ills in the business. Now today I'm thrilled to welcome Miles Clemens to the show. Miles helps lead Excel's growth investing practice where he's back some of the best in the business including Atlassian linear cursor and many more. >> You can actually be successful in this market investing in consensus. Inves...