Meeting Title: Brainforge Weekly Sync Date: 2026-04-13 Meeting participants: Miranda Wen, Uttam Kumaran
WEBVTT
1 00:00:31.250 ⇒ 00:00:32.700 Uttam Kumaran: Hey, Miranda, good morning.
2 00:00:41.590 ⇒ 00:00:42.760 Miranda Wen: Morning!
3 00:00:43.130 ⇒ 00:00:44.120 Uttam Kumaran: Hey, how are ya?
4 00:00:44.370 ⇒ 00:00:45.150 Miranda Wen: Aye.
5 00:00:46.740 ⇒ 00:00:47.950 Uttam Kumaran: How was the weekend?
6 00:00:48.250 ⇒ 00:00:51.820 Miranda Wen: Yeah, it’s been good. It’s been bringing a lot, I guess up, so barely went out.
7 00:00:51.820 ⇒ 00:00:55.209 Uttam Kumaran: Oh, okay. Yeah. It’s been raining here.
8 00:00:55.990 ⇒ 00:00:56.540 Miranda Wen: Oh, yeah.
9 00:00:56.540 ⇒ 00:01:01.970 Uttam Kumaran: At least not hot, so it’s good. Otherwise, it’ll be, like, 100 degrees here all the time.
10 00:01:02.320 ⇒ 00:01:07.470 Miranda Wen: Oh my god, that’s so crazy, yeah. Haven’t experienced 100 degree in SF for a while, I feel like.
11 00:01:07.470 ⇒ 00:01:18.539 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, it’ll be 100 degrees here for, like, 100 days, coming up soon. Wow. Yeah, usually, like, last year was maybe 105 days, it was over 100.
12 00:01:19.070 ⇒ 00:01:20.769 Miranda Wen: Wow, it’s always summer then, like…
13 00:01:20.770 ⇒ 00:01:22.530 Uttam Kumaran: Yes, yes.
14 00:01:23.210 ⇒ 00:01:24.050 Miranda Wen: Oh my god.
15 00:01:25.200 ⇒ 00:01:31.849 Miranda Wen: Yeah, thank you for, like, having this meeting with me today, yeah, to sync up on stuff, yeah.
16 00:01:33.040 ⇒ 00:01:52.110 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, of course, and I know I sent a note on Friday or Thursday, and then I also just sent a note this morning. So yeah, would love to get your reflections, and just, like, see how we can, you know, close out this week strong. I think, you know, I feel like I made it… I wanted to just make it crystal clear, like, kind of expectations for…
17 00:01:52.170 ⇒ 00:02:06.640 Uttam Kumaran: communication, and also just, like, understanding that this is, like, it’s… this kind of role on this team is working directly with me, and my… I just have very little time, so I wanted just to set that really clear.
18 00:02:06.800 ⇒ 00:02:15.490 Uttam Kumaran: But also just wanted to, you know, give you an opportunity to reflect on that over the weekend, and then kind of set some clear expectations for this week.
19 00:02:16.150 ⇒ 00:02:17.920 Miranda Wen: Yes, yes, totally.
20 00:02:21.840 ⇒ 00:02:33.059 Miranda Wen: Yeah, I think, like, yesterday I also talked to Robert, and I… I can, like, get to know more about, like, what it really looks like for the S in communication, and I definitely think
21 00:02:33.150 ⇒ 00:02:50.489 Miranda Wen: this was some parts that I didn’t get experience as much from my previous work experience, because they sit there, like, in person, so we just, like, call each other, or it’s, like, pretty much, like, meeting-heavy culture. So, I think, like, this asking communication will also be the part that
22 00:02:50.490 ⇒ 00:03:00.810 Miranda Wen: In this following week, I’m very willing and happy to take, like, more feedback to say if, like, I’m on the… say if I’m, like, improving, or where I can do better, because,
23 00:03:00.870 ⇒ 00:03:06.819 Miranda Wen: I do want to say, like, as Robert told me, like, it’s better to over-communicate, than.
24 00:03:06.960 ⇒ 00:03:10.270 Miranda Wen: not being actively communicated, and I do want to see if, like.
25 00:03:10.450 ⇒ 00:03:23.160 Miranda Wen: if there’s some noise in my messages, I’d rather, like, say it out loud, than… and then gradually cut down to make it, like, an ideal amount of contacts and questions or updates.
26 00:03:23.440 ⇒ 00:03:27.380 Miranda Wen: Yeah, does that sound good to you? Does that sound like the right direction to go?
27 00:03:28.150 ⇒ 00:03:39.879 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I mean, I think if… I think what you should find is that if you’re not sending messages, like, nobody is really gonna be knowing what you’re up to. So, it’s kind of as simple as that.
28 00:03:40.070 ⇒ 00:03:59.430 Uttam Kumaran: So I really want you to focus on trying to communicate async. Like, I think meetings are important, but, you know, there’s a lot of stuff we can talk about through Slack, and the folks that you’re directly working with are some of the busiest people, like Rico, B, they’re doing a lot of things, so you have to fight
29 00:03:59.470 ⇒ 00:04:16.150 Uttam Kumaran: to get your point across and get what you need done. Like, this is a kind of a group where, like, if you don’t sort of fight for that, or you don’t sort of put yourself on the line to, like, make those things happen, it’s just not gonna work. It’s not gonna work, because everybody’s actively working on a ton of things.
30 00:04:17.019 ⇒ 00:04:18.639 Miranda Wen: Holy, holy, yes.
31 00:04:18.919 ⇒ 00:04:26.059 Miranda Wen: I understand, and same to you. A quick question I have is, like, for example, this individual signing off.
32 00:04:26.339 ⇒ 00:04:37.239 Miranda Wen: Slack message you just sent. Do you expect me to, like, put it on… more through communications through the platform channel, or it’s more, like, individually separate, in our DM?
33 00:04:37.240 ⇒ 00:04:54.920 Uttam Kumaran: I mean, I would prefer it to be AMD platform panel. Yeah, so, like, another recommendation is, like, avoid DMs, like, entirely. I mean, I don’t really do a lot of DMing, to be honest, and I think it’s something that people struggle with, because typically, I think most companies
34 00:04:54.940 ⇒ 00:05:03.529 Uttam Kumaran: they… they’re like… I don’t know, for some reason, people just do a lot of DMing, and that’s just a real… nobody can see that work. And so one thing is, like, you have to show…
35 00:05:03.820 ⇒ 00:05:15.350 Uttam Kumaran: you have to kind of show, like, where things are happening, and for you to hold other people accountable, it’s also great to put things out in the open. So you’ll see that’s a consistent point of feedback that I’m giving to everybody, which is, like.
36 00:05:15.480 ⇒ 00:05:25.620 Uttam Kumaran: just avoid DMs. Like, you could DM people if it’s for, like, small things, or, like, logistics, but, like, if it’s around your team or a project, just try to put in the public channel.
37 00:05:26.310 ⇒ 00:05:28.590 Uttam Kumaran: Because that’s how your people are gonna have visibility.
38 00:05:29.070 ⇒ 00:05:35.050 Miranda Wen: Got you, got you. Okay, okay. Yeah, okay, that’s… that’s very valuable for me, I think that’s definitely…
39 00:05:35.050 ⇒ 00:05:37.039 Uttam Kumaran: Gross, we’re just a small team, you know?
40 00:05:37.040 ⇒ 00:05:38.100 Miranda Wen: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
41 00:05:38.480 ⇒ 00:05:40.500 Uttam Kumaran: So no one’s, like, annoyed, in fact, like.
42 00:05:40.890 ⇒ 00:05:55.699 Uttam Kumaran: it… like, I… people need to… we need to be communicating more in the open. Like, I will promise you, unless you’re literally sending spam, you’re not gonna annoy anybody. It’s mostly… it’s the opposite, is like, if you’re not asking for help enough.
43 00:05:55.880 ⇒ 00:05:58.379 Uttam Kumaran: People are not going to be able to vouch for your work.
44 00:05:58.380 ⇒ 00:05:59.260 Miranda Wen: Right.
45 00:05:59.260 ⇒ 00:06:07.810 Uttam Kumaran: And they’re gonna say, well, I talked once, I didn’t really hear anything back. That’s something everybody here is, like, learning how to do… do more of, you know?
46 00:06:08.260 ⇒ 00:06:11.319 Miranda Wen: Got true, got true. Okay, cool, cool, cool.
47 00:06:11.390 ⇒ 00:06:22.509 Miranda Wen: That’s very helpful. Yeah, I think I will do more platform communication, I think, with B and Pernav, I think, before we mostly, like, doing,
48 00:06:22.520 ⇒ 00:06:32.669 Miranda Wen: I mean, DMing back and forth more often. Because I saw, like, the platform has, like, so many, so many, members in that, but not everybody’s, like, relevant.
49 00:06:32.700 ⇒ 00:06:41.000 Miranda Wen: to the question I was asking, but, from your feedback this time, I will do more… I will avoid DM, like… like, make it, like.
50 00:06:41.000 ⇒ 00:06:50.049 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I would just say be, like, take the feedback and be, like, be really, really forward about, like, hey, this is what we’re working on, here’s the blockers, here’s what I’m doing today.
51 00:06:50.050 ⇒ 00:06:51.519 Uttam Kumaran: Here’s what I just finished.
52 00:06:51.520 ⇒ 00:07:14.870 Uttam Kumaran: Especially because it’s… we’re just a small team, like, we’re not on a client team, right, where there’s, like, 5 or 6 people talking. So you’ll see that even… even if no one responds, I send messages, right? I just say things in the open, just to be like, here’s the update, here’s what we’re doing. So that’s what I kind of really want to see this week. And then, yeah, I mean, the other thing is, like, look, I think you got really great feedback last week from everybody. I don’t want to meet
53 00:07:14.870 ⇒ 00:07:33.070 Uttam Kumaran: again, until, like, you feel like those people have signed off on your plan. Because my questions are going to be the same thing that they had. So, like, some of the folks were, like, didn’t understand this versus Kersher, some of the folks wanted to know more about, like, how does this affect clients, like, I think you have enough, and use the meeting transcript and things to sort of, like, make…
54 00:07:33.260 ⇒ 00:07:35.910 Uttam Kumaran: you know, make those changes, I think it’ll be really helpful.
55 00:07:36.210 ⇒ 00:07:54.580 Miranda Wen: Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, I already did, like, a version of, like, improvements based on the feedbacks. Yeah, and I think I will more individually address, like, each question to let them know what are… to really directly answer the question, show them, like, what I did change in the documentation.
56 00:07:55.120 ⇒ 00:07:55.830 Uttam Kumaran: Okay, okay.
57 00:07:56.070 ⇒ 00:08:07.419 Miranda Wen: Yeah, what do you think of, like, the Friday? I signed, like, an update? What do you… do you think this is, like, a good… except, like, the blocker, because I think I sent questions separately? Do you think this is, like, a good, like,
58 00:08:07.550 ⇒ 00:08:09.899 Miranda Wen: way of, like, communicating my daily…
59 00:08:09.900 ⇒ 00:08:26.340 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I think that’s great. I think what I would say is, like, what I said in the past is when you start your day, say, hey, here’s what I’m doing, and when you end your day, say, like, here’s what I got done. But then find, like, I think really challenge yourself that as you finish things, or you’re reflecting.
60 00:08:26.340 ⇒ 00:08:31.449 Uttam Kumaran: just send a note. Like, even it’s just gonna help you to write things out.
61 00:08:31.660 ⇒ 00:08:34.690 Uttam Kumaran: And, you know, structure your thinking a bit.
62 00:08:34.929 ⇒ 00:08:45.459 Uttam Kumaran: So I think it was good. Again, I think the main thing this week is to get those people in that call excited about your project plan. Like, that’s probably the biggest,
63 00:08:46.500 ⇒ 00:08:47.590 Uttam Kumaran: The biggest thing.
64 00:08:48.210 ⇒ 00:09:03.249 Miranda Wen: Got you, got you, cool. Yeah, another quick question is, like, for the timing, like, is that better, like, I use, for example, put my, like, this, like, part-time work schedule, for example, for me, it’s, like.
65 00:09:03.400 ⇒ 00:09:17.100 Miranda Wen: I think 12 PM EST to probably around, like, 6 p.m. EST. Is that, like, I… so, which means, like, I send, like, a update to complete my day, like, around, like, 3 p.m. PST.
66 00:09:17.100 ⇒ 00:09:25.579 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, in terms of timing, like, I’m gonna… I’m up from, like, 7-8am until, like, 7-8pm, so I will be around…
67 00:09:25.920 ⇒ 00:09:35.539 Uttam Kumaran: the whole time, so I… I totally leave that to you. Like, we’re not as micromanaging here about, like, when you start, when you end. I’m… I really just care about…
68 00:09:35.610 ⇒ 00:09:46.779 Uttam Kumaran: the outcome, you know? So, like, I think you manage your schedule, it’s totally fine, but, like, I really don’t want it to go, like, few days without updates, you know? You should be sending multiple updates a day.
69 00:09:46.880 ⇒ 00:09:53.969 Uttam Kumaran: And… I’ll be on… I’m on the whole time, so I… yeah, totally game for whatever’s easiest.
70 00:09:54.310 ⇒ 00:10:04.110 Miranda Wen: Gotcha, gotcha. Okay, cool, yeah, I think that sounds, like, a lot clearer to me on, like, the exact schedule, way of communicating, and, what to do, yeah.
71 00:10:05.180 ⇒ 00:10:05.760 Uttam Kumaran: Okay.
72 00:10:06.730 ⇒ 00:10:17.030 Miranda Wen: Yeah, I think another thing… oh, do you have, like, anything else, like, you wanna add about, like, this, I think, communication improvement?
73 00:10:18.330 ⇒ 00:10:20.609 Uttam Kumaran: No, nothing else, nothing else for me.
74 00:10:20.610 ⇒ 00:10:38.609 Miranda Wen: Okay, okay, and I’d love to, like, ask you a quick question, as I was, like, also doing the iteration on the doc for more about its content. So I think, like, as you said, like, I think a repeated feedback is, like, people are wondering what’s the value it really brings to the table compared…
75 00:10:38.640 ⇒ 00:10:50.480 Miranda Wen: to, using a cursor. And, which I… I think I kind of addressed this, but I wanna, like, make sure I’m, like, also got approval from you, and if you’re a…
76 00:10:50.590 ⇒ 00:10:57.780 Miranda Wen: like, to see, like, if you’re aligned on this. So I feel like this time for value, for example, we have the…
77 00:10:57.970 ⇒ 00:11:06.979 Miranda Wen: Make it, like, easier to discover, make it more guided, as well as, like, make it more reachable usage,
78 00:11:07.090 ⇒ 00:11:10.009 Miranda Wen: all this in this Spring Forge work.
79 00:11:10.550 ⇒ 00:11:12.050 Miranda Wen: But…
80 00:11:12.270 ⇒ 00:11:25.659 Miranda Wen: Let me think, how do I phrase this? But I feel like this value might be not as, like, huge to people who are already, like, using cursor, like, most of the Brainforge, or all of the Brainforge members.
81 00:11:25.660 ⇒ 00:11:36.740 Miranda Wen: I think, to me right now, I feel it’s, like, more valuable for people who, like, never learned cursor, and did not know how to use cursor, and also they’re in a position that’s, like, not, like, a computer-heavy one.
82 00:11:36.920 ⇒ 00:11:40.899 Miranda Wen: And this work, like, create the most creative…
83 00:11:41.240 ⇒ 00:11:52.469 Miranda Wen: time, to value, I would say, as a replacement of cursing this way for this group of people specifically, but I was just wondering, like, for us.
84 00:11:52.830 ⇒ 00:12:07.259 Miranda Wen: do you agree with, like, this part of the argument, where you think, like, there’s a lot more value even for people to, like, very comfortable with using cursor? And secondly is, like, if that’s the case, when we’re rolling out to internal user groups.
85 00:12:07.740 ⇒ 00:12:12.830 Miranda Wen: which, everybody knows how to use cursor, I wonder, like, this for first-timer.
86 00:12:14.020 ⇒ 00:12:25.090 Miranda Wen: first-timer, when we evaluate, like, how much value it brings to them, it will not be, like, as valuable, where it’s… we couldn’t really achieve that. So that’s, like, my, quick concern here.
87 00:12:26.310 ⇒ 00:12:40.350 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, I mean, I… I think there is, like, quite a bit of value in terms of, like, being able to discover skills, being able to stop worrying about, like, models, and, like, am I connected, all that stuff, so I actually think it’s just, like, way easier.
88 00:12:41.110 ⇒ 00:12:46.930 Uttam Kumaran: Even if you’re using Cursor, like, I feel like I’m probably gonna stop using Cursor here soon.
89 00:12:46.930 ⇒ 00:12:47.260 Miranda Wen: Okay.
90 00:12:47.260 ⇒ 00:12:51.399 Uttam Kumaran: for the most part, like, I don’t think, actually, Cursor is the best…
91 00:12:52.190 ⇒ 00:12:58.079 Uttam Kumaran: tool for… like, it’s kind of overkill. Like, most… most people are writing documents, and…
92 00:12:58.280 ⇒ 00:13:05.890 Uttam Kumaran: And, like, things like that. And most things are happening through MCPs or AI, and, like, don’t really need to have, like.
93 00:13:06.370 ⇒ 00:13:19.220 Uttam Kumaran: that… I… I don’t know, I just think, like, the setup is way easier. I think you could kind of log in and just, like, do what you need to do, like… so I… I feel like the bet on this is because it’s, like, should be a lot easier, not just in terms of setup, but, like.
94 00:13:19.450 ⇒ 00:13:23.620 Uttam Kumaran: If you’re just to log in and open cursor versus open this, it should be really clear, like.
95 00:13:24.120 ⇒ 00:13:28.369 Uttam Kumaran: Like, you know, that this is just a lot easier overall.
96 00:13:29.240 ⇒ 00:13:36.749 Uttam Kumaran: Because you don’t have to worry about, like, the repo, like, you don’t have to worry about your setup, it’s, like, all kind of, like, figured out for you.
97 00:13:37.880 ⇒ 00:13:44.619 Miranda Wen: Mmm, yeah, yeah, that’s for sure, that’s for sure, yeah. Hers is indeed, like, has it become, like, a power place, indeed, you have, like.
98 00:13:44.900 ⇒ 00:13:47.850 Miranda Wen: Like, literally too much going on there.
99 00:13:47.850 ⇒ 00:13:48.940 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, yeah.
100 00:13:49.470 ⇒ 00:14:05.120 Miranda Wen: Yeah, yeah, I think… I think, yeah, I will… I will give more, thoughts into that, and I think the model part… I think Pranav, like, also mentioned about this, I think I definitely need to do more research on that, and also get his side off from that, yeah.
101 00:14:05.120 ⇒ 00:14:19.769 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, that’s why I think you call all of these folks, and like, it’s… their sign-off is gonna… like, my care is that those folks are the ones that are gonna get affected, so their sign-off, collectively, will show me that, okay, like, the plan is… is in a good place.
102 00:14:19.770 ⇒ 00:14:35.260 Miranda Wen: yes. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I think that’s, like, definitely very much valuable, so I know, like, if… because I see the consistent themes and some separate questions, I think… yeah, I think this will definitely help me a lot, like, making sure it’s…
103 00:14:35.640 ⇒ 00:14:39.410 Miranda Wen: it’s on the right track. It answers the questions they have, yeah.
104 00:14:40.910 ⇒ 00:14:49.260 Uttam Kumaran: Perfect. Okay, so I have to jump to a stand-up call, but yeah, just keep pinging me in Slack today, as you have any more questions or updates.
105 00:14:49.260 ⇒ 00:14:53.930 Miranda Wen: Okay, yes, yes, totally. Thank you so much for your time, thank you so much for your time and feedback.
106 00:14:54.220 ⇒ 00:14:56.480 Uttam Kumaran: Yeah, of course, of course. Okay, I’ll talk to you soon.
107 00:14:56.480 ⇒ 00:14:57.889 Miranda Wen: Okay, see you, have a great day.
108 00:14:58.790 ⇒ 00:14:59.619 Uttam Kumaran: You too, bye.