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people

This is @ben's profile revision 1. The original date and editorial confidence below are attributed to its publisher, not independent verification.

Original credited author: Hraness

AI-drafted at Ben Guo's direct request and credited to Hraness; every claim links to its cataloged source.

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Published text

tldraw: people

steve ruiz and the people around tldraw — who they are, what they wrote, and what they believe.

the people

steve ruiz (founder, steveruizok): founder and ceo. american-born, london-based designer-developer: bfa in painting, mfa in visual art from the university of chicago (2013), then a working painter — 'kind of broke' near cambridge at ~30 when he pivoted into product design via clearscore, inviqa, design educator at framer (amsterdam, 2019–2020), and product designer at play. the open-source canvas libraries drew inbound from every infinite-canvas product in spring 2021; he took an adobe offer, deferred it, quit, and turned it down — 'on a friday.' started tldraw in may 2021, went full-time that july on github sponsors and contracting savings, founded the company february 2022. writes the canvas micro-problem essays at steveruiz.me and runs the finsbury park office. (sources: profile: founder & ceo, london, self-bio, bio: mfa u, backstory: art school → broke at 30 → design → code, accidental ai canvas, adobe turndown on a friday, founder feb 2022–)
david sheldrick (team, ds300): the first senior engineer, joined june 2022 — ex-artsy and pulley, author of patch-package. co-created signia, the v2 rewrite's reactive state library released standalone under mit, and leads much of the sync/store engine work. (sources: sheldrick at tldraw jun 2022–, tldraw.dev, signia reactive state library, mit, ruiz+sheldrick)
lu wilson (team, todepond): software engineer and prototyper, november 2022 – december 2025 — ex-ink & switch, creator of sandspiel. ran the release-notes posts, built the 'carry on' canvas autocomplete, co-built teach, and made the fairies launch video — 'the weirdest and most ambitious project.' left to prototype contributor tools for wikimedia and wikipedia. (sources: lu: previously tldraw, now prototyping at wikipedia, departure post, tldraw.dev, lu wilson: weirdest and most ambitious project)
the seed-era bench (team): named in the november 2022 seed post: mitja bezenšek ('arrow bender,' slovenia, staff from january 2023, ex-zebra bi), alex dytrych (somehats — product engineer and interaction designer, london, founder of the erase all kittens coding game), jamie blair (frontend, september 2022 – june 2023), and collaborators faraz shaikh and sunil pai (partykit founder, ex-react core and cloudflare — engagement type unclear, likely contract or advisory). (sources: tldraw.dev, bezenšek arrow bender, jan 2023–, slovenia, dytrych making a very good whiteboard, jan 2023–, alex.dytry.ch, blair frontend dev sep 2022–jun 2023, pai: react/cloudflare workers/partykit background)
the later additions (team): taha hassan (software developer, august 2023 – november 2024; make real, carry on, accessibility), orion reed (engineer-in-residence ~2024 — spatial-canvas hci researcher from block science and liberatory computing; co-built teach; author of tldraw-3d and tldraw-graph-layout), mime čuvalo (head of engineering, 2024–present; ex-youtube, dropbox, google; the firessh author), and alix wiesser, who posted the tldraw computer announcement in december 2024. (sources: hassan aug 2023–nov 2024, reed: engineer-in-residence at tldraw, block science, 3d underlay experiment on tldraw, čuvalo head of engineering 2024–present, waitlist phase)
the current roster (team): the company page lists ~20 people as of september 2026: phil low (head of gtm), andreas aslaksen (business operations lead), mime čuvalo (head of engineering), tim gilboy (pm), dan ross (solutions eng), niall drievers (backend eng), josh flynn and spencer tasch (sales), sasha li and siobhan codd (ops), and product engineers mitja bezenšek, kostya farber, max drake, andromeda stroev, ani krishnan, guillaume richard, jessica edwards, kevin ingersoll. growth markers: 5 fte in december 2022, ~8 in november 2023, 'nearly twenty' in april 2025. distributed across uk, eu, and us. (sources: full current team roster + roles, origins quote, $2, $10m series a (lux + definition), full dated post index nov 2022–sep 2026)
the backers (team): lux capital led both the $2.7m seed (november 2022) and the $10m series a (april 2025, co-led with definition); amplify partners and preston-werner ventures joined the $2m insider extension (november 2023). the angel list reads like tools-of-thought twitter: guillermo rauch, soleio, adam wiggins (muse — the lineage link made literal), cristóbal valenzuela, johannes schickling, david khourshid, tom preston-werner, brian lovin, sabrina hahn, liu jiang, and more. ~$14.7m raised across three rounds per indexed.vc; a '$24.1m' figure on linkedin-derived aggregators is unverified. (sources: tldraw.dev, $2m insider extension (amplify, lux, preston-werner ventures), $10m series a (lux + definition), total funding $14, sheldrick at tldraw jun 2022–)

writings

2021–2023 — the canvas micro-problem essays (essay, steve, steveruiz.me): the steveruiz.me corpus — technical essays documenting canvas micro-problems as they were solved in public: 'creating a zoom ui,' 'fixing the drift in shape rotations,' 'perfect dragging,' 'dead zone dragging,' the reordering essays on fractional indexing, 'all about arcs,' and typescript utilities. source
2022-11-30 — announcing tldraw's seed round (post, steve, tldraw blog): the seed announcement — $2.7m led by lux, the 'new tldraw' beta, the full angel roster, and the first statement of the canvas-as-infrastructure thesis. source

"it's our belief that a canvas should be a thing you build with, rather than build yourself"

2023-03-02 — introducing signia (post, steve, tldraw's early blog): introducing signia — the v2 rewrite's reactive state library, released standalone under mit and co-authored with david sheldrick. source
2023-11-18 — make real, the story so far (essay, steve, tldraw's early blog): the inside account of make real week: forking sawyer hood's draw-a-ui the next morning, the generated site living in an iframe on the canvas, the rate limits, and the byo-key workaround. source

"our tldraw + gpt-4v experiment broke the internet a little"

2023-11-22 — tldraw raised another $2m (post, steve, tldraw blog): the $2m insider extension announcement — amplify, lux, and preston-werner ventures, closed a week before the make real virality. source

"not sure how to feel about that—but hype is hype!"

2023-12-20 — license update for the tldraw sdk (post, steve, tldraw blog): the license change post — the sdk moves to a bespoke non-commercial license adapted from scratch's, timed with the v2.0.0 beta, with mit and apache-2.0 grandfathered for old releases. source

"open source is a spectrum"

2024-05-23 — miro vs. tldraw (post, steve, tldraw blog): the miro-vs-tldraw post — the direct comparison with the enterprise whiteboard, on the company's own terms. source
2024-08-05 — announcing tldraw sync (post, steve, tldraw blog): announcing tldraw sync — self-hosted sync as the sdk's first add-on module, included with the license. source
2025-04-09 — announcing tldraw's series a (essay, steve, tldraw blog): the series a essay — $10m led by lux and definition, ~$1m first-year license revenue, named customers, and the 'mapbox for figma for x' pitch. source
2025-09-18 — announcing tldraw sdk 4.0 (post, steve, tldraw blog): the sdk 4.0 announcement — create-tldraw cli, five mit starter kits, wcag 2.2 aa, and license-key enforcement: free in development, keyed in production. source

"fate and capital both demand that tldraw be a sustainable project"

2025-12-01 — the fairies launch (video, lu, tldraw): lu wilson's fairies launch video — the december-only, $25 multi-agent experiment she called tldraw's 'weirdest and most ambitious project.' source
2025-12-19 — getting multiple ai agents to work together (post, steve, tldraw): the multi-agent coordination writeup — what tldraw learned running a 'fairy management system,' including that the agents are essentially working blind. source
2026-01-17 — stay away from my trash! (post, steve, tldraw blog): the ai-slop follow-up — 'stay away from my trash!' concedes tldraw's own /issue claude code command authored some of the bad prs and notes excalidraw's pr volume more than doubled quarter over quarter. source
2026-03-03 — tldraw mcp app: letting your agents draw (post, steve, tldraw blog): 'tldraw mcp app: letting your agents draw' — the canvas as an mcp surface for agents. source
2026 — the 2026 craft essays (essay, steve, tldraw blog): the 2026 craft essays on the tldraw blog — 'text is not enough' (march 30), 'an exhaustive review of design tool hover areas' (april 7), 'erasing shapes' (june 10), 'i'm pretty sure isrecord is our fault' (july 9). source
2026-05-07 — tldraw sdk 5.0 (post, steve, tldraw blog): the sdk 5.0 post — a feature-heavy release around customization, performance, and extension. source

"we shipped our backlog"

2026-06-12 — 20 things i wish ai chatbots knew about tldraw (document, steve, tldraw blog): '20 things i wish ai chatbots knew about tldraw' — a page maintained partly because llms keep misdescribing the license. source
2026-07-16 — tldraw offline (post, steve, tldraw blog): the tldraw offline launch — free, file-based, local-first desktop builds with scripting and agent access. source
2026-09-10 — introducing tldraw flash (post, roster, tldraw blog): introducing tldraw flash — lo-fi hand-drawn animation built largely by interns audrey leo and leo knudsen with max drake and daniel lefcourt. source
undated — the designers-shipping posts (tweet, steve, x): the x corpus survives third-hand — a barnsworthburning record preserves ruiz's posts arguing designers should race to get as close to the product as possible, the design-engineer position stated on social media rather than the blog. source

"if you're a designer then you should be racing to get as close to the product as possible"

2022 — supper club × steve ruiz: building a drawing app (podcast, steve, syntax.fm): syntax.fm supper club #505 — 'building a drawing app': the tech origin interview covering perfect-freehand, globs, and why the canvas is dom rather than a canvas element. source
2022-07-07 — infinite canvases with steve ruiz (podcast, steve, metamuse): metamuse ep. 59, 'infinite canvases with steve ruiz' — the muse team interviews ruiz on the canvas as 'ultimate fully-generalized form of all digital documents,' plus the art-school-to-broke-at-30 backstory and the sponsorware launch details. source
2023 — the tldr of the collaborative whiteboard (podcast, steve, generative now): lightspeed's generative now with michael mignano — 'the tldr of the collaborative whiteboard.' source
2023-12 — drawing the future with ai (interview, steve, this week in startups): this week in startups e1863 — 'drawing the future with ai': ruiz demos make real (including state-chart-to-ui generation) weeks after the raise-and-go-viral fortnight. source
2024-01-05 — the accidental ai canvas (podcast, steve, latent space): latent space's 'the accidental ai canvas' — the key intellectual framing interview: the adobe and figma offers, the taste-driven oss philosophy, and the canvas as 'a really, really good visual multimodal prompting application environment.' source

"the good looking part was just like my own taste and my own eye and like tons and tons of iterations"

2024 — make real: tldraw's ai adventure (talk, steve, gitnation / jsnation): the full behind-the-scenes make real talk — including why miro 'could not' have built it, because their canvas isn't web. source
2024 — tldraw's accidental ai play (podcast, steve, podrocket): podrocket — 'tldraw's accidental ai play,' touring makereal, teach, and computer. source
2025-07-21 — tldraw computer (talk, steve, ai engineer world's fair): ai engineer world's fair 2025 — the tldraw computer talk covering the make real → draw fast → computer → teach arc, the excalidraw ink origin, and the google collaboration story, with shoutouts to liquid layers and observable. source
2025 — what's under the pointer? (talk, steve, react advanced): react advanced 2025 — 'what's under the pointer?': the hit-testing deep dive. source
2025 — is the canvas the future for ai? (podcast, steve, dive club): dive club — 'is the canvas the future for ai?': 'over 3 years and $5 million building the perfect canvas,' the fairies work, and ruiz's tool-design principles. source
2025-11-10 — shoptalk show #690 (podcast, steve, shoptalk show): shoptalk show #690 — the state of the sdk, local data, the business model, fairies, and the company's future. source
2026-03-16 — he turned down adobe. then he shelved his own product (podcast, steve, ux tools): ux tools s1e13 — 'he turned down adobe. then he shelved his own product': product-maker fit, and 'just ask for money' on oss monetization. source
2026-03-22 — why html canvas beats graphics rendering (interview, steve, two set ai): two set ai written interview — the html-vs-webgl bet that made the canvas a host for arbitrary product surfaces. source

"my bet with tldraw was… i could probably just make normal website stuff just as fast… then i would be able to put anything onto that canvas"

2026-03-28 — canvas vs. chat for ai collaboration (interview, steve, two set ai): two set ai written interview — canvas-vs-chat for agents, and why a shared spatial surface suits parallel multi-agent work. source

"if it's busy, you just go somewhere else"

2026 — agents on the canvas in tldraw (talk, steve, ai engineer europe): ai engineer europe 2026 — 'agents on the canvas in tldraw': fairies, the replit and luma canvases built on the sdk, the stitch joke, and make real looking 'quaint… in 2026.' source
2026-06 — agents on the canvas with tldraw (talk, steve, ai native devcon): ai native devcon, june 2026 — 'agents on the canvas with tldraw.' source
2026 — agents on the canvas with tldraw (talk, roster, gitnation): max drake's agent-history talk — teach, the agent starter kit, and fairies from inside the team. source

controversies

2021– — the adobe turndown: the adobe legend is single-source — ruiz's own podcast retellings: he took the offer, deferred six months, quit play, and turned adobe down 'on a friday.' no adobe-side confirmation exists; the story is load-bearing for the independence narrative. reaction: it's consistent across years of retellings (metamuse, latent space, ux tools) and nobody has contested it — but it remains self-reported biography, marked reported rather than confirmed. (sources: accidental ai canvas, adobe turndown on a friday, backstory: art school → broke at 30 → design → code)
2023– — open source is a spectrum: 'open source is a spectrum' — ruiz's line in the december 2023 license post became the definitional flashpoint. the readme's 'open source' wording needed a pr to become 'source available,' and isitreallyfoss.com lists tldraw as formerly-foss. reaction: the company now claims 'source available' rather than osi-conformant openness; the debate survives as a discourse scar and an llm-misinformation problem the '20 things' page exists to correct. (sources: bespoke license w/ sdk 2, readme corrected from open source to source available, its not foss… changed in december 2023, company page correcting llm misinformation about the license)
2025– — the two steve ruizes: the other steve ruiz — a separate archive of 'trends with benefits' workos/gtm essays like 'sameness-as-a-service' describes 'my first 50 days at workos.' it appears to be a different steve ruiz, not tldraw's founder. reaction: recorded so nothing from that corpus gets attributed here — an inference from the workos references, not a confirmed identity split. (sources: caution: different steve ruiz (workos gtm) — not tldraws founder)
2023– — tldraw, inc. vs tldraw gb ltd: entity naming drifts between sources — license texts say 'tldraw, inc.' while the early company blog's footer says 'tldraw gb ltd.' the corporate structure (uk ltd plus us inc.?) is not publicly documented. reaction: the dossier preserves both names as printed rather than resolving a structure the company hasn't published. (sources: license text, tldraw, inc, apr 4 2023 switchover plan)

AI-drafted at Ben Guo's direct request and credited to Hraness; every claim links to its cataloged source.

Canonical page: https://hraness.com/tldraw/people

Original source occurrences

company page correcting llm misinformation about the license · tldraw.dev · 2025 (year) · original ID: src-ci-20-things
company page correcting llm misinformation about the license
ruiz talk: make real quaint in 2026 · ai.engineer · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-ci-ai-engineer-talk
ruiz talk: make real "quaint in 2026"; stitch "not built with our canvas"
multi-agent coordination lessons · linkedin · 2025-12-19 (day) · original ID: src-ci-fairies-coord
multi-agent coordination lessons; agents "working blind"
launch post: $25 one-time, december-only timed experiment · linkedin · 2025-12-01 (day) · original ID: src-ci-fairies-linkedin
launch post: $25 one-time, december-only timed experiment
lightspeeds generative now with michael mignano · apple podcasts · 2023 (year) · original ID: src-ci-generative-now
lightspeed's generative now with michael mignano
ruiz conf talk: miro… could not because their canvas wasnt web · gitnation.com · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-ci-gitnation-talk
ruiz conf talk: "miro… could not because their canvas wasn't web"
hn post of latent space episode, 10 pts · hacker news · 2024-01-05 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-latent
hn post of latent space episode, 10 pts
hn submission of the story-so-far post — 6 pts (virality was off-hn) · hacker news · 2023-11-18 (day) · original ID: src-ci-hn-make-real-sub
hn submission of the story-so-far post — 6 pts (virality was off-hn)
total funding $14 · indexed.vc · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-ci-indexed
total funding $14.7m across 3 rounds
its not foss… changed in december 2023 · isitreallyfoss.com · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-ci-isitreallyfoss
"it's not foss… changed in december 2023"
contributions policy — auto-closing external prs over ai slop · github · 2026-01-15 (day) · original ID: src-ci-issue-7695
contributions policy — auto-closing external prs over ai slop
linkedin announcement naming autodesk · linkedin · 2025-04-09 (day) · original ID: src-ci-linkedin-series-a
linkedin announcement naming autodesk
license-change pr · github · 2023-12-19 (day) · original ID: src-ci-pr-2167
license-change pr; agpl-then-scratch-license deliberation, kachkaev exchange
readme corrected from open source to source available · github · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-ci-pr-2416
readme corrected from "open source" to "source available"
ruizs follow-up · tldraw.dev · 2026-01-17 (day) · original ID: src-ci-stay-away-trash
ruiz's follow-up; notes own claude code /issue command caused bad prs; excalidraw pr-volume comparison
this week in startups e1863 — ruiz on viral week + business model · thisweekinstartups.com · 2023-12 (month) · original ID: src-ci-twist-e1863
this week in startups e1863 — ruiz on viral week + business model
$2m insider extension (amplify, lux, preston-werner ventures) · tldraw.dev · 2023-11-22 (day) · original ID: src-hp-2m-extension
$2m insider extension (amplify, lux, preston-werner ventures); team list; london office
agents on the canvas · youtube · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-agents-youtube
"agents on the canvas"; summer-2024 team = ruiz+wilson+orion reed; teach details
worlds fair talk · ai.engineer · 2025-07-21 (day) · original ID: src-hp-aiengineer-computer-talk
world's fair talk; excalidraw ink origin; computer internals; google collab story; liquid layers/observable shoutouts
bio: mfa u · ai.engineer · 2025 (year) · original ID: src-hp-aiengineer-speaker
bio: mfa u. chicago 2013, painter → clearscore → framer → play
agents-on-canvas talk, ai native devcon · youtube · 2026-06 (month) · original ID: src-hp-ainative-devcon
agents-on-canvas talk, ai native devcon
dytrych making a very good whiteboard, jan 2023– · linkedin · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-alex-linkedin
dytrych "making a very good whiteboard," jan 2023–
alex.dytry.ch · alex.dytry.ch · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-alex-site
bio; erase all kittens
100-day trial license · alternativeto.net · 2025-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-alternativeto-sdk4
100-day trial license; year-end discount detail; sarah fossheim a11y
verbatim ruiz x posts on designers shipping · barnsworthburning.net · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-barnsworth-quote
verbatim ruiz x posts on designers shipping
full dated post index nov 2022–sep 2026 · tldraw.dev · 2026-09-16 (day) · original ID: src-hp-blog-index
full dated post index nov 2022–sep 2026; bylines reveal team
full current team roster + roles · tldraw.dev · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-company-page
full current team roster + roles; founded 2022; backers
waitlist phase · linkedin · 2024-12-13 (day) · original ID: src-hp-computer-wiesser
waitlist phase; "collaboration with google deepmind"
3 years and $5m building the perfect canvas · apple podcasts · 2025 (year) · original ID: src-hp-diveclub
"3 years and $5m building the perfect canvas"; fairies; tool-design principles; state-designer→arrows lineage
sheldrick at tldraw jun 2022– · linkedin · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-ds300-linkedin
sheldrick at tldraw jun 2022–; also shows aggregate "$24.1m" figure (flagged)
lu wilson: weirdest and most ambitious project · linkedin · 2025-12-01 (day) · original ID: src-hp-fairies-li-lu
lu wilson: "weirdest and most ambitious project"; timed event
github · github · 2025 (year) · original ID: src-hp-fairies-pr
internal fairy agent: @tldraw/fairy-shared, cloudflare fairy-worker, settool/removetool apis
fairies landing page · fairies.tldraw.com · 2025-12 (month) · original ID: src-hp-fairies-site
fairies landing page
flash launch · tldraw.dev · 2026-09-10 (day) · original ID: src-hp-flash-blog
flash launch; authors drake, leo, knudsen; lo-fi animation
waitlist post · linkedin · 2026-09-02 (day) · original ID: src-hp-flash-li
waitlist post; record-and-drag motion
full make real story talk · gitnation.com · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-hp-gitnation-makereal
full make real story talk
max drake on agent history incl · gitnation.com · 2026 (year) · original ID: src-hp-gitnation-maxdrake
max drake on agent history incl. teach, agent starter kit, fairies
react advanced 2025 hit-testing talk · gitnation.com · 2025 (year) · original ID: src-hp-gitnation-pointer
react advanced 2025 hit-testing talk
name origin (tl · hacker news · 2022-12-01 (day) · original ID: src-hp-hn-seed
name origin ("tl;dr aw"); ruiz on excalidraw/perfect-freehand, globs origin
blair frontend dev sep 2022–jun 2023 · linkedin · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-jamie-linkedin
blair frontend dev sep 2022–jun 2023
accidental ai canvas · latent space · 2024-01-05 (day) · original ID: src-hp-latentspace
accidental ai canvas; figma/adobe offers spring 2021; deferral & quitting play; arrows taste quote
license text, tldraw, inc · github · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-hp-license-md
license text, "tldraw, inc." copyright
bespoke license w/ sdk 2 · tldraw.dev · 2023-12-20 (day) · original ID: src-hp-license-update
bespoke license w/ sdk 2.0 beta; non-commercial default; v1 mit forever; 2.x pre-releases apache-2.0
departure post · linkedin · 2025-12-19 (day) · original ID: src-hp-lu-leaving
departure post; 3 yrs at tldraw; wikimedia from jan
full make real chronology · tldraw.substack.com · 2023-11-18 (day) · original ID: src-hp-makereal-story
full make real chronology; sawyer hood fork; drawmyui.com; starter template fri; quotes
backstory: art school → broke at 30 → design → code · museapp.com · 2022-07-07 (day) · original ID: src-hp-metamuse-59
backstory: art school → broke at 30 → design → code; "released nov 2021… full time since july"
čuvalo head of engineering 2024–present · nightlight.rocks · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-mime-resume
čuvalo head of engineering 2024–present
bezenšek arrow bender, jan 2023–, slovenia · linkedin · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-mitja-linkedin
bezenšek "arrow bender," jan 2023–, slovenia
offline desktop launch · tldraw.dev · 2026-07-16 (day) · original ID: src-hp-offline-blog
offline desktop launch; local .tldraw files; scripting/agents
desktop app repo · github · 2024-12-28 (day) · original ID: src-hp-offline-repo
desktop app repo; mac/win/linux builds
3d underlay experiment on tldraw · github · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-hp-orion-tldraw3d
3d underlay experiment on tldraw
reed: engineer-in-residence at tldraw, block science · blog.vaporware.network · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-hp-orion-vaporware
reed: "engineer-in-residence at tldraw," block science
make real discussion · podrocket.logrocket.com · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-hp-podrocket
make real discussion; links makereal/teach/computer subdomains
apr 4 2023 switchover plan · tldraw.substack.com · 2023-03-20 (day) · original ID: src-hp-relaunch-post
apr 4 2023 switchover plan; old.tldraw.com; v1 repo move; footer "tldraw gb ltd"
tldraw.dev · tldraw.dev · 2025-09-18 (day) · original ID: src-hp-sdk4-release-notes
4.0 details; mit starter kits; @tldraw/ai removed
cli, 5 starter kits, license-key enforcement, wcag 2 · tldraw.dev · 2025-09-18 (day) · original ID: src-hp-sdk40
cli, 5 starter kits, license-key enforcement, wcag 2.2 aa
sdk 5 · tldraw.dev · 2026-05-07 (day) · original ID: src-hp-sdk50
sdk 5.0 "all about features"; shipped-the-backlog quote
tldraw.dev · tldraw.dev · 2022-11-30 (day) · original ID: src-hp-seed-blog
$2.7m seed investor list; "new tldraw" beta; team roster; early sdk adopters
$10m series a (lux + definition) · tldraw.dev · 2025-04-09 (day) · original ID: src-hp-series-a
$10m series a (lux + definition); ~$1m first-year license revenue; customers; team ~20; digital-ink origin
sdk state, local data, business model, fairies, future · shoptalkshow.com · 2025-11-10 (day) · original ID: src-hp-shoptalk-690
sdk state, local data, business model, fairies, future
signia reactive state library, mit, ruiz+sheldrick · tldraw.substack.com · 2023-03-02 (day) · original ID: src-hp-signia
signia reactive state library, mit, ruiz+sheldrick
self-bio · steveruiz.me · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-steveruiz-about
self-bio; play/framer; ~500k mau claim; series a backers; finsbury park
profile: founder & ceo, london · github · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-steveruiz-github
profile: founder & ceo, london; repo list w/ stars
dated blog post index (essays aug 2021–nov 2023) · steveruiz.me · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-steveruiz-home
dated blog post index (essays aug 2021–nov 2023)
founder feb 2022– · linkedin · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-steveruiz-linkedin
founder feb 2022–; play; framer design educator mar 2019–may 2020; inviqa; clearscore
caution: different steve ruiz (workos gtm) — not tldraws founder · steveruiz.substack.com · 2025-11 (month) · original ID: src-hp-steveruiz-substack
caution: different steve ruiz (workos gtm) — not tldraw's founder
pai: react/cloudflare workers/partykit background · sunilpai.dev · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-sunilpai
pai: react/cloudflare workers/partykit background
tldraw sync launch · tldraw.dev · 2024-08-05 (day) · original ID: src-hp-sync-announce
tldraw sync launch; 400k users/200k projects claim; self-hosted; license included
sync architecture: rooms, tlsocketroom, cloudflare template, demo server · tldraw.dev · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-sync-docs
sync architecture: rooms, tlsocketroom, cloudflare template, demo server
how tldraw built · syntax.fm · 2022 (year) · original ID: src-hp-syntax-505
how tldraw built; no-canvas-element rendering; globs/excalidraw lineage
hassan aug 2023–nov 2024 · linkedin · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-taha-linkedin
hassan aug 2023–nov 2024; make real, carry on, llama3 autocomplete, a11y
origins quote, $2 · techcrunch · 2022-12-16 (day) · original ID: src-hp-techcrunch
origins quote, $2.7m seed, five fte, sponsors-only revenue
lu: previously tldraw, now prototyping at wikipedia · todepond.com · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-todepond-site
lu: "previously tldraw", now prototyping at wikipedia
twist demo episode · glasp.co · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-hp-twin-e1863
twist demo episode; state-chart→ui generation
html-vs-rendering bet quotes · twosetai.com · 2026-03-22 (day) · original ID: src-hp-twosetai-canvas
html-vs-rendering bet quotes
canvas-vs-chat multi-agent quotes · twosetai.com · 2026-03-28 (day) · original ID: src-hp-twosetai-chat
canvas-vs-chat multi-agent quotes
adobe turndown on a friday · uxtools.co · 2026-03-16 (day) · original ID: src-hp-uxtools
adobe turndown "on a friday"; product-maker-fit; "just ask for money"
first 2 · github · 2023-12-20 (day) · original ID: src-hp-v2beta1
first 2.0 beta w/ new license

Structured research records

the adobe turndown · people-controversies · 2021– (approximate)

Original location · source-a072e62737ef79e0e87e · source-7ca02a025de3ac139adb · source-a97c6e5eb96a524fc34b

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2021–",
  "detail": "the adobe legend is single-source — ruiz's own podcast retellings: he took the offer, deferred six months, quit play, and turned adobe down 'on a friday.' no adobe-side confirmation exists; the story is load-bearing for the independence narrative.",
  "id": "cty-adobe-lore",
  "reaction": "it's consistent across years of retellings (metamuse, latent space, ux tools) and nobody has contested it — but it remains self-reported biography, marked reported rather than confirmed.",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-latentspace",
    "src-hp-uxtools",
    "src-hp-metamuse-59"
  ],
  "title": "the adobe turndown"
}

open source is a spectrum · people-controversies · 2023– (approximate)

Original location · source-e7c8514215c465ec1460 · source-cf0066f527c6c50c4517 · source-b611cf7aa43735f0e5dd · source-6d61b709f60af19eb4a3

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023–",
  "detail": "'open source is a spectrum' — ruiz's line in the december 2023 license post became the definitional flashpoint. the readme's 'open source' wording needed a pr to become 'source available,' and isitreallyfoss.com lists tldraw as formerly-foss.",
  "id": "cty-spectrum-quote",
  "reaction": "the company now claims 'source available' rather than osi-conformant openness; the debate survives as a discourse scar and an llm-misinformation problem the '20 things' page exists to correct.",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-license-update",
    "src-ci-pr-2416",
    "src-ci-isitreallyfoss",
    "src-ci-20-things"
  ],
  "title": "open source is a spectrum"
}

the two steve ruizes · people-controversies · 2025– (approximate)

Original location · source-2529239118320197dd4e

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2025–",
  "detail": "the other steve ruiz — a separate archive of 'trends with benefits' workos/gtm essays like 'sameness-as-a-service' describes 'my first 50 days at workos.' it appears to be a different steve ruiz, not tldraw's founder.",
  "id": "cty-other-steve",
  "reaction": "recorded so nothing from that corpus gets attributed here — an inference from the workos references, not a confirmed identity split.",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-steveruiz-substack"
  ],
  "title": "the two steve ruizes"
}

tldraw, inc. vs tldraw gb ltd · people-controversies · 2023– (approximate)

Original location · source-160a3c579c672dede5e5 · source-776c425b77c72a1cc6aa

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023–",
  "detail": "entity naming drifts between sources — license texts say 'tldraw, inc.' while the early company blog's footer says 'tldraw gb ltd.' the corporate structure (uk ltd plus us inc.?) is not publicly documented.",
  "id": "cty-entity-naming",
  "reaction": "the dossier preserves both names as printed rather than resolving a structure the company hasn't published.",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-license-md",
    "src-hp-relaunch-post"
  ],
  "title": "tldraw, inc. vs tldraw gb ltd"
}

steve ruiz · tldraw-people

Original location · source-0779815f17b397645ab6 · source-e9ccda201877007f7e78 · source-df0cc179823417b31869 · source-a97c6e5eb96a524fc34b · source-a072e62737ef79e0e87e · source-7ca02a025de3ac139adb · source-87e0ed80bcc7e0e9c635

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": "steveruizok",
  "id": "steve",
  "name": "steve ruiz",
  "note": "founder and ceo. american-born, london-based designer-developer: bfa in painting, mfa in visual art from the university of chicago (2013), then a working painter — 'kind of broke' near cambridge at ~30 when he pivoted into product design via clearscore, inviqa, design educator at framer (amsterdam, 2019–2020), and product designer at play. the open-source canvas libraries drew inbound from every infinite-canvas product in spring 2021; he took an adobe offer, deferred it, quit, and turned it down — 'on a friday.' started tldraw in may 2021, went full-time that july on github sponsors and contracting savings, founded the company february 2022. writes the canvas micro-problem essays at steveruiz.me and runs the finsbury park office.",
  "role": "founder",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-steveruiz-github",
    "src-hp-steveruiz-about",
    "src-hp-aiengineer-speaker",
    "src-hp-metamuse-59",
    "src-hp-latentspace",
    "src-hp-uxtools",
    "src-hp-steveruiz-linkedin"
  ]
}

david sheldrick · tldraw-people

Original location · source-f3a30ce6de8bfe3ca130 · source-e43f25e6cc93f9911888 · source-40427691021adf05ce6e

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": "ds300",
  "id": "sheldrick",
  "name": "david sheldrick",
  "note": "the first senior engineer, joined june 2022 — ex-artsy and pulley, author of patch-package. co-created signia, the v2 rewrite's reactive state library released standalone under mit, and leads much of the sync/store engine work.",
  "role": "team",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-ds300-linkedin",
    "src-hp-seed-blog",
    "src-hp-signia"
  ]
}

lu wilson · tldraw-people

Original location · source-fbea4e55db5a3378e54a · source-d72b89f1cbe76a5ed38c · source-e43f25e6cc93f9911888 · source-ea4e6415e7e8efa1a8a7

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": "todepond",
  "id": "lu",
  "name": "lu wilson",
  "note": "software engineer and prototyper, november 2022 – december 2025 — ex-ink & switch, creator of sandspiel. ran the release-notes posts, built the 'carry on' canvas autocomplete, co-built teach, and made the fairies launch video — 'the weirdest and most ambitious project.' left to prototype contributor tools for wikimedia and wikipedia.",
  "role": "team",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-todepond-site",
    "src-hp-lu-leaving",
    "src-hp-seed-blog",
    "src-hp-fairies-li-lu"
  ]
}

the seed-era bench · tldraw-people

Original location · source-e43f25e6cc93f9911888 · source-0e4a00feca6126e61d1b · source-bcbbd5b344caa3ef525e · source-e46b16339122aa872ea9 · source-355e63644f4f525d8c72 · source-f87ea5af74d5ff569f7d

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "early",
  "name": "the seed-era bench",
  "note": "named in the november 2022 seed post: mitja bezenšek ('arrow bender,' slovenia, staff from january 2023, ex-zebra bi), alex dytrych (somehats — product engineer and interaction designer, london, founder of the erase all kittens coding game), jamie blair (frontend, september 2022 – june 2023), and collaborators faraz shaikh and sunil pai (partykit founder, ex-react core and cloudflare — engagement type unclear, likely contract or advisory).",
  "role": "team",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-seed-blog",
    "src-hp-mitja-linkedin",
    "src-hp-alex-linkedin",
    "src-hp-alex-site",
    "src-hp-jamie-linkedin",
    "src-hp-sunilpai"
  ]
}

the later additions · tldraw-people

Original location · source-9373b08b141f72811f84 · source-05e230c7d1a70101e141 · source-9d6d1395a55b217c8f4a · source-4f30038fb8925348f4d5 · source-118217b5806011d6c9fd

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "later",
  "name": "the later additions",
  "note": "taha hassan (software developer, august 2023 – november 2024; make real, carry on, accessibility), orion reed (engineer-in-residence ~2024 — spatial-canvas hci researcher from block science and liberatory computing; co-built teach; author of tldraw-3d and tldraw-graph-layout), mime čuvalo (head of engineering, 2024–present; ex-youtube, dropbox, google; the firessh author), and alix wiesser, who posted the tldraw computer announcement in december 2024.",
  "role": "team",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-taha-linkedin",
    "src-hp-orion-vaporware",
    "src-hp-orion-tldraw3d",
    "src-hp-mime-resume",
    "src-hp-computer-wiesser"
  ]
}

the current roster · tldraw-people

Original location · source-556e68438ef2be8183aa · source-0ded8ba3e1d0989eea65 · source-b9ec52b07ae84a54ac63 · source-cea4e9fcf9dc7020ca42

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "roster",
  "name": "the current roster",
  "note": "the company page lists ~20 people as of september 2026: phil low (head of gtm), andreas aslaksen (business operations lead), mime čuvalo (head of engineering), tim gilboy (pm), dan ross (solutions eng), niall drievers (backend eng), josh flynn and spencer tasch (sales), sasha li and siobhan codd (ops), and product engineers mitja bezenšek, kostya farber, max drake, andromeda stroev, ani krishnan, guillaume richard, jessica edwards, kevin ingersoll. growth markers: 5 fte in december 2022, ~8 in november 2023, 'nearly twenty' in april 2025. distributed across uk, eu, and us.",
  "role": "team",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-company-page",
    "src-hp-techcrunch",
    "src-hp-series-a",
    "src-hp-blog-index"
  ]
}

the backers · tldraw-people

Original location · source-e43f25e6cc93f9911888 · source-79a9d66b03d0f429a9f5 · source-b9ec52b07ae84a54ac63 · source-f89ea29a075e82f4292e · source-f3a30ce6de8bfe3ca130

Original structured fields

{
  "handle": null,
  "id": "backers",
  "name": "the backers",
  "note": "lux capital led both the $2.7m seed (november 2022) and the $10m series a (april 2025, co-led with definition); amplify partners and preston-werner ventures joined the $2m insider extension (november 2023). the angel list reads like tools-of-thought twitter: guillermo rauch, soleio, adam wiggins (muse — the lineage link made literal), cristóbal valenzuela, johannes schickling, david khourshid, tom preston-werner, brian lovin, sabrina hahn, liu jiang, and more. ~$14.7m raised across three rounds per indexed.vc; a '$24.1m' figure on linkedin-derived aggregators is unverified.",
  "role": "team",
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-seed-blog",
    "src-hp-2m-extension",
    "src-hp-series-a",
    "src-ci-indexed",
    "src-hp-ds300-linkedin"
  ]
}

ai on the canvas · tldraw-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "ai on the canvas"
}
```
building in public · tldraw-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "building in public"
}
```
canvas as infrastructure · tldraw-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "canvas as infrastructure"
}
```
demos as r&d · tldraw-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "demos as r&d"
}
```
independence · tldraw-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "independence"
}
```
open source as spectrum · tldraw-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "open source as spectrum"
}
```
taste-driven engineering · tldraw-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "taste-driven engineering"
}
```
the sdk business · tldraw-themes
Original location
Original structured fields
```
{
  "text": "the sdk business"
}
```

the canvas micro-problem essays · tldraw-writings · 2021–2023 (approximate)

Original location · source-02999ae8aa9666132566

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2021–2023",
  "id": "wrt-canvas-essays",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-steveruiz-home"
  ],
  "summary": "the steveruiz.me corpus — technical essays documenting canvas micro-problems as they were solved in public: 'creating a zoom ui,' 'fixing the drift in shape rotations,' 'perfect dragging,' 'dead zone dragging,' the reordering essays on fractional indexing, 'all about arcs,' and typescript utilities.",
  "themes": [
    "building in public",
    "taste-driven engineering"
  ],
  "title": "the canvas micro-problem essays",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://steveruiz.me",
  "venue": "steveruiz.me"
}

announcing tldraw's seed round · tldraw-writings · 2022-11-30 (day)

Original location · source-e43f25e6cc93f9911888 · source-413052a84c1b49ea0c47

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2022-11-30",
  "id": "wrt-seed-post",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-seed-blog",
      "text": "it's our belief that a canvas should be a thing you build with, rather than build yourself"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-seed-blog",
    "src-hp-hn-seed"
  ],
  "summary": "the seed announcement — $2.7m led by lux, the 'new tldraw' beta, the full angel roster, and the first statement of the canvas-as-infrastructure thesis.",
  "themes": [
    "canvas as infrastructure",
    "the sdk business"
  ],
  "title": "announcing tldraw's seed round",
  "traction": "154 points on hn",
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog/announcing-tldraws-seed-round",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

introducing signia · tldraw-writings · 2023-03-02 (day)

Original location · source-40427691021adf05ce6e

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023-03-02",
  "id": "wrt-signia",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-signia"
  ],
  "summary": "introducing signia — the v2 rewrite's reactive state library, released standalone under mit and co-authored with david sheldrick.",
  "themes": [
    "building in public",
    "taste-driven engineering"
  ],
  "title": "introducing signia",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://tldraw.substack.com/p/introducing-signia",
  "venue": "tldraw's early blog"
}

make real, the story so far · tldraw-writings · 2023-11-18 (day)

Original location · source-4a50ec2529115dae6838 · source-5a03f675faa4e4268d25

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023-11-18",
  "id": "wrt-make-real-story",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-makereal-story",
      "text": "our tldraw + gpt-4v experiment broke the internet a little"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-makereal-story",
    "src-ci-hn-make-real-sub"
  ],
  "summary": "the inside account of make real week: forking sawyer hood's draw-a-ui the next morning, the generated site living in an iframe on the canvas, the rate limits, and the byo-key workaround.",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas",
    "demos as r&d",
    "building in public"
  ],
  "title": "make real, the story so far",
  "traction": "6 points on hn — the virality lived on x and in the press",
  "url": "https://tldraw.substack.com/p/make-real-the-story-so-far",
  "venue": "tldraw's early blog"
}

tldraw raised another $2m · tldraw-writings · 2023-11-22 (day)

Original location · source-79a9d66b03d0f429a9f5

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023-11-22",
  "id": "wrt-2m-extension",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-2m-extension",
      "text": "not sure how to feel about that—but hype is hype!"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-2m-extension"
  ],
  "summary": "the $2m insider extension announcement — amplify, lux, and preston-werner ventures, closed a week before the make real virality.",
  "themes": [
    "the sdk business"
  ],
  "title": "tldraw raised another $2m",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog/tldraw-raised-another-2m",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

license update for the tldraw sdk · tldraw-writings · 2023-12-20 (day)

Original location · source-e7c8514215c465ec1460 · source-b70eac66abcdfb7705fa · source-13aacd1e6c1970ef580b

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023-12-20",
  "id": "wrt-license-update",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-license-update",
      "text": "open source is a spectrum"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-license-update",
    "src-ci-pr-2167",
    "src-hp-v2beta1"
  ],
  "summary": "the license change post — the sdk moves to a bespoke non-commercial license adapted from scratch's, timed with the v2.0.0 beta, with mit and apache-2.0 grandfathered for old releases.",
  "themes": [
    "open source as spectrum",
    "the sdk business"
  ],
  "title": "license update for the tldraw sdk",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog/license-update-for-the-tldraw-sdk",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

miro vs. tldraw · tldraw-writings · 2024-05-23 (day)

Original location · source-cea4e9fcf9dc7020ca42

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2024-05-23",
  "id": "wrt-miro-vs",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-blog-index"
  ],
  "summary": "the miro-vs-tldraw post — the direct comparison with the enterprise whiteboard, on the company's own terms.",
  "themes": [
    "canvas as infrastructure"
  ],
  "title": "miro vs. tldraw",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

announcing tldraw sync · tldraw-writings · 2024-08-05 (day)

Original location · source-5f1144a285648e07a390 · source-589420e7248aa2aab097

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2024-08-05",
  "id": "wrt-sync-announce",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-sync-announce",
    "src-hp-sync-docs"
  ],
  "summary": "announcing tldraw sync — self-hosted sync as the sdk's first add-on module, included with the license.",
  "themes": [
    "the sdk business",
    "canvas as infrastructure"
  ],
  "title": "announcing tldraw sync",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog/announcing-tldraw-sync",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

announcing tldraw's series a · tldraw-writings · 2025-04-09 (day)

Original location · source-b9ec52b07ae84a54ac63 · source-deb6e027849db416b55e

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2025-04-09",
  "id": "wrt-series-a",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-series-a",
    "src-ci-linkedin-series-a"
  ],
  "summary": "the series a essay — $10m led by lux and definition, ~$1m first-year license revenue, named customers, and the 'mapbox for figma for x' pitch.",
  "themes": [
    "the sdk business",
    "canvas as infrastructure"
  ],
  "title": "announcing tldraw's series a",
  "traction": "the hn submission got 3 points",
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog/announcing-tldraw-series-a",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

announcing tldraw sdk 4.0 · tldraw-writings · 2025-09-18 (day)

Original location · source-5ff2336f5e7c5cf69944 · source-e405116eb40d643a2837 · source-70eae43cb2ebb63ab7fb

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2025-09-18",
  "id": "wrt-sdk40",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-sdk40",
      "text": "fate and capital both demand that tldraw be a sustainable project"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-sdk40",
    "src-hp-sdk4-release-notes",
    "src-hp-alternativeto-sdk4"
  ],
  "summary": "the sdk 4.0 announcement — create-tldraw cli, five mit starter kits, wcag 2.2 aa, and license-key enforcement: free in development, keyed in production.",
  "themes": [
    "the sdk business",
    "open source as spectrum"
  ],
  "title": "announcing tldraw sdk 4.0",
  "traction": "98 points, 50 comments on hn — the most contested thread in company history",
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog/tldraw-sdk-4-0",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

the fairies launch · tldraw-writings · 2025-12-01 (day)

Original location · source-ea4e6415e7e8efa1a8a7 · source-0cc8bfb752a210cf39ac · source-fd730c76aea6e83b95d6

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2025-12-01",
  "id": "wrt-fairies-video",
  "kind": "video",
  "person": "lu",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-fairies-li-lu",
    "src-ci-fairies-linkedin",
    "src-hp-fairies-site"
  ],
  "summary": "lu wilson's fairies launch video — the december-only, $25 multi-agent experiment she called tldraw's 'weirdest and most ambitious project.'",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas",
    "demos as r&d"
  ],
  "title": "the fairies launch",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://fairies.tldraw.com/",
  "venue": "tldraw"
}

getting multiple ai agents to work together · tldraw-writings · 2025-12-19 (day)

Original location · source-a872919d6a7fca5b6b9b · source-6eb05085b19cd7df5ad4

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2025-12-19",
  "id": "wrt-fairies-coord",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-fairies-coord",
    "src-hp-fairies-pr"
  ],
  "summary": "the multi-agent coordination writeup — what tldraw learned running a 'fairy management system,' including that the agents are essentially working blind.",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas"
  ],
  "title": "getting multiple ai agents to work together",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tldraw_getting-multiple-ai-agents-to-work-together-activity-7407879368577794048-lY-u",
  "venue": "tldraw"
}

stay away from my trash! · tldraw-writings · 2026-01-17 (day)

Original location · source-f1655ff2c83135dbe874 · source-65b446cf69a9516f9872

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-01-17",
  "id": "wrt-stay-away",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-stay-away-trash",
    "src-ci-issue-7695"
  ],
  "summary": "the ai-slop follow-up — 'stay away from my trash!' concedes tldraw's own /issue claude code command authored some of the bad prs and notes excalidraw's pr volume more than doubled quarter over quarter.",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas",
    "building in public"
  ],
  "title": "stay away from my trash!",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog/stay-away-from-my-trash",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

tldraw mcp app: letting your agents draw · tldraw-writings · 2026-03-03 (day)

Original location · source-cea4e9fcf9dc7020ca42

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-03-03",
  "id": "wrt-mcp-app",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-blog-index"
  ],
  "summary": "'tldraw mcp app: letting your agents draw' — the canvas as an mcp surface for agents.",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas",
    "canvas as infrastructure"
  ],
  "title": "tldraw mcp app: letting your agents draw",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

the 2026 craft essays · tldraw-writings · 2026 (year)

Original location · source-cea4e9fcf9dc7020ca42

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026",
  "id": "wrt-craft-essays",
  "kind": "essay",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-blog-index"
  ],
  "summary": "the 2026 craft essays on the tldraw blog — 'text is not enough' (march 30), 'an exhaustive review of design tool hover areas' (april 7), 'erasing shapes' (june 10), 'i'm pretty sure isrecord is our fault' (july 9).",
  "themes": [
    "taste-driven engineering",
    "building in public"
  ],
  "title": "the 2026 craft essays",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

tldraw sdk 5.0 · tldraw-writings · 2026-05-07 (day)

Original location · source-2d47e3a1aaac0be79ef4

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-05-07",
  "id": "wrt-sdk50",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-sdk50",
      "text": "we shipped our backlog"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-sdk50"
  ],
  "summary": "the sdk 5.0 post — a feature-heavy release around customization, performance, and extension.",
  "themes": [
    "the sdk business"
  ],
  "title": "tldraw sdk 5.0",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog/tldraw-sdk-5-0",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

20 things i wish ai chatbots knew about tldraw · tldraw-writings · 2026-06-12 (day)

Original location · source-6d61b709f60af19eb4a3 · source-cea4e9fcf9dc7020ca42

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-06-12",
  "id": "wrt-20-things",
  "kind": "document",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-20-things",
    "src-hp-blog-index"
  ],
  "summary": "'20 things i wish ai chatbots knew about tldraw' — a page maintained partly because llms keep misdescribing the license.",
  "themes": [
    "open source as spectrum",
    "the sdk business"
  ],
  "title": "20 things i wish ai chatbots knew about tldraw",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog/20-things-i-wish-ai-chatbots-knew-about-tldraw",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

tldraw offline · tldraw-writings · 2026-07-16 (day)

Original location · source-c39d9d77459941d59f49 · source-c94bf0c5a65c8a064760

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-07-16",
  "id": "wrt-offline",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-offline-blog",
    "src-hp-offline-repo"
  ],
  "summary": "the tldraw offline launch — free, file-based, local-first desktop builds with scripting and agent access.",
  "themes": [
    "the sdk business",
    "ai on the canvas"
  ],
  "title": "tldraw offline",
  "traction": "16k+ downloads in the first week, self-reported",
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog/tldraw-offline",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

introducing tldraw flash · tldraw-writings · 2026-09-10 (day)

Original location · source-626f28baf594c8dd6654 · source-3a9bf010b4c5940c071b

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-09-10",
  "id": "wrt-flash",
  "kind": "post",
  "person": "roster",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-flash-blog",
    "src-hp-flash-li"
  ],
  "summary": "introducing tldraw flash — lo-fi hand-drawn animation built largely by interns audrey leo and leo knudsen with max drake and daniel lefcourt.",
  "themes": [
    "demos as r&d",
    "taste-driven engineering"
  ],
  "title": "introducing tldraw flash",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://tldraw.dev/blog/introducing-tldraw-flash",
  "venue": "tldraw blog"
}

the designers-shipping posts · tldraw-writings · undated (unknown)

Original location · source-e6f7df8f53c237224fe0

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "undated",
  "id": "wrt-x-designers",
  "kind": "tweet",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-barnsworth-quote",
      "text": "if you're a designer then you should be racing to get as close to the product as possible"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-barnsworth-quote"
  ],
  "summary": "the x corpus survives third-hand — a barnsworthburning record preserves ruiz's posts arguing designers should race to get as close to the product as possible, the design-engineer position stated on social media rather than the blog.",
  "themes": [
    "taste-driven engineering",
    "building in public"
  ],
  "title": "the designers-shipping posts",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://barnsworthburning.net/records/42796/as-close-to-the-product-as-possible",
  "venue": "x"
}

supper club × steve ruiz: building a drawing app · tldraw-writings · 2022 (year)

Original location · source-f1fed772e50bed0243b3

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2022",
  "id": "wrt-syntax-505",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-syntax-505"
  ],
  "summary": "syntax.fm supper club #505 — 'building a drawing app': the tech origin interview covering perfect-freehand, globs, and why the canvas is dom rather than a canvas element.",
  "themes": [
    "taste-driven engineering",
    "canvas as infrastructure"
  ],
  "title": "supper club × steve ruiz: building a drawing app",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://syntax.fm/show/505/supper-club-steve-ruiz-building-a-drawing-app",
  "venue": "syntax.fm"
}

infinite canvases with steve ruiz · tldraw-writings · 2022-07-07 (day)

Original location · source-a97c6e5eb96a524fc34b

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2022-07-07",
  "id": "wrt-metamuse-59",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-metamuse-59"
  ],
  "summary": "metamuse ep. 59, 'infinite canvases with steve ruiz' — the muse team interviews ruiz on the canvas as 'ultimate fully-generalized form of all digital documents,' plus the art-school-to-broke-at-30 backstory and the sponsorware launch details.",
  "themes": [
    "canvas as infrastructure",
    "independence"
  ],
  "title": "infinite canvases with steve ruiz",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://museapp.com/podcast/59-infinite-canvases/",
  "venue": "metamuse"
}

the tldr of the collaborative whiteboard · tldraw-writings · 2023 (year)

Original location · source-93b124f7fbd45e5ab780

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023",
  "id": "wrt-generative-now",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-generative-now"
  ],
  "summary": "lightspeed's generative now with michael mignano — 'the tldr of the collaborative whiteboard.'",
  "themes": [
    "the sdk business"
  ],
  "title": "the tldr of the collaborative whiteboard",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-ruiz-the-tldr-of-the-collaborative-whiteboard-tldraw/id1709773028?i=1000642080202",
  "venue": "generative now"
}

drawing the future with ai · tldraw-writings · 2023-12 (month)

Original location · source-dfcc45609121b5e90f88 · source-acd7505c286439657536

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2023-12",
  "id": "wrt-twist",
  "kind": "interview",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-twist-e1863",
    "src-hp-twin-e1863"
  ],
  "summary": "this week in startups e1863 — 'drawing the future with ai': ruiz demos make real (including state-chart-to-ui generation) weeks after the raise-and-go-viral fortnight.",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas",
    "demos as r&d"
  ],
  "title": "drawing the future with ai",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://thisweekinstartups.com/episodes/C7cYhYAE4Bb",
  "venue": "this week in startups"
}

the accidental ai canvas · tldraw-writings · 2024-01-05 (day)

Original location · source-a072e62737ef79e0e87e · source-cd55d0b9d39a1cd2c166

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2024-01-05",
  "id": "wrt-latentspace",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-latentspace",
      "text": "the good looking part was just like my own taste and my own eye and like tons and tons of iterations"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-latentspace",
    "src-ci-hn-latent"
  ],
  "summary": "latent space's 'the accidental ai canvas' — the key intellectual framing interview: the adobe and figma offers, the taste-driven oss philosophy, and the canvas as 'a really, really good visual multimodal prompting application environment.'",
  "themes": [
    "independence",
    "taste-driven engineering",
    "ai on the canvas"
  ],
  "title": "the accidental ai canvas",
  "traction": "10 points on hn",
  "url": "https://www.latent.space/p/tldraw",
  "venue": "latent space"
}

make real: tldraw's ai adventure · tldraw-writings · 2024 (year)

Original location · source-69cffa5f3530d8e5a701 · source-ecc2520cdd343dfe94f3

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2024",
  "id": "wrt-gitnation-makereal",
  "kind": "talk",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-gitnation-makereal",
    "src-ci-gitnation-talk"
  ],
  "summary": "the full behind-the-scenes make real talk — including why miro 'could not' have built it, because their canvas isn't web.",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas",
    "demos as r&d",
    "canvas as infrastructure"
  ],
  "title": "make real: tldraw's ai adventure",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://gitnation.com/contents/make-real-tldraws-ai-adventure",
  "venue": "gitnation / jsnation"
}

tldraw's accidental ai play · tldraw-writings · 2024 (year)

Original location · source-09da0a9c649e9c9eabee

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2024",
  "id": "wrt-podrocket",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-podrocket"
  ],
  "summary": "podrocket — 'tldraw's accidental ai play,' touring makereal, teach, and computer.",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas"
  ],
  "title": "tldraw's accidental ai play",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://podrocket.logrocket.com/tldraws-accidental-ai-play-steve-ruiz",
  "venue": "podrocket"
}

tldraw computer · tldraw-writings · 2025-07-21 (day)

Original location · source-a91b4ac23c3caedf9aef

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2025-07-21",
  "id": "wrt-aiengineer-computer",
  "kind": "talk",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-aiengineer-computer-talk"
  ],
  "summary": "ai engineer world's fair 2025 — the tldraw computer talk covering the make real → draw fast → computer → teach arc, the excalidraw ink origin, and the google collaboration story, with shoutouts to liquid layers and observable.",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas",
    "demos as r&d"
  ],
  "title": "tldraw computer",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://ai.engineer/talks/1C2TdPkj6aQ-tldraw-computer",
  "venue": "ai engineer world's fair"
}

what's under the pointer? · tldraw-writings · 2025 (year)

Original location · source-5f642bbc69257a489f1a

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2025",
  "id": "wrt-gitnation-pointer",
  "kind": "talk",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-gitnation-pointer"
  ],
  "summary": "react advanced 2025 — 'what's under the pointer?': the hit-testing deep dive.",
  "themes": [
    "taste-driven engineering"
  ],
  "title": "what's under the pointer?",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://gitnation.com/contents/whats-under-the-cursor",
  "venue": "react advanced"
}

is the canvas the future for ai? · tldraw-writings · 2025 (year)

Original location · source-d2df847db125f6308eaa

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2025",
  "id": "wrt-diveclub",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-diveclub"
  ],
  "summary": "dive club — 'is the canvas the future for ai?': 'over 3 years and $5 million building the perfect canvas,' the fairies work, and ruiz's tool-design principles.",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas",
    "taste-driven engineering"
  ],
  "title": "is the canvas the future for ai?",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/steve-ruiz-is-the-canvas-the-future-for-ai/id1686414242?i=1000739130415",
  "venue": "dive club"
}

shoptalk show #690 · tldraw-writings · 2025-11-10 (day)

Original location · source-30b3b8eb516d96e026fe

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2025-11-10",
  "id": "wrt-shoptalk",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-shoptalk-690"
  ],
  "summary": "shoptalk show #690 — the state of the sdk, local data, the business model, fairies, and the company's future.",
  "themes": [
    "the sdk business"
  ],
  "title": "shoptalk show #690",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://shoptalkshow.com/690/",
  "venue": "shoptalk show"
}

he turned down adobe. then he shelved his own product · tldraw-writings · 2026-03-16 (day)

Original location · source-7ca02a025de3ac139adb

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-03-16",
  "id": "wrt-uxtools",
  "kind": "podcast",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-uxtools"
  ],
  "summary": "ux tools s1e13 — 'he turned down adobe. then he shelved his own product': product-maker fit, and 'just ask for money' on oss monetization.",
  "themes": [
    "independence",
    "the sdk business"
  ],
  "title": "he turned down adobe. then he shelved his own product",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.uxtools.co/episodes/he-turned-down-adobe-then-he-shelved-his-own-product",
  "venue": "ux tools"
}

why html canvas beats graphics rendering · tldraw-writings · 2026-03-22 (day)

Original location · source-8bc70671d9e90a63eb01

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-03-22",
  "id": "wrt-twosetai-canvas",
  "kind": "interview",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-twosetai-canvas",
      "text": "my bet with tldraw was… i could probably just make normal website stuff just as fast… then i would be able to put anything onto that canvas"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-twosetai-canvas"
  ],
  "summary": "two set ai written interview — the html-vs-webgl bet that made the canvas a host for arbitrary product surfaces.",
  "themes": [
    "canvas as infrastructure",
    "taste-driven engineering"
  ],
  "title": "why html canvas beats graphics rendering",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.twosetai.com/insights/why-html-canvas-beats-graphics-rendering/",
  "venue": "two set ai"
}

canvas vs. chat for ai collaboration · tldraw-writings · 2026-03-28 (day)

Original location · source-dc4961f3a5b893fc6bc0

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-03-28",
  "id": "wrt-twosetai-chat",
  "kind": "interview",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [
    {
      "sourceId": "src-hp-twosetai-chat",
      "text": "if it's busy, you just go somewhere else"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-twosetai-chat"
  ],
  "summary": "two set ai written interview — canvas-vs-chat for agents, and why a shared spatial surface suits parallel multi-agent work.",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas",
    "canvas as infrastructure"
  ],
  "title": "canvas vs. chat for ai collaboration",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.twosetai.com/insights/canvas-vs-chat-ai-collaboration/",
  "venue": "two set ai"
}

agents on the canvas in tldraw · tldraw-writings · 2026 (year)

Original location · source-95a8ab6357128f63457a · source-438f9cada22461b3a5e7

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026",
  "id": "wrt-aiengineer-agents",
  "kind": "talk",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-ci-ai-engineer-talk",
    "src-hp-agents-youtube"
  ],
  "summary": "ai engineer europe 2026 — 'agents on the canvas in tldraw': fairies, the replit and luma canvases built on the sdk, the stitch joke, and make real looking 'quaint… in 2026.'",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas",
    "demos as r&d"
  ],
  "title": "agents on the canvas in tldraw",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://ai.engineer/talks/agents-on-the-canvas-in-tldraw",
  "venue": "ai engineer europe"
}

agents on the canvas with tldraw · tldraw-writings · 2026-06 (month)

Original location · source-c23eaa47b8b2d70662f9

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026-06",
  "id": "wrt-ainative-devcon",
  "kind": "talk",
  "person": "steve",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-ainative-devcon"
  ],
  "summary": "ai native devcon, june 2026 — 'agents on the canvas with tldraw.'",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas"
  ],
  "title": "agents on the canvas with tldraw",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Sy2gSoxu7o",
  "venue": "ai native devcon"
}

agents on the canvas with tldraw · tldraw-writings · 2026 (year)

Original location · source-c351a2c367a8c7ae3cce

Original structured fields

{
  "date": "2026",
  "id": "wrt-gitnation-maxdrake",
  "kind": "talk",
  "person": "roster",
  "quotes": [],
  "sourceIds": [
    "src-hp-gitnation-maxdrake"
  ],
  "summary": "max drake's agent-history talk — teach, the agent starter kit, and fairies from inside the team.",
  "themes": [
    "ai on the canvas",
    "demos as r&d"
  ],
  "title": "agents on the canvas with tldraw",
  "traction": null,
  "url": "https://gitnation.com/contents/agents-on-the-canvas-with-tldraw",
  "venue": "gitnation"
}