1 min lesson
Bucket three: what you would not build
Give a plain answer to "Why is naming something you would NOT build a strong signal in this interview?" Then ground it in one lesson detail.
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Bucket three: what you would NOT build
The strongest signal of taste is a confident cut. Naming something you'd explicitly decline - and why - proves you can set direction, which is the actual job.
Have one rehearsed “I would not build this” with a real reason: a flashy feature that adds latency to Tab, a consumer-style growth gimmick that doesn't fit a developer audience or an enterprise control that would slow the individual experience. Pair the cut with the tradeoff it protects. “I'd cut X to defend Tab's latency budget” shows judgment; “we should build everything” shows none.
Before you present any idea, run it through the role's one question: does this make Cursor something a developer reaches for every single day? A paper-cut fix passes by removing daily friction. A bigger bet passes by deepening a daily habit. If an idea only matters in a quarterly review, it's probably not the highest-impact thing to ship now.
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Optional practice
Practice: Bucket three: what you would not build
QIn the “discuss ideas” round you're asked for your top bet for Cursor. What structure makes the answer land?