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John Milinovich

John Milinovich

Serial entrepreneur and GenAI product leader in design and creativity

johnm
San Francisco Bay Area, California
Joined August 2024

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Summary

John Milinovich is a technology executive and serial entrepreneur with a strong focus on Generative AI and its application in design and creative fields. He currently leads GenAI Product at Canva, where he is instrumental in developing AI-powered design tools like Magic Studio, which was recognized by Time's Best Inventions of 2024. His work at Canva is centered around expanding creative possibilities by integrating AI into design workflows and exploring human-AI co-creation. jmilinovich+1
Milinovich has a deep interest in AI agent systems and their practical implementation. His GitHub repositories demonstrate this, including 'prompts' for LLM prompt engineering, 'claude-code-debate' for structured AI-driven discussions, 'agents.json' for standardizing AI agent interaction with websites, and 'stylegen' for generating high-quality prompts for Stable Diffusion XL. These projects showcase his hands-on approach to developing and understanding advanced AI capabilities. github+4
As a two-time Y Combinator founder (URX and Aesthetic), John possesses extensive entrepreneurial experience. He co-founded URX, a mobile search startup acquired by Pinterest, and Aesthetic, a creative automation software company. His entrepreneurial journey has equipped him with valuable lessons in product-market fit, startup scaling, and internal communication, which he actively shares through his writings and insights. jmilinovich+3
Milinovich's career path reflects a continuous pursuit of innovation at the intersection of technology and creativity. Starting with Architectural Studies at UCLA, which ignited his interest in algorithmic and human co-creation, he transitioned through roles at Google and Yahoo. His product leadership roles at Pinterest and Clubhouse, focusing on discovery, monetization, and taste graphs, further honed his ability to build and scale products for millions of users. jmilinovich+1
John is a prolific writer on his personal website, sharing insights on various topics including managing agentic workforces, product strategy for GenAI native apps, multimodal AI, and the future of generative interfaces. His articles reflect his forward-thinking perspective on the evolving landscape of AI and its impact on product development and entrepreneurship. jmilinovich

Work

Education

Projects

Writing

Managing in the Age of Agentic Workforces

July 1, 2025
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Just do things

April 1, 2025
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Creative compression

March 1, 2025
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“Why did people need to remember things?”

February 1, 2025
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Glass minds

January 1, 2025
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The great acceleration

January 1, 2025
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Simulating reality

December 1, 2024
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2025: the year of voice AI

December 1, 2024
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The AI feature trap

November 1, 2024
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The art of bending

October 1, 2024
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Thoughts to docs

September 1, 2024
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Product sense

September 1, 2024
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The real AI goldrush

September 1, 2024
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The courage to remove

July 1, 2024
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The future of generative interfaces

July 1, 2024
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The speciation of LLM products

July 1, 2024
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The AI-enabled entrepreneur

April 1, 2024
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Organizational OODA Loops

February 1, 2024
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2024: the year of multimodal AI

December 1, 2023
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Dangerously good product managers

March 1, 2023
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2023: the year of natural language interfaces

January 1, 2023
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On Chain Conglomerates

July 1, 2022
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The crypto mullet: web2 in front, web3 in back

June 1, 2022
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2022: web3 predictions

January 1, 2022
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The courage to course correct

January 1, 2021
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Pinterest for marketing

December 1, 2020
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Web in chains

November 1, 2020
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Content alchemy

May 1, 2020
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A founder’s guide to design

January 1, 2020
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URX retro: business model-vision fit

May 1, 2017
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How to ace your YC interview

April 1, 2016
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Small is fast

May 1, 2015
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URX’s YC story

October 1, 2013
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1 year, 11 months at Google University

January 1, 2013
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Hobbies

He enjoys exploring the world with his young family, turning everyday experiences into adventures. jmilinovich

Notes

SRShreenath Regunathansaid
JMJohn Milinovich
is one of the most impressive product managers they've seen working with AI or machine learning products.

Sep 30, 2025