Jay Graber (CEO of Bluesky)

In this episode of the Slow Hunch, I spoke with Jay Graber, CEO of Bluesky. Originally conceived as an initiative within Twitter under Jack Dorsey, Bluesky was designed to transform Twitter from a closed platform to an open protocol-based network. Jay initially joined as an external researcher before being selected to lead the project, ultimately negotiating for Bluesky's independence before Elon Musk’s acquisition. Jay believes thoughtful systems design can reshape our online experiences. With Bluesky, she wants to prioritise user choice, portability, and the ability to vote with their feet if the platform makes changes they don't like.This was a conversation about social media’s “adjacent possible”  - a potential shift from closed, monolithic platforms toward open, extensible systems that encourage experimentation and innovation at all levels.Hope you enjoy!Chapters: 00:00 Cold open04:00 Jay’s background: from systems theory to digital rights activism 08:35 Trade-offs in systems design16:19 The AT Protocol (atproto)17:19 Bluesky’s origin story25:26 How Bluesky differs from earlier decentralized social attempts 28:01 Giving users the ability to pick feeds and moderation 30:16 Early days of Bluesky32:50 Public launch37:24 Social media’s adjacent possible 46:13 Closing thoughts

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The Slow Hunch explores how big ideas form over long periods of time. Big innovations are often characterised as single “eureka” moments, when in fact they're often the culmination of many smaller ideas coalescing over a long period of time. On this podcast, USV's Nick Grossman explores how those ideas took shape, and the nonlinear paths of the people behind them.