Maya Yael Frai

Consumer product builder, drawn to the problems others may have written off. Based in San Francisco by way of Miami, Brazil, and Israel.

Writing & Projects

  1. Oct 2026 Lessons in Attention

    New book releasing on December 3, 2026.

  2. Jul 2026 The New Rules of Consumer

    When intelligence can do everything for us, what is still worth doing ourselves?

  3. Feb 2026 On Urgency and Clarity

    The most iconic creative and technical achievements share a counterintuitive truth: the preparation timeline almost always eclipses the execution timeline.

  4. Sep 2025 Creativity as an Engine of Enduring Power

    Creativity is the origin story of every iconic, enduring company. They begin with a spark so compelling, so emotionally resonant, that it earns loyalty before it earns margin.

  5. Jul 2025 Beautifully Confusing

    My debut poetry collection, a labor of love over two years, featuring over 150 authored poems.

  6. Jul 2025 Superagency: How AI Is Reinventing the Career Playbook

    AI is collapsing the boundaries between generalists and specialists, between thinkers and operators. In a world of superintelligent tools, the bottleneck is no longer execution, it’s imagination.

  7. May 2025 Where AI Ends and Product Begins

    The real edge isn’t access to the model. It’s how well you hide it. The best products of this era won’t showcase the tech; they’ll make users feel like the product always knew what they needed. Abstraction is the new moat.

  8. Mar 2025 The Purveyor of Taste

    The more I work with AI, the more its power becomes apparent. But so does something even more fundamental: AI is not the arbiter of quality—we are. We are the purveyors of taste.

  9. Jan 2025 Revet

    Leading the transformation of our family-owned fine jewelry business, founded in 1973.

  10. Aug 2024 Action Breeds Expertise

    Often, the worst decisions come from rationalizing our intuition away. Conversely, the best decisions often stem from trusting our intuition, even when it seems irrational.

  11. Jul 2024 Beyond the Camera and Keyboard

    While the camera has certainly changed how we interact with technology and share information, AI is poised to transform the creative process itself.

  12. May 2024 Century

    Finishing my first 100-mile century in San Francisco.

  13. May 2024 Human Creativity and AI

    AI can reason. AI can notice patterns. But the most interesting nuances, insights, and ideas come from humans noticing small things that lead to next-generation ideas.

  14. Feb 2024 Drive it like you stole it

    Reflecting on how to take advantage of limitless, fleeting opportunities, inspired by Greta Gerwig.

  15. Jan 2024 Own the room

    Techniques and lessons learned from a recent workshop with Bill Hoogterp, coaching expert on communication and public speaking.

  16. Jan 2024 Start with a scene

    Reflecting on my favorite films from the 40th anniversary of the Sundance Film Festival.

  17. Nov 2023 Finding the right environment to build

    Building something new: the critical role of the right environment in nurturing new ideas.

  18. Aug 2022 The Design-First Approach

    The best products are those that emulate human nature rather than try to change it. Developing a functional product that resonates with users requires a design-first approach to innovation, and that it must be rooted in the understanding of how people work, think, & take action.

  19. May 2022 Autonomous Careers

    The pursuit of an autonomous career path can fulfill the human need to feel fully utilized. Web3 is one manifestation of that desire for autonomy and meaningful contribution.

  20. May 2022 First 90 days, 30 lessons in venture

    One of my favorite visualizations from Jack Butcher is the one above, expressing “Noise is what you say. Signal is what they remember.” If there’s anything I’ve heard the most over the last 90 days, it’s the importance of optimizing for high signal over noise.

  21. Apr 2022 People of Point

    Spent some time at home with the creative team at Point Card discussing all things design.

  22. 2019–2025 re—inc

    The re—inc journey with Christen Press, Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath, and Meghan Klingenberg.

  23. 2018–2020 Let's Hear It

    Conversations with women founders and leaders, from the publication I founded.

Eyecandy

La La Land (2016) Griffith Observatory, Los AngelesPhoto: FairbanksMike, CC BY 2.0
Yves Saint Laurent Grand Gala du Disque, 1966Photo: Anefo, Nationaal Archief, CC0
Zaha Hadid Heydar Aliyev Center, BakuPhoto: Emin Allahverdi, CC BY-SA 4.0
Past Lives
A24, Past Lives (2023) Written and directed by Celine Song
Slim Aarons, Poolside Gossip (1970) Kaufmann House, Palm SpringsPhoto: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain
Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation (2003) New York Bar, Park Hyatt TokyoPhoto: Jun Seita, CC BY 2.0
Soul
Jon Batiste Score for Soul (2020), with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Louis Vuitton Fondation Louis Vuitton, ParisPhoto: Moktarama, CC BY 3.0
“The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is—it’s to imagine what is possible.”
bell hooks Outlaw Culture (1994)
Stan Getz & João Gilberto New York, 1972Photo: Unknown photographer, Public domain
Virgil Abloh Paris Fashion Week, 2019Photo: Myles Kalus Anak Jihem, CC BY-SA 4.0
Virgil Abloh, Figures of Speech Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 2019Photo: Kables, CC BY 2.0
Zaha Hadid MAXXI, RomePhoto: Commonurbock23, CC BY-SA 3.0
Lady Bird
A24, Lady Bird (2017) Written and directed by Greta Gerwig
Christian Dior Cocktail dress by Yves Saint Laurent, 1959–60Photo: Regan Vercruysse, CC BY 2.0
Hans Zimmer Live, 2022Photo: ManoSolo13241324, CC BY-SA 4.0
Léo Middea Bossa novaPhoto: Ortizesp, CC0
La La Land (2016) Angels Flight, Los AngelesPhoto: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0
American Symphony
Jon Batiste, American Symphony Premiered at Carnegie Hall, 2022
Sofia Coppola, Marie Antoinette (2006) Hall of Mirrors, VersaillesPhoto: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0
Zaha Hadid Galaxy SOHO, BeijingPhoto: Rob Deutscher, CC BY 2.0