Lee Robinson is the VP of Developer Education at Cursor, one of the fastest-growing AI developer tools in the world. Before Cursor, he spent five years at Vercel helping define how modern developers learn and build on the web.

He’s also a husband and a dad to a young daughter, with a second daughter on the way. When I first invited Lee on the show, he had a five-month-old baby and felt like he was deep in the trenches of new parenthood. Nearly a year later, we finally sat down to talk about what that first year of fatherhood was really like.

In this episode, Lee shares how becoming a dad changed his perspective on work, ambition, empathy, and priorities. He talks about parenting while working inside hypergrowth startups, navigating family planning with an intense career, setting boundaries, sharing the load at home, and how Lee thinks about AI, education, and raising kids in a rapidly changing world. We discussed:

• Becoming a dad inside hypergrowth startups: What it was like navigating new parenthood while working at two of the fastest-growing companies in tech.
• Questioning readiness for fatherhood: How uncertainty, self-doubt, and honest conversations with his wife shaped the decision to start a family.
• Miscarriage and pregnancy anxiety: The emotional challenges that came before their first daughter and how it changed Lee’s perspective on control and fear.
• Setting boundaries without losing ambition: Why prioritizing health and family actually made Lee better at his job, not worse.
• Sharing the load at home: How Lee and his wife divide responsibilities, protect evening routines, and make remote work actually work for their family.
• Raising kids in an AI-powered world: Lee’s thoughts on education, curiosity, and why he wants his daughters to believe they can build and shape the future.

Where to find Lee Robinson

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeerob/ 
• X: https://x.com/leerob
• YT: https://www.youtube.com/@leerob
• Website: www.leerob.com
  
  

Where to find Adam Fishman

• FishmanAF Newsletter: www.FishmanAFNewsletter.com 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjfishman/ 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startupdadpod/ 

In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Welcome Lee Robinson, VP of Developer Education at Cursor

(01:05) The first year of fatherhood: how becoming a dad changed everything

(03:06) Building inside two hypergrowth startups while raising a young family

(06:17) Deciding to have kids: timing, doubt, and tough conversations

(09:31) Parenting with an intense career: fears vs reality

(15:10) Deciding to start a family: timing, anxiety, and hard conversations

(20:12) What becoming a dad changed that Lee didn’t expect

(28:16) Sharing the load at home: dividing responsibilities with intention

(32:07) Protecting family time without sacrificing ambition

(35:13) Seeing my wife become an incredible mom

(37:34) Parenting challenges we’re still figuring out

(39:47) Empathy after becoming a dad: seeing the world differently

(43:46) AI and education: how Lee thinks about raising kids in a new era

(53:07) Looking ahead to 2026: family, work, and optimism

(54:02) Lightning round: parenting products, minivans, and dad life

Resources From This Episode:

Cursor: https://cursor.com/ 

Vercel: https://vercel.com/ 

ChatGPT: https://chatgpt.com/ 

Baby bottle washer: https://a.co/d/aGUSOwn 

Toy Story (Film): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114709/ 

Finding Nemo (Film): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266543/  

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