Vilius Visockas

Beyond the code

About me

In the era of AI, it's about taste. Here is what I like and what shapes mine.

Favorite book

Endurance

Startups are hard. Between the competition, the AI race, and the daily grind, it's easy to lose perspective. When the pressure gets real, I reach for stories of survival.

Alfred Lansing's Endurance is my favorite. Shackleton's ship trapped in ice, impossible odds, and the leadership that kept everyone alive — it moves me to a completely different place. It gives me warmth and comfort, a reality check on how hard my own situation really is, and a reminder of what a good leader does when everything is on the line.

I also keep returning to Robinson Crusoe and Into Thin Air. They all share the same gift: they ground me in something bigger than the problem of the day.

Shackleton's Endurance trapped in Antarctic ice

Shackleton's Endurance in the ice of the Weddell Sea.

Favorite podcast

Lenny's Podcast

As a product-minded person, I have to keep up with how PM, analytics, and engineering evolve. Lenny's Podcast is the one I never miss.

I love hearing ideas from thoughtful leaders across other companies, the deep preparation behind every episode, and the practical frameworks that show up in real work. Highly recommend if you build products.

Enjoy the show
Lenny's Podcast cover

Thoughtful product conversations with leaders who actually ship.

Dancing

Lindyhop

I started dancing because I wanted a break from screens — and because I missed real human connection. It turned out to be a different kind of engineering: timing, balance, leading, and listening — all in real time.

I love swing dancing most. Whether it's 9 a.m. Lindy in the Park at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, a crowded exchange floor in Sicily, or a late-night social in my hometown Vilnius lindyhop scene, I'm always ready for the bounce.

The dance floor is where I learn to communicate without words, recover gracefully from a missed step, and trust the next beat.

Swing dancers at Lindy in the Park, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Dancing at Lindy in the Park, San Francisco.

Music

Strings and a boy band

I love playing guitar — and I taught my brother, too. In my teenage years I was even part of a boy band called Spyrys. Yes, really.

These days the fingers are rustier, the gigs rarer. But the guitar is still on the wall, waiting — I'll be back on stage when AI replaces me.

Spyrys — the teenage boy band yearsSpyrys performing live on stageGuitar Hero night with friends

Spyrys era. The hair was part of the act.Press play to hear us.

Travel

Places that changed the lens

I've lived, worked, and traveled in many places. Every experience shapes my understanding of how people think, what they care about, and how they use products.

Fiji — 0 placesTanzania — 0 placesW. Sahara — 0 placesCanada — 3 placesKazakhstan — 0 placesUzbekistan — 0 placesPapua New Guinea — 0 placesIndonesia — 0 placesArgentina — 5 placesChile — 8 placesDem. Rep. Congo — 0 placesSomalia — 0 placesKenya — 0 placesSudan — 0 placesChad — 0 placesHaiti — 0 placesDominican Rep. — 0 placesRussia — 0 placesBahamas — 1 placeFalkland Is. — 0 placesNorway — 2 places · lived hereGreenland — 0 placesTimor-Leste — 0 placesSouth Africa — 0 placesLesotho — 0 placesMexico — 7 placesUruguay — 2 placesBrazil — 0 placesBolivia — 0 placesPeru — 4 placesColombia — 0 placesPanama — 3 placesCosta Rica — 6 placesNicaragua — 2 placesHonduras — 0 placesEl Salvador — 0 placesGuatemala — 5 placesBelize — 1 placeVenezuela — 0 placesGuyana — 0 placesSuriname — 0 placesFrance — 2 placesEcuador — 2 placesPuerto Rico — 0 placesJamaica — 0 placesCuba — 1 placeZimbabwe — 0 placesBotswana — 0 placesNamibia — 0 placesSenegal — 0 placesMali — 0 placesMauritania — 0 placesBenin — 0 placesNiger — 0 placesNigeria — 0 placesCameroon — 0 placesTogo — 0 placesGhana — 0 placesCôte d'Ivoire — 0 placesGuinea — 0 placesGuinea-Bissau — 0 placesLiberia — 0 placesSierra Leone — 0 placesBurkina Faso — 0 placesCentral African Rep. — 0 placesCongo — 0 placesGabon — 0 placesEq. Guinea — 0 placesZambia — 0 placesMalawi — 0 placesMozambique — 0 placeseSwatini — 0 placesAngola — 0 placesBurundi — 0 placesIsrael — 0 placesLebanon — 0 placesMadagascar — 0 placesPalestine — 0 placesGambia — 0 placesTunisia — 0 placesAlgeria — 0 placesJordan — 0 placesUnited Arab Emirates — 0 placesQatar — 0 placesKuwait — 0 placesIraq — 0 placesOman — 0 placesVanuatu — 0 placesCambodia — 0 placesThailand — 0 placesLaos — 0 placesMyanmar — 0 placesVietnam — 0 placesNorth Korea — 0 placesSouth Korea — 0 placesMongolia — 0 placesIndia — 0 placesBangladesh — 0 placesBhutan — 0 placesNepal — 0 placesPakistan — 0 placesAfghanistan — 0 placesTajikistan — 0 placesKyrgyzstan — 0 placesTurkmenistan — 0 placesIran — 0 placesSyria — 0 placesArmenia — 0 placesSweden — 1 place · lived hereBelarus — 2 placesUkraine — 0 placesPoland — 2 placesAustria — 3 placesHungary — 0 placesMoldova — 0 placesRomania — 0 placesLithuania — 9 places · lived hereLatvia — 1 placeEstonia — 1 placeGermany — 1 placeBulgaria — 0 placesGreece — 1 placeTurkey — 1 placeAlbania — 0 placesCroatia — 0 placesSwitzerland — 0 placesLuxembourg — 0 placesBelgium — 1 placeNetherlands — 2 placesPortugal — 5 placesSpain — 2 placesIreland — 2 placesNew Caledonia — 0 placesSolomon Is. — 0 placesNew Zealand — 7 placesAustralia — 3 placesSri Lanka — 0 placesChina — 0 placesTaiwan — 0 placesItaly — 5 placesDenmark — 1 place · lived hereUnited Kingdom — 4 placesIceland — 9 placesAzerbaijan — 0 placesGeorgia — 0 placesPhilippines — 0 placesMalaysia — 2 placesBrunei — 0 placesSlovenia — 0 placesFinland — 0 placesSlovakia — 0 placesCzechia — 0 placesEritrea — 0 placesJapan — 0 placesParaguay — 3 placesYemen — 0 placesSaudi Arabia — 0 placesN. Cyprus — 0 placesCyprus — 0 placesMorocco — 2 placesEgypt — 0 placesLibya — 0 placesEthiopia — 0 placesDjibouti — 0 placesSomaliland — 0 placesUganda — 0 placesRwanda — 0 placesBosnia and Herz. — 0 placesMacedonia — 0 placesSerbia — 0 placesMontenegro — 0 placesKosovo — 0 placesTrinidad and Tobago — 0 placesS. Sudan — 0 placesAlabama — 0 placesAlaska — 0 placesArizona — 1 placeColorado — 8 placesFlorida — 2 placesGeorgia — 2 placesIndiana — 0 placesKansas — 0 placesMaine — 1 placeMassachusetts — 3 placesMinnesota — 0 placesNew Jersey — 2 placesNorth Carolina — 1 placeNorth Dakota — 0 placesOklahoma — 0 placesPennsylvania — 0 placesSouth Dakota — 0 placesTexas — 3 placesWyoming — 7 placesConnecticut — 0 placesMissouri — 0 placesWest Virginia — 0 placesIllinois — 0 placesNew Mexico — 0 placesArkansas — 0 placesCalifornia — 15 places · lived hereDelaware — 0 placesDistrict of Columbia — 1 placeHawaii — 0 placesIowa — 0 placesKentucky — 0 placesMaryland — 1 placeMichigan — 1 placeMississippi — 0 placesMontana — 0 placesNew Hampshire — 2 placesNew York — 4 placesOhio — 0 placesOregon — 2 placesTennessee — 2 placesUtah — 9 placesVirginia — 1 placeWashington — 4 placesWisconsin — 0 placesAmerican Samoa — 0 placesGuam — 0 placesCommonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands — 0 placesNebraska — 0 placesSouth Carolina — 1 placePuerto Rico — 0 placesUnited States Virgin Islands — 0 placesIdaho — 0 placesNevada — 2 placesVermont — 2 placesLouisiana — 4 placesRhode Island — 1 place
Not yetBeen there — darker means more placesLived 1+ year

41 countries · 26 US states

Favorite TV show

House of the Dragon

Every time I watch House of the Dragon, I come away inspired. The show is a masterclass in slow-burn storytelling: layered characters, impossible choices, and the weight of legacy.

I love the character drama — how ambition, loyalty, and fear collide across generations. And the craft behind it is staggering: the dragons feel alive, the costumes and sets carry history, and every actor makes a single glance feel loaded. Watching the making-of only deepens my appreciation for the care that goes into building a world this real.

House of the Dragon — Rhaenyra with her dragons

Rhaenyra and her dragons. Power, family, and fire.

Admiration

Companies and products I admire

Revolut logo

Revolut

A European neobank that turned a super app into everyday reality. From easy transfers and trading to lounge passes, SIM cards, and mortgage applications from your phone — they keep shipping with a clarity and energy that makes customers feel genuinely engaged.

Lovable logo

Lovable

The best European product I have used in a long time. This website was built with Lovable, and the experience reminded me what AI-assisted creation should feel like: fast, opinionated, and still deeply human.

Anthropic logo

Anthropic

The speed of innovation here is remarkable. I use Claude daily for everything from preparing presentations to answering mortgage-application questions. I was among the first to try Claude's task features, and it has changed how I manage sessions and incoming work.

Metabase logo

Metabase

A data visualization tool that combines AI-native speed with the classic, deliberate approach to dashboards and analytics. What stands out most is their customer communication — clear, helpful, and genuinely respectful of the people using the tool.