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179: The Philosophy of Obsidian, with CEO Steph Ango

May 25, 2026 • 1h 11m

Summary

⏱️ 8 min read

Overview

Mike Hurley interviews Steph Ango, CEO of Obsidian, exploring his journey from creating the popular Minimal theme to leading the seven-person company. They discuss Obsidian's unique philosophy of local-first note-taking, the team's unconventional structure with no regular meetings, and how staying small enables them to build a product they genuinely love using. Steph shares his personal workflow, the company's business model, and thoughtful perspectives on AI, collaboration, and building sustainable software.

Obsidian's Core Philosophy: Links Over Folders

Obsidian differentiates itself through Wikipedia-style linking that creates organic structure from connections rather than rigid hierarchies. Steph explains how the app works with plain Markdown files on your computer, making your notes truly yours and future-proof. This approach, combined with features like front matter for metadata and the concept of evergreen notes, creates a flexible system that adapts to how users think rather than forcing them into predetermined organizational structures.

  • Obsidian works like Wikipedia - when writing, you make links to create structure organically
  • Files are stored as durable Markdown on your computer, not locked in proprietary formats
  • Users can navigate ideas through links rather than being constrained by folders and tags
  • The app launched in March 2020 with features like command palette and intuitive search
" The structure comes from those links. So rather than organizing your things with folders and tags, which you can certainly also do in Obsidian if you're that kind of person, you can navigate and browse your ideas through links. "

From Minimal Theme Creator to Obsidian CEO

Steph Ango's path to leading Obsidian began as a user who created the popular Minimal theme while running his previous startup, Lumi. After 13 years building Lumi, which was eventually acquired, he realized he couldn't think of anything more fun than working on Obsidian. His deep involvement in the community, combined with complementary skills to founders Shida and Erica, led to him pitching to join the team in early 2023. This organic transition from community member to CEO exemplifies the power of working on something you genuinely love.

  • Steph initially created the Minimal theme for Obsidian while running Lumi, a B2B manufacturing marketplace with 45 employees
  • He started using Obsidian in March 2020, transitioning from TiddlyWiki for personal note-taking
  • After Lumi was acquired by Narvar around 2022, Steph was thinking about what to do next
  • He pitched to join Obsidian after collaborating on the 1.0 redesign, joining in early 2023
  • The team was just four employees when he joined, with complementary skills between founders and Steph
" I couldn't think of anything that I was having more fun doing than using Obsidian. "
" I think there's something so, I can't think of a better word than sweet about the idea of like, just really enjoying something so much that you can end up just going to work there. "

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