Sam Stephenson
Sam Stephenson is a British product designer and co-founder of Granola, an AI notepad for meetings, where he leads design. He started GranolaGranolaGranola is a London-based AI meeting-notes software company. Its product combines user notes with transcripts for summaries, cross-meeting queries and collaboration, and has expanded into voice typing.Open the full entry with Chris PedregalChris PedregalChris Pedregal is the co-founder and chief executive of Granola, an AI notepad for meetings. He previously co-founded the learning app Socratic with Shreyans Bhansali, which Google acquired in 2018.Open the full entry in 2023.
Contents10 sections
Key facts
2020–2022Product Design Projects
Sam Stephenson describes himself as a “London-based digital product designer turned founder.”[1]
His projects include JoeDocs and Pubtable in 2020, the Apple Watch swim coach Swim Smooth in 2021, and the note-taking tool Ideaflow and the ski-coaching product Carv in 2022; his roles in them are not specified.[1]
November 2021Mostly Rectangles Ltd
He has been a director of Mostly Rectangles Ltd, a UK company registered for activities including specialised design, since its incorporation on November 2, 2021.[2]
March 2023Co-founding Granola
On March 3, 2023, the day Granola Labs Ltd was incorporated, he and Christopher Jonathan Pedregal were appointed directors.[3]
On March 27, 2023, he became a director of Ocean AI Limited, a UK company.[4]
February 2026Rebrand
In February 2026 he unveiled Granola’s new brand identity, made with the London studio Ragged Edge and including a hand-drawn logo. He wrote, “It doesn’t look like something a committee would produce, which is the point.”[5]
March 2026Granola Valued at $1.5 Billion
In March 2026 Granola raised a $125 million Series C at a $1.5 billion valuation, up from $250 million in its previous round.[6]
April 2026Podcast on Design Philosophy
In April 2026 he appeared on The Cognitive Revolution podcast in an episode titled “Calm AI for Crazy Days: Inside Granola’s Design Philosophy,” discussing Granola’s minimalist design, note sharing as a driver of growth and meeting privacy.[7]
June 2026On Meeting Bots
In June 2026 he and Pedregal explained why Granola does not use meeting bots.[8]
July 2026Class Action Against Granola
On July 30, 2026, a proposed class action accused Granola’s two companies of recording meetings without consent; he is not a defendant, and the claims are unproven.[9]
Interview: Dive Club Podcast
On the design podcast Dive Club he discussed building Granola from zero to one, the “idea maze” of AI products, prompt engineering and design at early-stage startups.[10]
Sources
- Sam Stephenson (opens in a new window)
- MOSTLY RECTANGLES LTD overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK (opens in a new window)
- GRANOLA LABS LTD officers - Find and update company information - GOV.UK (opens in a new window)
- OCEAN AI LIMITED officers - Find and update company information - GOV.UK (opens in a new window)
- Meet the new look Granola (opens in a new window)
- Granola raises $125M, hits $1.5B valuation as it expands from meeting notetaker to enterprise AI app (opens in a new window)
- Calm AI for Crazy Days: Inside Granola's Design Philosophy, with co-founder Sam Stephenson (opens in a new window)
- Why Granola doesn't use a bot (opens in a new window)
- Class Action Complaint, Chamberlain v. Granola, Inc. and Granola Labs Ltd., No. 3:26-cv-07926 (N.D. Cal.) (opens in a new window)
- Sam Stephenson - The journey of designing an AI product (opens in a new window)