I didn’t set out to be a founder, but I’ve now done it twice. They were in totally different domains, and totally different business models, but some core patterns and challenges emerged across the two. I learned that I am drawn to the ambiguity and hustle of early-stage products: iterate fast, collaborate closely, and keep everyone pointed at the same picture of what we’re building. My job as both a designer and a leader is to make the work visible, align on decisions, and move the team toward the inflection point where the product becomes something people can actually use.
Challenge
- A high intensity situation that attracts high intensity people
- “Build the plane while its in the air”
- Maker / manager balancing act
Approach
- Established a product experimentation engine
- Established a guerilla research engine
- Make everyone a designer
- Kill your darlings
- Build your family
Outcomes
- Two startups, one exit
- Zero to one is now my superpower
- My definition of design is forever altered
Last year I gave a talk to an entrepreneurship class about my experiences being on a founding team.
For deeper dives on my two founding team experiences, check out these individual case studies:
- Trill: Can we solve the 30% unsold tickets problem?
- Atlas: Can we bring version control to the enterprise?
Why zero to one?
This is the phrase I hear the most in startup circles, and it really is a completely different beast than maintaining or growing an existing product.
- I get energy from shaping the first version of a product’s DNA — the principles, mental models, patterns, and language that make it usable and effective.
- I see early product work as a scaffolding exercise. You don’t quite know what data or use cases will flow through it, so you need to design the system in its simplest form in parallel with all the other functions.
- I am a former business major and software engineer turned graphic designer, and that gives me a really unique lens on the “three legged stool” of lean product and UX. Many startup functions are naturally at odds with one another, and the designer is often the negotiator working to find the middle ground that can actually get built.
- I’ve never wanted to produce pristine artifacts in a vacuum — I consider the core job of both founders and designers alike to be collect the most skills and perspectives and then “deputize” those people into the process.
My (design) principles
- Be wrong first.
- Point at the same thing.
- Always make it better.
- Have hard conversations.
Began as design principles, but quickly they applied to teams, and realized they applied to all levels of a startup.
My mission: Build bigger scissors
Despite spending endless hours in Herbert Simon lecture hall as an undergrad at Carnegie Mellon, I didn’t stumble upon Simon’s metaphor of scissors until much later in my career. He was talking about intelligence, but I think he’s also talking about humanity. His metaphor remains a fundamental inspiration for me as a founder and designer.
